G'Day, I have a TP EFI SW that's done 170K. It's been puffing for the last 30 or so, and
is getting pretty bad, blowing smoke when it starts, and pushing oil out around the rocker
cover seal. As I see it, it one of 2 problems. ( Either worn rings or worn valve stem guides).
I haven't compression tested it, as yet but will get around to it.

This seems to be a common problem on all the 2.6L injected magnas I've seen, but is not common in the carby versions.

any thoughts ?

Sounds like it needs a reco/rebuild, i'd be taking it to a mechanic. Could just need some gaskets replaced.

G'Day, I have a TP EFI SW that's done 170K. It's been puffing for the last 30 or so, and
is getting pretty bad, blowing smoke when it starts, and pushing oil out around the rocker
cover seal. As I see it, it one of 2 problems. ( Either worn rings or worn valve stem guides).
I haven't compression tested it, as yet but will get around to it.

This seems to be a common problem on all the 2.6L injected magnas I've seen, but is not common in the carby versions.

any thoughts ?
sounds like the stem valves seals, mine used to puff out on start up but doesnt do it know after the oil change with a better oil but i was told mine needed replacing soon doesnt cost much at all to fix and its not doing any thing that bad only just useing more oil and sounds like u just need a new rocker cover gaskit too....no need to jump for a reco/rebuild :nuts:

yea ill agree with mad_lante, its prob just the seals etc.

My cars done 190 and since around 175 its been blowing out a bit of white smoke at start-up and after idling a long time.
Its really bad when im in peak traffic in the city etc on a hot day. The stupid car would cover the street in white smoke and people would laugh at me and tell me my car is broken lol

Hey if u get the seals replaced can u put up the cost etc. cause im loookin around at the moment and wanna see how much other people get it for.

thanks man

good luck

Doing the valve stem seals is pretty easy , I've done it before took about an hour . You can just buy a vrs kit and use that or buy it separatly from Repco for a little bit cheaper (but in fact way overpriced).Haynes gives a fairly good description on how to do it. Of course you need a valve compresser ,the type that grabs the spring on the top and sides not that cheap one that needs the head taken off.but its definetly worth doing it ,made a big difference on the car.

I have done it before also. Very cheap and very easy. If it blows smoke on idle i would suspect it to be oil rings though. Usually the car will blow smoke going down hill without acceleration if it's valve stem seals.

I had a TM which had the same symptoms as you describe which ended up being the rings so i took the head off, dropped the sump, undone the rod bolts and pulled the pistons out through to top. I honed the bores, had the pistons cleaned, head shaved and pressure tested, replaced valve stem seals and cleaned the valves, put new rings on it and per it back together with new gaskets and the car never went better.

We had a Mitsubishi Express Van (2 litre) that blew out that much smoke you couldn't see the entire back yard. We pulled that engine right out through the front door and did the same as above. That engine never went better also....

I have done it before also. Very cheap and very easy. If it blows smoke on idle i would suspect it to be oil rings though. Usually the car will blow smoke going down hill without acceleration if it's valve stem seals.

I had a TM which had the same symptoms as you describe which ended up being the rings so i took the head off, dropped the sump, undone the rod bolts and pulled the pistons out through to top. I honed the bores, had the pistons cleaned, head shaved and pressure tested, replaced valve stem seals and cleaned the valves, put new rings on it and per it back together with new gaskets and the car never went better.

We had a Mitsubishi Express Van (2 litre) that blew out that much smoke you couldn't see the entire back yard. We pulled that engine right out through the front door and did the same as above. That engine never went better also....
Which is basically a reco isn't it? I thought that a reco is just basically replacing the oil rings, valve stem seals replaced, pistons cleaned etc.

G'Day,
I should have been a little more explicit. By puffing I mean it puffs out of the oil filler cap, when I remove it. So it isn't just oil seals. This car does it so bad, that oil started to leak around the filler cap (fixed by adding a second seal) but it now pushed a leak out around the rocker cover seal, which I have resealed twice with silastic to help.
I go to the car autions most weekends and I look under the bonnets of the Magnas. This seems to be common in any 2.6l that is over say 120K kms, it's just my car has got it
bad. It's clearly either vale guides of rings, I just thought some-one who knows Magnas more than I do would know. I'll give it a compressions test, and oil the bore and compress again. This should let me know if it's the rings / bores.
thanks.

you guys all say its easy to do and real quick, however i must ask, how do you avoid taking off the head? do you somehow pressurise the cylinders?

The only theory i can come across is that you put the cylinder in question into its compression stroke, and that will keep the valves in place.

I only ask as i have the same problem, im a DIYer and want to do it sometime soon.

To change the valve seals without removing the head requires you to do 2 things which are
unusual.

(1) Stop the vavle from dropping. Two ways to do this. (i) use compressed air to keep pressure up, although this isn't that reliable. (ii) use a soft rope or string. remove all the plugs, gently feed the rope onto the top of the piston, and then turn the motor, by hand, until the piston, using the soft rope as packing, pushes against the valves. Even if you dont get it right the first time, you only need to hold up one valve at a time, and can try a few times with valve until you get it right. DONT OVERDO THE PRESSURE ON THE ROPE, or you can break bits off, which you will then need to remove.

(2) Remove the valve springs from the top only. You can get a special tool to do this, or you can make a small bracket which you bolt on using the cam mount bolts and use a good leaver to pressure each one down. Be careful not to overdo the force on the bolts, as the head, and hence the threads, are alloy.

So this can take a bit of time, and mucking around, probably cost you closer to a slab, than a 6 pack if it's a hot day, but it does get the job done.

All this said, I reckon if your seals are gone, there is a fair change the guides could be crook, and maybe the seats could do a grind, so just remove the bugger, pull it apart, inspect and fix the lot.

Russel.

If you're getting puffing out of the oil filler cap than its pretty bad ,either a very worn or broken ring or broken valve and yes it will smoke like a *****. These thing can run on 3 cylinders and barely notice the change in idle rather just a major loss of torque, recommend having a look at the head for a stuck valve.