1.6l: SMOKING. Built bottom end, smoke out of oil dipstick/valve cover
 

So just got a built bottom end. Top end was refreshed with 3 angle valve job and all new seals. Motor has 400 miles on it. Just recently started smoking.

Mostly smokes after idling for more than a minute. As soon as I hit the throttle there is a huge puff of blue smoke.

Vents on valve cover have smoke coming out of them as well as oil dip stick hole. Lots of pressure coming out of dip stick and valve cover. When I put my hand over valve cover vents or dip stick pressure corresponds to the exhaust note.

Any ideas?

yup, you f'd up

Any particular things I f-Ed up that would cause this? Other than driving the car nicely for all 400 miles and changing oil at 200 miles?

Driving nicely for 400 miles is probably the problem. It sounds backwards, but your kinda supposed to beat on it a bit. Your situations sounds worse than rings not seating though. Is it possible that rings were not installed correctly? Youve clearly got blowby from a piston/ring issue. Only way to get smoke into the crankcase.

Yup, sounds like either rings or valves are massively leaking. Probably rings due to pressurized crankcase

I read all kinds of stuff, from drive it nice to beat the ---- out of it. To be honest I think its all bull ----. I drove it like I usually drive my cars. Normal. I kept it under 5psi of boost and tried to vary speed and not drive it on hwy for at least first 100 miles. Tried to accelerate and decelerate in all gears.

The engine was put together by a professional but anything could be possible.

So probably the rings just did not seat?

This is what I do and it worked for me every time so far.

I think your problem is you effed something up during assembly

I did not assemble anything. The whole motor was put assembled for me. I just attached accessories and shoved it back in. I did zero assembly.

then talk to the person you got it from

He is just as confused as I am. That's why I am posting to see if anybody else had an issue similar to this.

I feel like the rings just did not seat at all.

Wrong size rings after overbore? Ie 84 mm pistons with rings for 83.5mm pistons. Not sure if this is possible. Or block overborrd too much? Just speculating.

All is possible:-(. Question is how do I isolate the issue without tearing the engine apart?

leakdown test

Good news is that it sounds like it might be more of a pain in the ass than expensive. If rings, then probably a quick hone and new rings.

Doing that tomorrow. What should I be looking for in the leak down test?

Yeah, but this will require pulling the motor again and taking it all apart again.

Not a hard job though, pulling the engine then popping the pistons out takes a few hours max.

Done it a couple of times now. Just don't want to do it again, that's all I am saying. Was not planning on this by any means.

Ita pretty much like rebuilding the block all over again. Head will most likely need to be resurfaced. All new seals on the block probably because it will has to come apart for honing. So I might as well just built another motor.

Tell us about the tune. I had a customer come in last year for a dyno tune, and while the car was warming up it started smoking from the valve cover vent, and then a steady stream of smoke from the exhaust started up. Revving it made it worse, not better. Scoped the bores and found chunks of ringland missing in #4. Traced it to a major overboost+detonation condition.