I have an 84 GS (non ported) with RB Holley, intake, all the right fuel stuff (regulator, pump, idle comp,) mostly new electronics (two new coils, ignitors, wires, plugs, blah, blah), full RB exhaust, etc, and so forth. The car runs very crisply, will even chirp the tires on the upshift to second and a very smooth purring idle...BUT it smokes occasionally on upshifts and will let out a large cloud if I breath the throttle at high rpms. Any thoughts?

 

What color? Blue is normal oil burning. White is coolant=Bad. My 83 S bone stock does a little more than chirp the tires in 2nd. NIt's not just a chrip but a slight break loose LOL. Once it's done It'll probably have a hard time finding traction in 3rd LOL

 

Try this; take it up to the redline in 2nd gear, then rather than shifting to 3rd just let off the gas and let the engine drag the speed back down. Does this produce a big cloud of smoke? If so, then your oil control rings are worn and in need of replacement (rebuild). However, having said that, I will add that I had the same condition and have had excellent results with Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer. Replace one or two quarts of oil with the Lucas and you should see a nice improvement (provided all of the above is true). Good luck.

 

Yep that's what I meant by breathing the throttle at high rpm.

thanks for the tip

 

No problem man. Mine was doing that over a year ago, and Lucas has cured it for me. Also, make sure that your oil level is not too high (overfilled). The Haynes manual is a little misleading on the amount of oil needed when changing it. You have to find the suplemental section in the back of the book for the correct amounts on later vehicles.

 

However that behavior comes in really handy when warding off tailgaters. Drop a gear, dump the throttle and send a cloud of noxious oil smoke to deal with the offender.

Since the motor is fairly strong, idles so smoothly, etc. then these oil control rings must not effect compression too much?

 

No. They simply keep oil from the rotor bearings and inside of the rotors from entering the combustion chamber. The apex seals, corner seals, and side seals handle the compression duties.
The condition you describe is very common on 83-85 12A cars. The beehive oil cooler is not as effective, and the higher oil temp cooks the oil control seals and dowel pin o-rings. Most 83-85 12A's with 150K+ either leak oil between the housings, or smoke in the manner you list. Only real cure for either condition, is a rebuild. There are many workarounds that help extend the servicability of the engines, but they only work for so long.
If you decide to rebuild, check the archives for the FC oil cooler install written by trochoid, and follow the suggestions contained within.
Rebuilding one of these due to the excessive smoke issue takes a little extra time, as the rotors will be very caked with carbon from the excess oil, and requires more clean up time.

 

Thanks...

I'll just drive it until it gets unmanageable then sell it to some enterprising youngster who is willing to get dirtier than I am.

 

^^^thats not the right attitude....u want to rebuild it to get closer to ur baby....I mean car.....u wanna feel those nice rotors in ur hands and out of the housings... dont mind me i just wanna do a rebuild bad but dont have the parts yet.

 

While I like the Rex, fun to drive, nostalgic and all that. I'm just bidding time until I find the perfect 3.2 liter 911.

 

o i see ur a porsche guy.

 

Seriously Jaye, try the Lucas...

 

Tried the Lucas and it worked great thanks.

 

Do what you want, but the 911 isn't even close to reliable as a rotary

 

Quite irrelevant. The 3.2 liter cars are well made and as or more reliable than most any other high end sports car. If one likes 911's then nothing else will do.