I have a 97 mustang gt and it has started smoking over the last few months. it has been burning oil pretty quickly also. I have been told that it could be the valve seals? Would that be a pretty good possibility? If that is the case what would be the best way to fix that? I'm really looking for a fairly inexpensive route because I'm goin to school so don't have the time to work a whole lot. thanks for the advice guys!
Does it smoke at idle and shoot out a big puff when you pull away - most noticeable at stoplights and drive-throughs? That's the classic signs of bad valve seals. If that's the case then they can be replaced. You can do it yourself if your comfortable doing engine work but it is a pain in the butt. If it's smoking all the time or at WOT then it's more likely that it's worn rings and a rebuild is in your future. Check the PCV system out first though as a problem there can cause excessive oil consumption too.
Forgot to add that valve seal replacement can be pretty cheap if you have the tools, time and skills to do it yourself - $20 for seals, $30 for the Trick Flow Specialties OHC valve compressor tool, save a few more $$ if you can reuse your valve cover gaskets, borrow or rent the other special tools you need. Not sure how much a shop would charge but it could be really expensive if they wanted to pull the heads to do it. Mustangs consume some oil, especially if you spend a lot of time at WOT and high RPMs so don't be alarmed if it still uses some oil after you get it fixed.
yeah i was gonna add that it basically just smokes when idleing and just a little puff of smoke when i take off... I doubt that i would be able to do it myself... I almost wonder if it would be worth it to just pick up some pi heads and do a head swap on it while they had it out and everything but thanks for the advice
