Smoking Some Oil Parked on an Angle?

[GasDaddy140]

Hi Everyone!! Keep washing your hands and wear a helmet outside. What a mad world!

So, onward to Corvairs!

I may have done something wrong with my engine rebuild because I've noticed that if my Corsa is parked by the curb on the angle of a road-crown for more than a day, it smokes engine oil at start-up on the downside of the effected 3 cylinders. I suspect that oil is flowing down the pushrod tubes and filling the valve area and then lights up with the fuel. What did I miss?

Thank You as usual!!

[joelsplace]

How sloped is it? Are you sure the engine oil level is correct? How much smoke? Pictures would really help.

[bbodie52]

Valve guides and valve seals — perhaps allowing some oil accumulation to leak past the guides/seals into the intake and combustion chamber area? On the other side of the combustion chamber, could there be a problem with oil control by the piston rings? Do any of the spark plugs show a wet oil contamination if you examine/read the spark plugs? If the PCV system vacuum orifice is clogged, is there any oil accumulation in the air cleaner part of the PCV system (possibly caused by excessive crankcase pressure buildup)? Excessive crankcase pressure buildup might also force oil past the pistons and rings into the combustion chamber, possibly causing oil smoke from the exhaust at the next engine start.

[66vairguy]

Not unusual for a Corvair to do that on startup if parked on an incline (oil runs into a cylinder(s) and a little leaks past the rings. Should clear up quickly after starting. HOWEVER unless your crowned road is really a steep angle you should not have an issue unless the crankcase is overfilled. Check to make sure the dipstick is correct and the dipstick tube is inserted all the way into the engine block.

[GasDaddy140]

Finally I'm responding!

Thanks everyone for helping. As it turns out I simply overfilled my engine oil by about 1/2 a quart. I have not experienced any more of the smokey oil burning start-up when parked at an angle. My dip stick is hitting the bottom of the pan. My dip stick tube seems right (I actually had to cut one to fit).

[joelsplace]

I often run mine 1/2 quart over to keep the lifters quiet. Never any smoke issues.