I finally put my motor back in after fixing some hell hole issues. I went on my first drive in 4 months and now it smokes pretty bad at stops it used to smoke alittle bit but now its more. I think its the rings, how much of a PITA would it be to fix this?

A little more about where is it smoking from? and what you know about the motor?

Out the tail pipe or up thru the engine compartment?

if it is the engine compartment. You need to determine the location of the leak. It could be pushrod tubes, (youll know that by a bunch of oil on the heat exchangers) Oil filter not on tights,

Other leaks typically make a mess but do not cause a lot of smoke. Front and rear main seals, oil cooler seals.

If it is coming out of the tailpipe, Id drive it for a 50-100 miles depending on oil consumption. If you are using a quart every 500 miles or less, you definitely need to get into the motor.

Re-ring- Typically the motor would need a bit more attention than that.

But figure if it is your first time.

Disclaimer - your mileage may vary depending on your mechanical skill, tools, workspace and what the previous owner did to cobble something up.


2-3 hours to drop the motor
2-3 hours to pull cooling tin, blower, alternator and clean some of the gunk/crud up.
1 hour to get the heads and cylinders off.

Then it is evaluate and measure and decide where to go from there.

Check your oil level, make sure you didn't overfill.

What is the average number of miles driven to use a quart of oil? I have to add a quart about every 700 miles or so. I have a 2.0.

its out of the exhaust. I only drove it about 100 miles so far (back and forth to work) I didn't check the level after the drive but I will when I get home.

well before the drive I changed the oil so the level was just under the top notch. now it is at just below the bottom notch. seems like a bunch of oil got burned in that short drive