Engine: Studebaker champion 1984. The Car smoking

[Lumaanton84]

Hi everyone My name is Anthony* . I own a studebaker champion 6 cilynder 1948 for 2 years . I have a problem the car smoke a lot light blue color . Before i change everything i whant to know if any one know what's wrong with my car. The oil engine get black any time I change ,and i lose oil a little bit + when i open coolant reservoir cop and i stick in the finger to the corner my finger get oil and brown color .The car doesn't* get overheat .And spark plugs they get black color (dray).* Some one told me the piston ring its where out . Some other one* told me its a valve seal where out. I was thinking maybe its head gasket. Pleas i need help 😨😨😨

[RadioRoy]

Welcome to the forum, Anthony.

It's not the head gasket causing the smoke, but it could be causing the coolant contamination.

Blue smoke is oil.
White smoke is water, actually steam.
Black smoke is un-burned fuel.

Before you take anything apart, put some seafoam, or a 50/50 mixture of acetone and automatic transmission fluid in the spark plug holes and let it sit for a day, then run it. The rings might be stuck, but it is likely that you need new piston rings.

While it may seem like a good idea to take off the cylinder head and look into the engine, be very wary of doing that. The majority of the time that someone takes off the head, they never put it back on again, and that is the end of the engine. Do not take off the head until you are ready to reinstall it and have all the tools and parts to do so.

Right now your engine is running, although not well. Plan your next steps so as to not kill it completely.

[TWChamp]

Totally agree with all Roy just said.

Have you driven the car enough to see how many miles per quart of oil?

[nvonada]

I agree with everything above. You need real data. A compression test would be a logical first step. If the car had a pressurized cooling system I would recommend pressure testing that but I am pretty sure that was still an open system in 1948. If your oil and coolant are cross-contaminating then you really have to address the problem. But if you are just burning some oil you can buy a LOT of oil for what an engine rebuild will cost you. My '41 puffs out a little blue smoke now and again but my compression numbers are good and the engine runs well so I just add a quart when I need to.

Nathan

[Mrs K Corbin]

Agree with above. Also, after doing the ATF/ Acetone thing, take if for a good long drive if it can stand it. warm it up really well and see if the smoking starts to go away. I'm thinking that the rings are sticking from non-use or just worn.

[rkapteyn]

If you decide to take the head off , make sure to put the headbolts back the way they came out.
Some are longer and will bottom out in the wrong hole and it will blow the head gasket!
Get a piece of cardboard and cut holes to put the bolts in like they came out.

Robert Kapteyn

[jackb]

Has the car/engine been running in 2 years ? Is the blue smoke 2 yrs. old ? If so, and you have driven it highway speeds, without overheating, I think that little 6 is looking for its rings to be replaced....unlikely the rings are stuck if the car has been driven. Now, if the car has only been in a driveway/garage and just started up occasionally.... until you get out on the road, you won't; a) loosen up "good" rings, or b) know that the cooling system is up to the task. Summary: if rings are stuck and cruddy, then likely radiator/block are too.....