I just bought a 78 280Z that ran perfectly fine while test driving it. It needs some brakes and wheel bearings though so I have had it sitting in the driveway for about a month now while I buy all the parts. I just finished putting on the new brakes and went to take it out for a test drive and when I started it up I filled the whole street with white smoke. It seemed to let up a bit after I drove off. As I was driving it was hardly there any more. I used to have an 83 Z years ago but I don't really know very much about these cars. What should I have checked out? Is there anyone here in the Kansas City area that knows how to work on these? I'm hoping the guy who sold me this car didn't screw me.

Welcome to the club! It sounds like your valve stem seals are shot. What happens is while the car is sitting there doing nothing oil seeps down the valves stem into the combustion chamber. When you start it up the white smoke is the oil burning up. It won't be as noticable if you drive the car every day. But let it sit for a couple of days and you will get the smoke. To change your seals isn't really that hard or expensive if you know how to do it yourself. I would suggest you get a shop manual and read up on what is involved. Then you can decide if you want to tackle this job yourself or pay someone else.

Good luck.

I concur with Ed

I always thought that white smoke was caused by coolant leaking into the combustion chamber whereas blue smoke is caused by oil.

Oil smoke is whitish blue. Most people just say it's white. But the real key here is that it doesn't smoke after driving for a while. Therefore I concur with the previous diagnosis by Ed. The stem seals, NOT the guides as your redneck buddy will tell you.

how about white bluish smoke (oil) whenever you start to move the car again from traffic lights (1st gear) then goes away when your driving.

piston ring and valve stem seals?

Cool. Thanks guys. That's probably what it is. The car has been sitting since I last posted this message and today I started it and there was no smoke. So I'm guessing that if it is the valve stem seals that it isn't leaking very badly and the car will have to sit for quite some time before it will smoke. That's good. Anyway what will happen if I don't fix this any time soon and I drive it regardless? Will this cause any damage to the engine? My dad said to keep checking the oil and as long as I'm not losing a bunch of oil then it's not a problem that needs to be fixed urgently. That true? Can I let this go for awhile and just drive it?

Your Dad is correct.

Yep, so the answer is obvious: Drive it daily!!

And keep an eye on the fluids...

Winston,

There is a guy I know in Blue Springs. Works for a dealer, but he might... Let me know if youre still interested

Cat