New Owner New Problems- Don't know where to start

[wilcoxvette]

**** UPDATE***** See Post #35

Hi Everyone,

I'm a new owner of a 1991 Zr-1.

I'm having a issue that needs to be sorted and I'm not sure where to start because I don't have a lot of info on previous owners history.

What I do know:

The car was sent to lingenfelter in 1995 for a 368cid upgrade.
Back to Lingenfelter in 1999 for suspension, brakes, wheels (Fiske FM5 17")

Thats literally all I know. ha ha

What need addressed:

Light Blue smoke - I'm getting a slight blue haze at WOT consistently. Does not smoke on start up or casually driving at all. Looks like oil is slightly over filled. Just picked up the car saturday so I'm monitoring the oil level closely.

I assume Lingenfelter tuned the car (of course) I bring this up because there are notes in documents about Doug Rippie. I don't have any documents just a handwritten note. Possible Doug did a tune on this car? - Don't know why if lingenfelter did the work... Maybe that's normal, I know Doug has a great reputation.

Car pulls hard left on acceleration - getting alignment and new tires this week to start. Will see where that takes me.

That's it for now. I really like the car and I bought it assuming the valve seals need to be replaced. Seller was not a corvette guy and not very helpful, he was just flipping it. I hope to be a good home for it, have always wanted a Zr-1 and really appreciate how awesome they are.

Thanks,

TW

[PhillipsLT5]

Wait 12-24 hour to check oil

[Ccmano]

First off welcome the the Registry, we hope you’ll stick around for a while. You will find a lot of helpful folks here. Is yours the White one with the red stripe that was recently on EBay? Collectively we’ve seen it all. These engines are known to use oil, particularly under heavy acceleration. A quart in 800- 1000 is not uncommon depending on use. Yours is a 91 that’s been through the Lingenfelter rebuild so I would expect valve stem seals in place. 90’s did not have seals on the exhaust valve guides. They have also been known to suck oil through the PCV system if the PCV valves are stuck. Another area where I have personally seen 3 engines blow oil is loose injector housing bolts and blown lower injector housing gaskets. They will suck oil directly from the crankcase breather galley into the intake from there. Oil smoke is common in this instance. Frankly, guide and ring issues are very uncommon on these cars. If it were mine I would monitor the oil consumption, check the PCV system and check the IH bolts. If bolts are in any way loose replacing the lower IH gaskets is in order.

As for the pulling on acceleration other than general suspension issues I would check the “C” Beam bolts on the trans and diff for looseness. The “C” Beam connects and makes ridged the drive train assembly. Loose bolts are not uncommon and can cause exactly what you report. If loose, invest in “C” Beam plates from ZFDoc.com makes a big difference in rigidity.

I’m sure others will chime in. Have fun getting her sorted. She’ll be a blast to drive.

Oh, and yes, wait at least 3hrs, preferably over night, to check the oil. It’s in the owners manual. Checking any sooner will lead to over fill because you’ll think it’s low when it isn’t.
H

[G8nightman]

I almost bought this car. Hope you got a good deal on it welcome.


Sent from my iPhone using ZR-1 Net Registry

[wilcoxvette]

Originally Posted by G8nightman

I almost bought this car. Hope you got a good deal on it welcome.


Sent from my iPhone using ZR-1 Net Registry

Yes I feel like I got a decent price on it. I appreciate the help you gave me when you responded to my pm on corvetteforum. I couldnt stop thinking about this car and decided to go take a look. I was able to get a little more off his bottom dollar and felt it was worth it to me because of the lingenfelter package. You were spot on about everything you saw and it definetly needs a little love. Im hoping to be able to remove the red stripe and a few other improvements. The good news is it goes like stink and I love driving it!

Looking forward to the help from this community. Ive had a few corvettes and I keep coming back to a ZR-1. So glad to finally own one!

[Karl]

The ZR-1 sucks down oil and your best bet is to properly install a oil catch can.

I believe most of the carbon buildup happens because of the oil usage.

I am on my second Z and both have had a catch can and both catch lots of oil.

[efnfast]

These motors seem to tear through the top quart of oil, once it's down a quart, usage seems to slow way down. Don't forget, there are 12 quarts of oil in the system, so being down 1 isn't real bad.

[wilcoxvette]

Thanks all for the info.

New Twist - hood latch inside broke this am when I went to check oil. Ordered tool to open hood and need to work on hood latch.

I'll have it sorted soon enough!

[DRM500RUBYZR-1]

Originally Posted by PhillipsLT5

Wait 12-24 hour to check oil

You must make certain that it is not overfilled before doing anything else.
Every post in the thread is correct.
If your level is spot on, and it only happens lightly on WOT, stop looking in the mirror.
You might want to check the plugs.
If none are oil soaked or fouled, which is quite likely what you will find, then I would stop worrying about it.
These motors are not like your SBC ones that have common oil consumption
issues.
You are surely taking it to 7k plus and if the oil is overfilled or even full, a little smoke that then disappears should almost be expected.
Let us know about the level.
Thanks,
Marty

[wilcoxvette]

Will do. I took it to 7k rpm once. When I have seen blue haze I have quit immediately. This is all great info. I will report back with oil level in the next few days when I get the hood open.