I'm looking at buying a 1976 coupe deville, the only problem is it smokes. I haven't had a chance to look at the car, but I was wondering what I should look for to see what is making the car smoke. I know this is a vague question and I will add more information as I get it. I was just looking at some general things to look at.
thanks
joel

I'm looking at buying a 1976 coupe deville, the only problem is it smokes. I haven't had a chance to look at the car, but I was wondering what I should look for to see what is making the car smoke. I know this is a vague question and I will add more information as I get it. I was just looking at some general things to look at.
thanks
joel
it could be the piston rings or valve stem seals....
inspecting spark plugs could tell you which cylinder(s) is/are the one(s) smoking.

My first thought was bad piston rings, didn't know about the valve stem seals. Anyone got any ideas of how much its gonna cost to replace piston rings or valve stems? I'm not asking for any specifics just a general price range, or if anyone had to replace either of these. I would do it myself, but I definantly don't want my first work on this car to be deep in the engine internals, lol definantly not ready for that.
thanks
joel

The best way I can explain it is if has a very light blue tint to it it's oil smoke, if it's white it can be coolant or raw fuel, if it's black it's partially burnt fuel. What lux hauler said applies to oil smoke. If it's coolant smoke you have a blown headgasket or perhaps even cracked head. Fuel means carb work, which is time consuming but not too incredibly hard if you've got a good manual in front of you.

Valvestem oil seals are not that bad to do, the only special tool you need is a spring compressor and you'd want a decent torque wrench. Rings are about as deep in the internals as you can get...

Turns out it was the valve stems but I ended up not getting the car due to the fact that I have to pay 2500 dollars to a lawyer because of a bogus DUI. I wasn't drunk or high lol, the cop was a straight up dick head, it's a shame that cops like the one I had give good cops a bad name.
thanks

Well that sucks. What part of the country is the car in?