Howdy, ive got a bit of an annoying problem i was hoping someone could help me with (sorry about the rambling). Ive got a stock 1600 dp engine and if i park it so that the left wheels are about 4 or five inches lower than the right wheels i get a puff of whitish smoke on start up (every time). After that the engine runs fine and i have no smoke even if i give it some curry. If i park on level ground i get no smoke at all on start up. Ive recently replaced the rings B & P 's and its been suggested that the ring gap on one piston might just be lower allowing the oil to flow past. Is this normal ? , i thought the rings spun freely which would mean every now and then they would be in a position where no oil could run past?. Or am i completey wrong?. Is this a common problem?

I've know a lot of bugs to do this. I've always thought that it was the valve stem seals/guides as the oil all sloshes to the head when on an incline. On initial start up the oily valve stem + vacume sucks ina squirt of oil. Anyway that my explination and i'm sticking to it

I'd say valve guides also.

My first thought was guides, but the angle isn't great enough to put the oil where it will leak into them. They're pretty easily checked: take off the cover and remove the rocker assembly, grab the retainer in a pair of, say, vice-grips and try to move it up and down - if you notice any exhausts moving more than intakes, you prabably need new guides. The ring theory sounds about the least likely, but I must admit I'm a bit stumped on this one - I've asked a couple of mechanic friends and I'll ask a couple more over the next few days.

yeah my engine used to do this too but only when it had been parked on an angle. so it may not be your engine, i think its just one of those things!!!!

Thanks for all that info, i guess the guides do seem like the most probable cause.
cheers

heh park on flat surfaces!

Spoke to an old mechanic friend who used to do a lot of beetles. It seems this usually comes from the piston/cylinders (suggest scored cylinders.) The oil doesn't drain back into the sump on the low side and slowly seeps past the pistons into the combustion chamber. If it's only a prob at start-up and your compression is OK, just live with it - shouldn't cause a problem with the law.

You say you replaced the B&Ps, does this mean the Barrels and Pistons? If so, did you gap the rings and did you stagger them according to the manual? Was everything clean? Were the cylinders honed? (the supplied honing is a bit rough and takes a while for bedding-in.) Was the engine run in correctly? Your problem may disappear after a while if it is simply still running in (and you don't give it "curry" too much before it is run in.)