So i bought a 1997 dodge ram 1500, with 180,000 miles on it about 3 weeks ago! It used almost all its oil in the first 400 miles, so after searching around here for awhile i came to the conclusion it was the plenum gasket! So i bought the kit from hughes and had it going great again last week! Was out plowing and idling along for awhile and it was still using some oil, so i replaced the PCV valve and its using even less oil! I thought i was finished with the problems except now its using like half a quart every 300 miles, it dosent smoke at all accelerating hard or when its warmed up but it does smoke quite a bit for the first 5 mins of being turned on, especially when accelerating but after that it clears up and runs good! I havent done a compression test yet but was leaning toward the valve seals next? Any ideas??

 

Look into the valve guides and seals! And use fewer exclamation points!

 

cracked heads?

 

Valve seals sound like a good bet.

However.... where did you get your PCV valve?

 

+1 valve seals

 

probably valve seals.
the hard way to replace them is to remove the heads and replace guides and seals.
the easy way is to use the rope-in-cylinder trick to pinch the valve shut, and replace the seal only.

 

I got the PCV valve from napa, it was identical to the one it had on before and theres no oil in the line, so i dont think its that.

 

Bought the valve seals and new valve cover gaskets today, probbably will put them in on thursday! So ill let you know what happens.

 

Not difficult, but, time consuming. Enjoy.

 

Alright i cant win at this! Finished the seals yesterday and its still losing oil, not sure eactly how much but it goes from the "full" line to the "add" line in about 200 or so miles. I dont think its the rings, so i looked down the intake again today and theres still oil pooling on the bottom, not much but some. I disconnected the PCV valve and well see if the consumption stop, i have a feeling thats the issue, ill try getting one from the dealer this week. Could the plenum still be leaking?