Valve Seals and Blue Haze

[sweller]

Does the 3.8 have valve seals or does it rely on a close fit between valve and guide?

I had to take the radiator out of my S type (longish story) and I had left the engine idling after refilling and waiting for the fan to kick in. I noticed a goodly blue haze when I revved the engine up to 1000 - which soon cleared.

If memory serves me well this points to valve guides rather than rings (valve seals on the overrun or after idling, worn rings under power). It does use oil on a run, not loads but more than I'd like. There's no smoke apparent under power.

The tappets are a bit noisy so it could be an opportunity to do the shims on the bench in addition to the valve guides.

Even so I can't see it being cheap even if i just replaced the valve guides. What with 12 of everything and gaskets etc....

Opinions?

Simon