I'm replacing the valve seals on my LS6 engine to try to cut down on oil consumption. Can I replace the standard teflon seals with the "umbrella" type seal? And, will that cut down on oil consumption?

motro,
The standard seals on a big block are the umbrella seals. The teflon ones have been installed by someone after the fact. My experience has been that valve seals do not really cause much oil consumption. They might cause a puff of smoke on startup, but never a lot of oil use in general. Dont forget, all the early small blocks did not have any seals other than a small "O" ring, and they did not use that much oil. My Chevelle used to go oil change to oil change without using a drop when it was new. If you want to put anything on, go with a rubber 2 ring type seal. You will have to wait until you pull one of the old ones off to see what size they machined the guide down to for the teflon ones. Your machine shop should be able to get you the right seals from there.

Thanks Bill:

Even though the engine only has 38k,.it looks like a previous owner did a valve job. Why he replaced the umbrella seals with the standard one's I don't know. I'm putting the umbrella's back in next week.

I do get that "puff" of smoke on startup and go through a quart about every 3-500 miles. I hope the new seals help stop some of that consumption.

To further help reduce consumption, I've put a breather cap in place of the standard oil filler cap and also re-routed the pcv valve plumbing from one bank to the other. That way, both banks have some pressure relief.

Thanks again.

Motro,
You keep calling the Teflon seals the "standard" ones. They are not the "standard" seal ! The umbrella seal is the "standard" seal on a Big Block. The teflon seals are a much better seal than the umbrellas. If the teflon seals are in good shape, replacing them with umbrellas is only going to make things worse. The teflon seals are a better seal.

Bill:

You're right, my mistake.

The "teflon" seals are in bad shape. The car was "barn find", with little activity for the past 22 years. The seals are dried out and I bought new "umbrella" seals thinking the stock would be better.

Now, after what you're written, I understand I may be hurting rather than helping oil consumption.