Truck Repair: blueish white smoke, batman comic book, valve seals

Question

new pete   QUESTION: hi my engine # is 12012267  family ycexho855nad n14-460e+ I was told it was a 525  to 460 smart torque 11 well hear we go I bought this truck 2001 peterbilt new and nobody has drove it but me last year after idleing for any length of time half hour plus when you would pull away and it would smoke usually clear up before you hit top gear.it has gotten worse since then if I sleep in the truck 4 - 5 hours with it running its like right out of a batman comic book smoke screen but it seems to clear up after you get to top gear at night when your close to a street light and its idleing you  see smoke it kind of looks a white ish blue now I pulled the duck work of then turbo there is a little play in the the fan but no oil. Around number 1 and 3 cylinder its damp with oil a neighbor of mine is mechanic and  he looked at it and he thinks the valve seals and the turbo.I should also tell you the engine has only had rods and mains a couple of top sets and that's it it runs strong pulls like a bear any help you could give me would be great thanks for your time   DANNY

ANSWER: I would go with your neighbor going to take a little more investigation but would say your valve seals are bad quick way to check is take off your exhaust manifold and look in the ports for wetness if thats the case something ive figured out is its cheaper to buy reman heads then to send them out and get them reworked. the dampness around #1 and #3 is probably your rocker box gaskets leaking.

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QUESTION: my neighbor told me you don't have to pull heads off to do the valve seals is that true and my turbo should I replace it right away it does have a little play there did not appear to be any oil in there and the duck work was clean but he told me he could hear turbo as soon as I stated the truck  Thanks for the help Danny

Answer
You don't but you will have to pressurize the cylinder to hold the valves up to change out the seals but alot of times by the time seals have gone the valve guides are not far behind. Your going to be able to move it up and down a little on your turbo by that i'm going to say it feels like maybe 1/16th to 1/8th of a inch thats just the slop in your bearings. Any more then that and i would consider swapping it out. Turbos are unpredictable i've seen them where they start wearing out and they let oil seep and the usual happening is they just let go at once. If you have over a million on the truck i would probably start saving for a in frame before i spent the money on sealing the valves up because your going to spend money to basically repeat the cost for everything you went through to do just the seals. Sorry took so long to get back to you backed up at work and trying to get my own truck back on the road.