PCV putting out lots of smoke :(

[drhill]

As many of you already know from my posts - I've been trying to get my "new" 84 wagon ready for a road trip....setting her right after some years of neglect.

I was re-setting timing and checking the throttle kicker for the ac due to a stalling condition with the AC on in reverse when I pulled off the passenger side breather hose (that goes to the air filter housing) and tons of smoke was pouring out! ...did the same thing later on the driver side valve cover (pcv valve and fill location) and same thing.

My previous experience leads me to believe this is a symptom of worn out rings...any thoughts? Could this explain some dissapointing MPG figures? I got 15.5 on the highway on a recent short trip (52 mile trip up and back, 3.3 gallons). I'm renting a compression tester tomorrow to check it out.

[BerniniCaCO3]

My textbook knowledge (but not an extensive background of experience) tells me you're probably right.
However, I worked on volvos, and I've also seen pressurized smoke (visible when you shine a flashlight across the dipstick tube, otherwise too faint to see), puffing out of the dipstick tube, when volvo's equivalent to a pcv system is completely clogged. The pressure has to go somewhere, even so far as blowing the dipstick out of its tube!
But tons of clearly visible smoke... doesn't sound good does it.