Hi…I’m a total car IDIOT, but relatively mechanical otherwise and always looking to learn 
I just got a 1987 Mazda pickup from a friend who was pretty savvy…she’d done some work and said that the o-ring needs to be replaced. The car is blowing white-blue smoke when it drives, mainly on acceleration. It just started doing this about 2 weeks ago, and unfortunately there is no manual for the car, and the schematics I’ve found online are too complicated for someone with my limited ability and experience with this stuff
Otherwise, the car runs great!
Can someone explain to me how to replace to o-ring to stop the smoke?
THANKS!! Stephanie
You need to farm this out, unless you are willing to buy a fortune in tools. It is major engine work. In fact, if you do this, you may as well do a full engine rebuild. It might be smarter to just replace it with a good used engine. You should do some compression tests first, it could just be bad valve stem seals.
There are lots of O-rings on your vehicle, but none of them is likely to be causing the smoke. Did your friend tell you which O-ring needed to be replaced? Can you call and ask her?
If she said “the rings” need to be replaced, that’s a different story altogether.
Is the smoke white or blue? The color is important. Blue means oil is burning, white means coolant (water and antifreeze) is getting into the cylinders and being vaporized.
Neither of these is particularly good, but if you see a blue tint it’s probably oil. How many miles on this truck? And how much money are you willing to spend on it?
If you plan to do ANY work at all on this truck you will need a good service manual. I suggest you check Books4Cars.com for a used Haynes (good) or Mazda factory (best) shop manual. A service manual will give you step-by-step instructions for just about anything you want to do. I wouldn’t attempt repairs without one.
You really need to figure out what’s being burned before you do anything or make any big decisions. If the engine needs rings (piston rings, not O-rings), the cost will be substantial, as in rebuilding the engine.
How long did you have the truck before you noticed the smoke?
My suspicion is that you were told the “oil rings” needed to be replaced rather than the “O-rings” and in truth the engine is burning oil. That’s the blue grey cloud you see on acceleration.
My recommendation is to monitor the oil level regularly, daily untill you get familiar with its usage, and change spark plugs frequently.
Repairing this basically entails an engine rebuild. The only alternative would be a boneyard engine. The good news is that as long as you monitor your fluids and keep decent plugs in it it may run this way for years to come. It’ll be just like the '60s, when oil burners were common.