oil consumption

[MeZapU]

What type of valve spring oil seals did you use? I've had poor luck with the white Teflon type not lasting but a few hundred miles before they started leaking oil past the guides. Installed some positive stop type Viton seals and the oil burning problem went away.

 

[basstrix]

He's using the blue positive seals, but didn't specify if they are all viton or have the teflon ring that contacts the valve guide.

I totally agree...those 1 piece teflon seals are junk...very hard to get them on without distorting them.

 

[cjstaci]

The seals are viton. In fact,the seals I got from Lunati were teflon and the machinist said not to use them because they won't last.

As far as the rings go, I don't think I made a stupid mistake like installing them upside down. I was very careful to make sure I installed everything correctly. I would have a hard time believing I could have that big of a brain fart. I guess until I resolve this I can't take anything off the table.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Lunati makes a restricted orifice pushrod. Its a nice piece.

 

[TommyK]

// had a hard time trying to tune it, had a lot of fuel smell. Checked the plugs and found oil on the threads.

I know you said your leak down and compression tests were good but it is possible for over fueling to be so bad it washes the oil off the cylinder walls and you lose the ring seal.

At this point I would agree with your plan. Drive the bag off it and see if it gets better, worse or stays the same. Make sure you keep oil in it.

My WAG is for an intake gasket sealing issue. Have you tried putting a light coating of RTV or Hylomar on both sides of the gasket?

For the record I run a HV pump and haven't had any drain back issues.

Love your car.

 

[MeZapU]

If they are the blue-green viton seals then they should be fine.

When I had my old 351c I also ran some Total Seal rings (gapless 2nd ring) in it and I was forever plagued with some amount of oil fouling of the plugs and puffs out of the tailpipes. I attributed it to the fact that I did not have the block honed with torque plates because the shop that did the machining did not have any for a SBF. The instructions specifically say to have that done but since I rebuilt my engine when I was stationed in England, it was an impossibility. It always bugged me but there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn't prove it was the cause of my oil consumption but it was the only item left that I could not address over time. I did the intake gaskets several times. valve seals, Removed high volume pump and installed a std volume one, different weight oils. Nothing ever cured it.

With my new motor, bored with torque plates and running traditional moly rings, I have no oil consumption at all.

 

[cjstaci]

Regarding fuel, the a/f gauge shows 13.8 to 14.0:1, and the gas analyzer confirms it,but the hc content is extremely high, I 'am assuming that's the oil causing that. I don't see any signs of oil contamination.

For the intake, I didn't use any sealant other than the end seals. What is Hylomar? I haven't heard of that before.

Regarding the rings... some people swear by them, others say they have problems, and some say they are just a gimmick. Some say they reduce oil dilution when the rings wear. The top ring looks like it's a regular moly coated ring, and the second is cast iron, but maybe the steel rail that fits in the second ring is a problem. I don't know, as this is the first time I have used these rings. If these rings are so sensitive that it requires honing with torque plates, that could be a problem. I didn't bore it, so when the heads are torqued, maybe there is too much distortion. Who knows, but I doubt that it could be an issue on the compression stroke because if it's pushing combustion past the rings it should show as blow by and possibly lost power. However, oil could be drawn upward past the rings on the exhaust stroke, I don't know, it's just speculation at this point. I imagine that if I can eliminate everything else as the problem and determine that the rings are at fault, then it will take a very close inspection of the rings and cylinder walls to determine the cause. Hopefully it doesn't come down to that.

I'll say one thing for sure, I sure do appreciate everyone's response's and thoughts, and the comments of how the car looks, now all I need to do is get it run as good as it looks and life will be good again.

 

[TommyK]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gKbg8ah0c4

 

[cjstaci]

Thanks for the info on Hylomar.

 

[cjstaci]

Hi,

It's been a while, been working so much I haven't had time to mess with the car. I spent a few hours the other day, I put shims between the manifold and heads at 4 of outer most bolt holes and installed 4 bolts hand snug. I measured the gap at the bottom and top both sides. I found a slight variance of .005 on the driver side (+.005 larger gap at the top). I think I can rule out the intake.

I pulled a valve spring off, dropped the valve down to the piston and looking at the valve stem thru the intake port, it had a lot of clean oil on it. The lower part of the stem was stained with oil residue. This makes me think it sucking oil thru the guides. The seal looked okay, and I couldn't feel any play in the guide, so maybe the problem is the HV oil pump, too much oil at the top of the engine. I will get it running this weekend, pull a baffle out of one of the valve covers so I can see how much oil is in the head. At this point, I am hoping this is the problem.

I'll post again this weekend.

Staci

 

[cjstaci]

I put the intake back on, used some sealant on the head side (never did that before) and that did the trick. I was able to time it at 15* initial, HC is 2500-2600 at idle, 250 at 2000.

Before,the HC was 4000 + and didn't go down at rpm. Also pulling more vacuum at idle, 10-11, before, it was 8-9 but that was with 22* initial. Pulled a couple plugs after 30 min of run time and they were dry. I did remove a valve cover baffle and saw the oil, it's flowing towards the drain very good and was level with the bottom of the spring seat of the exhaust valve. Oil PSI is 40-42 at idle and 60 and at 2000. 70 when cold. Oil is Valvoline VR1 30W.

Now I only have two things to fix to be ready for this spring. 1, voltage regulator keeps dying, I've been thru 3 of them so far, they work for while then quit. I changed the alternator last time I put a regulator and it has already quit working.

2, I need to replace a latch for the convert. top.

Small problems in comparison. I was so worried about the engine using oil, my worst fear was the the rings were the problem. I really didn't want to tear it down again after all the time and money I put in to it. I am glad it was just intake. It sure sounds good.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in to help.

Life is good again