Smoking engine questions

[bobs409]

The '66 I just bought has one downfall, the engine smokes. When I first got it, the oil was heavily dilluted with fuel and it smoked ALOT. When I changed the oil, it gushed out. I suspect the carb was flooding and I'm rebuilding when the kit comes in but last night I tossed on another carb I have and ran it.

With the fresh oil/filter, the car smoked some but no where near as much as the other day. Once it got hot, it began smoking less and less and at one point, I didn't see any.

The problem is I revved it up a bit (nothing wild) and it started smoking again.

My instincts tell me this is most likely bad rings but wanted to run it by you guys first. Car/engine have 99,000 on them. The oil return holes are wide open and inside of the engine is fairly clean. No heavy gunk at all. Engine runs smooth and quiet.

Can bad valve seals do this? Any tricks to help diagnose it further? Car is not licensed so no driving it.


Thanks,

[MK IISS]

Bob: Check the compression. I'm sure you know if one or more cyls are below the rest or spec..... squirt some oil in the cyl. and check again. If it's bad rings the compression will jump up to normal for the first few cranks.

[JimKwiatkowski]

Bob,with that my miles the valve stem seals are gone I think they are the o-ring type.But I don't thats your problem after running engine oil will burn off and stop smoking anter 5 min of running.

I think Richard is right try his test and I think you will find bad oil rings :(

[fatride]

Bob, make sure that the fuel pump is not sending fuel straight to the oil pan from a torn diaphragm! ;)

[jester]

I think Fatride has it right . If the pump is leaking, you are thinning out the the new oil. Smell the dip stick.

[bobs409]

Quite possible but the fuel pump was changed not long ago by Ned in hopes of getting it running better. Not exactly sure what it was doing though. I put in a new set of points and she runs excellent! Fires right up and runs smooth. The old pump came with the car and is the original one. (has the screws around the body) Car has all it's original parts it seems.

I don't smell any more gas on the dipstick now that I changed the oil and the level hasn't increased at all. I ran it again last night and it seems to be doing even better now. Hardly no smoke now, even on cold start up. Maybe it just needed a good run? It's been sitting a while before I bought it and before Ned bought it too. It runs awesome though! No knocks or noise and power out the wazoo! :eek: I drove it around my lot and the car is so tight, it's like new. No rattles, bumps or anything that the General didn't put in it.

I noticed something about this car that didn't strike me at first. It looks "rough around the edges" but I know why now. The car was never painted and there is NO bondo to be found! What that means is although it has some rust through here and there, (and nothing bad) there will be no suprises. :eek: No aluminum siding riveted on and coated with 3/8" of bondo, no chicken wire, etc. :rofl What you see is what you get with this one. She needs some "assistance" but I love this car! :love I can't wait to start the body and paint. (next year I guess)

It's like night and day from the first time I ran it. It was a "crop duster" that time! :eek: I even shut it down early for fear that a passing motorist might call the fire department! :D

I'm going to do the compression test for kicks. Another member wrote me and mentioned that it may not be an accurate test though. He said rings may be good but the oil rings could be bad. Still, I'll check the compression.

Does it matter if I pull all plugs for this test or just do one at a time with the other 7 in?


Thanks for the help, websites dealing with 1966 Chevy's are far and few I just found out. Hmmm..... Naw. :p :D

[MK IISS]

Bob: Pull all the plugs before you start the test. Take note what each plug looks like.

[fatride]

Bob, hold the throttle wide open for the test also!

[JimKwiatkowski]

Bob,sounds like you had some oil rings that were a little sticky now it sounds they are on stuck after running :)

[bobs409]

Thanks, I'll do that. Should I hold onto one of the plug wires while I crank it? :D :rofl (ever do that to an unexperienced person?) It's great comedy! :rofl

[dq409]

Bob, I would put some miles on it and see if it clears up. Sometimes just driving will clean and free up the rings.

You can also add some Mystery oil to the gas and oil to see if that helps loosen the stuck rings.

You also might try dumping a mixture of water and trans fluid down the carb at a fast idle.

,,,dq

[bobs409]

I have my report ready:


First number is dry, second is with a shot of oil in cylinder. The 3rd is the difference between the two.

#1 146 - 151 - 5
#3 149 - 156 - 7
#5 136 - 142 - 6
#7 142 - 155 - 13

#2 131 - 139 - 8
#4 134 - 147 - 13
#6 140 - 145 - 5
#8 131 - 140 - 9

Car ran the same as yesteday. If you baby it, hardly no smoke but if you rev it up, it starts puffing. All blue too.


I have another question too. This has the heat riser valve and it was stuck. I free'd it up but it's still tight so it won't move under it's own power. Which way is open? :dunno Counter weight was up as high as it would go when stuck. Any takers on this one? :D

[JimKwiatkowski]

Bob,I agree with dq Marvel Mystery oil works great put some in your oil and gastank and keep starting it and running and it should clear up.If not take 2 asprin and call me in the morning :)

[bobs409]

I do have some in the gas. I use it in my 409 gas most of the time too.

How much Marvel should I add to the oil? Is the aspirin for me or the car? :D

[JimKwiatkowski]

Bob,not sure how much to add to oil maybe 1/2 qt read directions on can.The aspirin is for you if your oil rings don't loosen and you have to install a new set of rings

[dq409]

Bob, Those numbers aren`t all that bad and some of the low numbers could be caused by leaking valves, ya never know unless you do a leak down test.

I would run a large can of Mystery oil in it for a while then change the oil to a 20w50.

Again I would pour that trans fluid /water mix down the carb to get rid of any carbon buildup.

This is how I would do it,,,,

1- Do the mix down the carb to remve the carbon.

2- Pull the plugs and rotate the pistons so you can pour a far amount of mystery oil in each hole. Let sit for 24 hours. Then turn the engine over after sitting with the plugs out to purge any oil that is left. Cover the holes with a rag so it doesn`t spray everywhere.

3- Add the Mystery oil to the crankcase oil and drive it on a long cruz at freeway speed.

4- Change the oil to 20w50 after you have some more miles on it.

I`ve cured many tired engines of oil use by switching to 20w50.

If this doesn`t cure it,,,,, insure it,have a buddy steal it and remove the engine.
Then have the insurance company buy you a new HiPro crate engine :eek:

Good luck,,dq

[jester]

Hello Bob. .I t's not like these small block engines to smoke as you discribed. First question I have is:
How long did this car sit before you aquired it?
Did you check the vacuum modulator on the transmission for oil?

[bobs409]

Jester, good idea on the modulator! I didn't even think of that and I had this happen once on my truck. :doh I will check that later for sure. I recall on my truck that only #8 would get oily when that happened. I don't see evidence of that on this one but it's worth a look! :cheers

I bought the car from another member (65impala409) and he's out of town right now but I believe he said the car was off the road since 1990 with the owner before him and he bought it in 1997. He never licensed it but started and ran it probably 30 times in the 7 years he owned it. (will have to ask him to be sure) So quite possibly, 14 years without being driven on the road. ??? How long that dilluted oil was in there? I have no idea. I hope not too long.

I was hoping the numbers I provided would tell more. I looked in the "how to rebuild you small block Chevy" book and he said if there is a difference of 10% or more on a cylinder between the dry and wet compression test, there's probably wear in the oil control rings. (I'm going by memory what I read) He said it's normal for cylinders to have different numbers as each will wear differently so no big deal on that with my numbers.


Keep those great idea's coming guys! I appreciate the help.

[jester]

Just a thought here Bob. What about the oil you put in. Is it that super duty, High detergent made for today's high reving, high temp engines.. I don't think they had that High Detergent oil back in the days of your car's youth. Just the same, If it were my engine, with those comp. readings , I would use Rotella 10 40 oil (SAE, cc, cd, ce and cf ) changed every 1500 mile with the marvel oil and run that engine as much and as long as the police or DEC would allow. It could be just a sticky ring or two.
If it doesn't kill it , it will cure it.



"book and he said if there is a difference of 10% or more on a cylinder between the dry and wet compression test, there's probably wear in the "OIL CONTROL RINGS . "

It's the comp. rings

[bobs409]

5 quarts of Havoline 10w/30 in it now with an AC filter.

[dq409]

Bob, I have to agree that you should run 10w30 now to help the Mystery oil find it`s way to the rings but,,,,,,,, once you have run it for a while I would strongly recommend going to the 20w50.

On a high mile older engine I believe that the 10w30 is too thin. ,,, jim