<VV> Oily Exhaust....

[Mark Durham]

Jeff, things could just plain be worn out, but you may be able to drive the
car for a bit and get it straightened out. However, first pull the plugs
and see how they look. Keep track of what plug comes from what cylinder.

Install a new set or clean and gap them so they are fresh and then spend
some time driving the car if its not making any strange noises. Also, a
compression check is in order. Regardless of engine age, the compression
should be within 10-25 psi from one cylinder to another. If it get below
110 to 120 psi, its time for an overhaul.

Oil can come from several places, namely the rings and the valve guides.
Normally, the valve guide seals keep this to a minimum, but if they go bad
it can cause a bit of smoke on start and usually under a load, and is a
progressive thing, getting worse over time.

Rings can start to leak if its let set for quite awhile, and you may have
success driving it hard for a bit, but keep in mind there may be corrosion
on the cylinder walls from sitting that will allow oil past the rings no
matter what.

Also, you could have broken rings, so if you have say 1 cylinder or two
that are real bad indicated by oily wet plugs there rather than a overall
oil use as seen on the spark plugs by a darker brown than normal color, you
need to take care of it before it ruins the engine.

So, if there does not appear to be a set of broken rings and so on,
installing a clean set of 1 range hotter spark plugs can help you extend
the use of the engine a bit. The hotter plug survives the oil better. Also,
if its rings or guides, a heavier oil, like a 15W50, not synthetic, will
help to slow oil use a bit.

Regards   Mark Durham




 Sun, Mar 24, 2013 at 2:12 PM, Jeff Wilson <jwilson at unctv.org> wrote:

>
>
> Eek- I started up my rarely-driven 65, engine was running
> kinda rough, and the pass side exhaust only (I have duals)
> seemed to be smoking quite a bit.
>
> Just for a test I tried holding my hand behind each exhaust
> pipe.
>
> Drivers side exhaust was decidedly warmer- leading me to
> suspect one of more cylinders on the pass side were not firing.
>
> The worse news- my hand was covered with oil after just a few
> seconds behind the mis-firing pass exhaust.
>
> What would cause so much oil in the exhaust?
> Bad ring(s)?  Could that be fouling a plug?
> Would just running the engine longer/more 'free up' the rings?
>
> CJ Wilson
>
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