Blowby... switch back to regular?

jaackal said:
i would run a thicker CONVENTIONAL oil and see what your results are. IMO, synthetic oils are not good for high mileage cars.
Agreed. I know a bunch of poeple swear by the stuff but synthetic oil has been a nightmare for me. I once used it on a 100k motor and it started leaking EVERYWHERE. Then I used it on a brand new motor I built but had installed my old oil pan on. There was some kind of brown coloration on the bottom of the pan but the parts washer didnt take it out so I figured it was basically a stain and didnt worry about it. Well the synthetic managed to loosen this stuff up in one big piece like a sheet of plastic wrap which of course went straght into the oil pump pickup. Bye bye oil pressure=bye bye new motor :( . I also used it in another motor that had less than 20k on it which promptly started blowing the PCV valve out of the back of the intake and covering my engine with oil from the amount of blowby pressure. Nothing but good ol dead dinosaurs for me from now on.
 
Stang8URMPRT said:
If it's smoking when you're revving the engine or "getting on it", it's piston rings. Time for a rebuild. Can't believe someone hasn't said this yet lol
i did not address it because i asked about smoke at start up, and i dont think i saw a reply. if he had said no, i would have moved onto romps and rings. :)
 
Stang8URMPRT said:
Hissin means if the start up smoke wasn't the problem, then he'll move onto "when you romp it, does it smoke?" Cause that'd mean rings. :D

if my head was a nail, you are the hammer. that is exactly what i meant. i posted the original question awhile back and never heard back (that i saw - we know i have been missing stuff lately though. :doh: ). but without further info on under what conditions it burns, we cant help much. That is why Nick and I were pestering for an answer/more info. :)
 
Stang8URMPRT said:
Valve seals usually cause smoking at start up. Worse after the car has sat for a while.

Valve seals will also cause smoking during long idling periods... In that case "revving" the engine after idling a while will clear the oil out and make a big puff of smoke.

If it's bad ring seal, then you will see smoking all the time (idling, driving down the road, getting on it).

If you only see it while starting up or idling for extended period of times, then i would say you're just in need of some new valve seals.
 
oh, thats cool! yea, after i got my exhaust back on, i was leting it idle for a long time, then i revved it and theats the only time i saw smoke, so it might be valve seals?how hard are they to replace?
 
Biggeley said:
Valve seals will also cause smoking during long idling periods... In that case "revving" the engine after idling a while will clear the oil out and make a big puff of smoke.

If it's bad ring seal, then you will see smoking all the time (idling, driving down the road, getting on it).

If you only see it while starting up or idling for extended period of times, then i would say you're just in need of some new valve seals.
so if I read you correctly, you are saying that there is no way to differentiate top end smoking from ring seal smoking (based upon what you just posted). my experiences are simply different than yours.

dirty exhaust at WOT can be many things other than oil.

and for the record, a leakdown test would remove much doubt from the source of the smoke.
 
I'm with stang8. I think your rings are toast. Is it using up oil? That along w/ the blue out the tail pipes is a sure sign. My buddy ran his w/ bad rings for two plus years b4 he changed and the only problem he had was having to add oil. Hope that helps.
 
I have owned 6 cars in my life, all used an NOT ONE has been able to hold synthetic oil. I goes right out the tailpipe. Use engine sealer plus 20w-50. I use 20w-50 in both leaky ford and neither leaks much anymore and neither burns an appreciable amount. With synthetic, I burned 1 quart every 100 miles(!!). Not exxagerating. Literally, I emptied the oilpan in 300 miles. With 10w-30 regular it's 1/2 a quart every 1000 miles. With 20w-50, I cant tell cause I reach the oilchange without adding any. Starts right up with 20w-50....cold..... in new england....parked outside.....with a chokeless carb. Word.

Dont use autoRX. It's a detergent. It will make it leak even worse. It will clean the sludge and some of that sludge is blocking leakage past the seals. Use engine sealer. I personally dont think it makes a big difference but it is worth a shot.
 
HISSIN50 said:
so if I read you correctly, you are saying that there is no way to differentiate top end smoking from ring seal smoking (based upon what you just posted). my experiences are simply different than yours.

dirty exhaust at WOT can be many things other than oil.

and for the record, a leakdown test would remove much doubt from the source of the smoke.


Well, from the video shown, I couldn't differentiate whether or not ring seal or valve seal is the problem. If the smoking occurs at startup, or during long periods of idling only, I would suspect a valve seal. Let me qualify that -- if the smoke is blue colored. :-) IF the blue smoking happens during reving, normal driving, etc I would suspect ring seal. These are only indicators, of course. Agreed about the leakdown or compression tests giving more accurate information. Yeah, smoking could be caused by a lot of other factors -- plugged PCV, running tooo rich, etc.. There's probably a thousand reasons..
 
crazypete said:
I have owned 6 cars in my life, all used an NOT ONE has been able to hold synthetic oil. I goes right out the tailpipe. Use engine sealer plus 20w-50. I use 20w-50 in both leaky ford and neither leaks much anymore and neither burns an appreciable amount. With synthetic, I burned 1 quart every 100 miles(!!). Not exxagerating. Literally, I emptied the oilpan in 300 miles. With 10w-30 regular it's 1/2 a quart every 1000 miles. With 20w-50, I cant tell cause I reach the oilchange without adding any. Starts right up with 20w-50....cold..... in new england....parked outside.....with a chokeless carb. Word.

Dont use autoRX. It's a detergent. It will make it leak even worse. It will clean the sludge and some of that sludge is blocking leakage past the seals. Use engine sealer. I personally dont think it makes a big difference but it is worth a shot.
I have got to say that this is just not normal. in your case, the 20W-50 makes sense. But for others, it might be overkill and unnecessary to run such a thick oil.
 
I've been looking and in the past 2 days there have been something like 3 threads from people with leaky cars or oil consumption and.....theyre all running synthetic. 20w-50 IS extreme. The big positive change in consumption happened when I went to dino oil instead of synthetic. The 20w-50 was an experminent that worked out well.