new motor smokes...

[Saphirestang89]

ok i think i know the answer to this question but im going to ask it anyways. I just recently (>500 miles) put a rebuilt motor in my fox. The first 300 miles it never saw over 3k rpm...oil changed...next hundred miles it only saw 4500rpm due to MAF problems. Now at anything over 3k it smokes(alot) and only when im hard on the gas. I have not done a compression check yet but thats on my agenda for tonight. It is using oil but from what ive heard that is normal on a newly rebuilt motor. The only thing that keeps me thinkin it could be something else(VERY wishful thinking) is that when i blew up the original motor something happened with the seal on the lower intake and head and it poured coolant into the cylinders and into the exhaust system...we are talking ALOT of coolant like it poured out my tail pipes...im wondering if the coolant basically soaked into the cats(4 of them and it sat over a year) and its still blowing smoke from burning it out of the cats??? The smoke is white with a blue tint SOMETIMES, and no specific smell....

so basically my questions are: whats your opinion on the smoking situation. I think i have rings that didnt seat. If thats the case is it OV for the motor or can i take it east for a while to see if it gets any better???

how long would it take to burn coolant out of a cat after its sat in there for a year+


thanks for the help. If it needs rings im call D.S.S. for a shortblock FTW

 

[Mr. Rustypwnz]

could be a hg..

 

[Saphirestang89]

how can you know for sure?

 

[Blown331LX]

I highly doubt its coolant, especially if you say it is blueish. Give me some more specs on your motor..... I had recently built a fresh 306 with H/C/I setup, I had it pulled apart 5 seperate times before it was right, a couple because of smoke and a couple because of abnormal noise. Needless to say after the first go round it smoke bc of new heads on old rings, second go round it still smoked but this was due to bad valve guides in the BRAND NEW heads that had less than 800 miles on them. There is a chance it could be rings but you would have to do a cylinder leak down test or running compression test to determine that. Quick check is to smell the oil, if it smells like gas it usually indicates ur buring oil (fuel past the rings), and also check your valve cover breather or pull your oil cap off during hot idle, if you see a lot of vapor you have too much blow by (bad rings). Valve guide usually smoke at idle, and mine were the exhaust valve guides so even when I pulled the intake to check the ports they were dry, it wasnt until I pulled of my longtubes I could see wet oil in the pipes. To check for a head gasket leak pressure test the cooling system with a pressure tester, it should hold at least 18 lbs for 20 minutes, you can also check for prescense of carbon in the coolant with a test kit. Oh and one other thing to check, make sure your EGR cooler in front of your intake isnt cracked or hooked up incorrectly. Ive seen 3 different shops diagnose bad headgaskets when these were at fault. Keep us posted.

 

[Saphirestang89]

ok i got the specs for you and ill be detailed:

short block: stock 89 302 block .030 over
speed pro forged pistons
fed mougal(sp?) plasma moly rings
stock connecting rods
polished crank
fed moug cam/main/rod bearings

h/c/i:
comp cams e303 cam
gt-40p heads 1.94" intake 1.54" exhaust, 5 angle valve job
specs on heads at tristatecylinderhead.com click on gt40p heads on far right and side in the best sellers section
stock pedestal rockers
6.300"(actual length) w/ .030" shims
needed and actual length 6.28" pushrod and that set up gave me 6.27 which is
as close as anyone makes without gettin a custom set
gt-40(explorer) upper and lower intake
70mm t-body and egr spacer

exhuast: mac unequal length headers
stock h-pipe(i have emissions where i live )
flowmaster 40 series mufflers
dyno max tailpipes

not that it matters but the tranny is a tremec t-5 and it has a 3.73 gear

 

[Blown331LX]

Check what I mentioned in my first post and get back to me. I have a strange thought it might be your rings. Who put your motor together?

 

[Saphirestang89]

ok will do
i think its the rings too
just one of those gut feeling kinda things
and the motor was put together by my cousin
who is ase certified and works at a ford delaership
mine was his 8th 306 and the first one that has had
any problems.

 

[Blown331LX]

I am Ford tech as well and I had mine apart five times before it was right. My advice is to ditch the moly rings and go with the standard speed pro / sealed power cast ring set. Sometimes those plasma moly rings are a bastard to seat and thats probably whats going on. To try to get them to seat drive it down the road in 3rd gear, 3/4 throttle (dont beat on it), until like 5,000 to 6,000 rpm then let off of it and let the motor slow the car until about 1,000 rpm or until it tries to stall it self. Try and do this several times before you tear it apart, this may seat the rings, if not pull it down then aand go with cast rings. Plasma moly are best used for racing applications not street.

 

[Saphirestang89]

ok so i been checking my plugs and ill be damned if
cylinder: 1,2,3,4,5,7,8 all clean and clear cylinder 6
fouls with oil ever 500 miles or so
i guess the rings didnt seat on the cylinder :[

 

[Fast63]

could still be valve guides/seals for that one cylinder.

 

[Blown331LX]

Dude I know your going to hate to hear this but the best thing to do is pull it back out and recheck everything. I promise you I know FIRST HAND how big of a pain in the ass it is. I pulled mine 5 times and re-worked it every sinlge time until I got it right, and the best part was this was 5 times in 2,000 miles. Dont forget its expensive to go fast and sound good, but it cost MUCH less to fix a small problem and check for others than it is to over look a big issue like assume one fault while leaving another fault which can cause VERY expensive repair. Put standard cast rings in it and send the heads back to the machine shop that just redid them and there should be no charge, and they will more than likely give you a new gasket set if they're a decent shop. Then all you're out is a new set of rings, and some time. And when you put it back together you will know for a fact it wont smoke.

 

[cenok is family]

i have moly rings in my car...after i rebuilt it last year, the car smoked for over a 1000 miles. it got me really worried like you are and i did all sorts of tests on it. one day it just stopped doing it. now it runs flawlessly (aside from a stalling problem i'm having ) and hard, to boot. i dunno, its up to you what you do, but i would wait it out a couple hundred more miles if a little bit of blow by is all ya got. just stay off it

 

[Blown331LX]

i have moly rings in my car...after i rebuilt it last year, the car smoked for over a 1000 miles. it got me really worried like you are and i did all sorts of tests on it. one day it just stopped doing it. now it runs flawlessly (aside from a stalling problem i'm having ) and hard, to boot. i dunno, its up to you what you do, but i would wait it out a couple hundred more miles if a little bit of blow by is all ya got. just stay off it

Moly rings can take a very long time to seat, do what i suggusted in an earlier post about running back and forth through 3rd gear. This should help them seat sooner. However if its already been 2,000 miles put on the engine and #6 only is getting wet with oil it sounds to me like you have something else going on. Who knows maybe one of the rings on number 6 didnt seat, could also be a problem with the intake valve guide on that cylinder or hell a ring could be bad or broken. I dont see it taking more than 2,000 miles to set moly rings, if it does you might want to try a different brand.