Oil in #1...Fresh Rebuild

[Mo-Bo0st]

So I just got my car all put back together. I had a head rebuilt. I had the block gone through fresh bearings, honed, and new 2g pistons and rings put in my six bolt block.

The head and short block work and assembly was all done by the same shop.

I finally got the motor put back in the car and got it started up. It smoked a little but I figured it would go away once the rings set. I drove it around and the smoking didnt go away so i thought maybe the rings were just taking longer to seat than I expected them to.

Well now the car has 50 miles on it and it still smokes like a frieght train. I pulled out the plugs and found oil pooling in the #1 cylinder.

Has anyone had this happen to them on a fresh rebuild? Does anyone know why this might occur, or have any suggestions for me?

Any help would be great cause I am rapidly getting sick of throwing money at this car.

Thanks in advance.

Morriss

 

[Mo-Bo0st]

Bueller...Bueller...Bueller

 

[Mo-Bo0st]

C'mon guys I really need some help here.

Any thoughts at all?

 

[DarkendSoul]

Well, it could be 3 things. Easiest to fix (or cheapest): Bad valve seal, or an improperly installed valve seal. Alittle harder to fix: Wrong, not correctly seated, or blown head gasket. Major fix: Bad pistion, bad piston ring, or sliglty over bored cylinder. If you didnt have the cylinders bored or honed when you did the overhaul that could also cause the piston to fail to seat. It might also be possible that if there was a huge crack in the head it might leak oil into the cylinder, but that is highly unlikely and it would have been definatly noticed. The absolute best thing you can do is a compression check. If the compression is really low in the #1 cylinder, then it is the ring or piston. It could also be the head gasket though. If the compression is low in the in more than one cylinder or all of the cylinders then its probily the head gasket. A good thing about these problems is that the shop that rebuilt your motor will probily be paying to fix these problems if one of these turns out to be the case. Just run a compression check. Its easy. If you dont have a compression gauge, you can get one at an auto parts store for under 30 dollars. It is a very valuable tool.

 

[DarkendSoul]

You could also have a leak down test done.

 

[Mo-Bo0st]

My compression is 150-155 in cylinders 1-3 and then number four is high 175-180. Its been over a week since I did the test so i dont remember the exact numbers.

 

[DarkendSoul]

I cant remember exactly what compression normally is with your engine on a stock ratio, but you said you had 2G pistons? Do you know what the new ratio is with the 2G pistsons? The 175 to 180 seems about right, but I cant remember. If you have a step up from 155 to 180 then there is definatly a problem. There shoudnt be a variance of more than 20 percent and sense the engine was overhauled, they shouldnt have more than a 5 percent difference. Those results are kind of odd though since 1-3 are the same and you said you where having trouble with #1. But, if its not vavle seals then I am leaning toward the head gasket. But that is all depending on that the pistons where in really good shape prior to instalation and that the block was equally bored and honed. If you planning on doing the work yourself, I would suggest with going with the head and see what happens. Just pull the head, replace the valve stems oil seals, and the head gasket. With the work you said the shop did, you shouldnt have to be doing this, but the engine shouldnt be burning oil eaither. While you have the head off, take a look at the pistons and cylinders. Make sure the pistons are in good shape and that the cylinder walls are not damaged. You cant tell must buy this, but you might be able to see a problem. If the seals and the head gasket doesnt stop the oil leak, then the only other route to go is the pistons and rings and what not. Also, with the new head gasket, the compression shoudlnt be within 20% of each cylinder. That means for example if 1,2, and 3 are 155, #4 shoudnt be anymore than 175. They really shouldnt be than 10 psi from each other if the work you said was done to it was really done. But, try the vavle seals and the head gasket and see what happens. If that doesnt work, go to that shop that did the work to the motor and tell them you want a new one, or one that is properly built.

 

[Mo-Bo0st]

The work that was done by the shop was a rebuild on the head. Replaced bad valves, and put all new seals in it. It was checked for leaks and straightness. Of course this is all assuming that they did the work that they claimed to have done.

The block was also gone through. It was honed and the short block was assembled by the same shop that did the head work. The pistons were brand new in box, and came with rings also brand new in the package.

The compression of the 2g pistons should be 8.5:1

I have found some others claiming that my compression results seemed low as well. I think I am going to attempt a leakdown test this weekend and see what if anything that reveals.

Thanks for your thoughts DarkenedSoul.

Any other suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Mo-Bo0st]

i forgot to mention this in the first post, but in the 50 miles that i drove the car it burned off a whole quart of oil.

 

[Mo-Bo0st]

I did a leakdown test. At 5psi you could hear hissing from the crankcase.
I guess I'll be ripping it appart again. YAY!!!

 

[Mo-Bo0st]

Well...I thought I would throw an update up. It turns out the problem was due to the wrist pin in #1 sliding out and eating up the cylinder wall.

The show has found me another 6 bolt motor/crank, they are buying me .020 2g pistons, the shop that they hired to cut the rods to fit the pistons is supposed to be replacing the rods. The whole thing is being rebuilt at no additional cost to me. Although I had to send my new turbo back to Slowboy for inspection and it turns out it needs a new center section. But the owner of the shop has agreed to pay for that as well.

Hopefully this Christmas break I will have a running car again and it will only have been 1 full year year that I have been without a car. If I ever have to go through this again, I will definately be buying a shortblock from a reputable place like Slowboy, trying to find local shops that know what they are doing is just too much of a guessing game.