any way to reduce the amount of oil I'm burning?

[thejim42]

Is there any way to reduce the amount of oil I'm burning without pulling the motor apart? I'm burning 1qt ever 500 miles or so. I'm running mobile 1 super 5000 10-30 conventional. (Cheapest name brand oil I could find since I burn so much of it)

[AeroNautical]

Wow, that is alot of oil, are you sure none is leaking from a bad gasket? I'd say seafoam your engine. In the gas tank, in the intake, and in the oil. It'll help it all. 

[thejim42]

I'm pretty sure all the oil is in the cloud of blue smoke that comes out of my tail pipe. This motor only has 3500 miles on it

[gogmorgo]

Going to a heavier oil (10w40?) might help a little. But only a little. To stop the leak, you will have to replace the seals, i.e valve stem seals and/or piston rings. Before pulling things apart, though, you may want to have a chat with whoever built the motor.

[thejim42]

It was my uncle. He rebuilt in 04 or 06, wrapped it up in 8 or 9 layers of plastic and duct tape and put in the bed of the truck where it stayed until I got it a year ago

[GrizzzzBear]

Sounds like something Dried, Cracked, or Just Don't Work.

See where it is coming from, What is causing it to Leak or Burn.

[nitroxsteve]

Does it smoke bad at startup or is it smoking all the time?

[thejim42]

It smokes on start up and whenever I step on the gas

[Rockfrog]

Valve seals, pop the cover, then just remove rockers and Springs. Keep everything sorted to its exact position as they will have worn in by now. Easy fix but takes a bit of time. Seals are cheap.

[thejim42]

If the rockers are over tourqued could this happen? I'm wondering if I don't need to retorque the rockers

[thejim42]

If the rockers are over tourqued could this happen? I'm wondering if I don't need to retorque the rockers

[nitroxsteve]

Lots of smoke at start up makes me think valve seals too. I would go there first if that's not it I would think a ring problem. Can you find out from your uncle if it had a valve job when he had it apart ?

[Jeep Driver]

Yep, valve seals.

 

And I'll bet your rings never really seated like they should.

 

You should have tore it down and gone through it again.

 

 

Bagging and new engine and letting it set for 10 years was a big mistake.

[thejim42]

Had the valves done, had the block and head machined cylinders honed.

[Jeep Driver]

And........

 

I'll bet the rest of your seals and gaskets won't last much longer either.

[Jeep Driver]

Had the valves done, had the block and head machined cylinders honed.

Maybe you don't understand?

 

It does not matter what you had done TEN YEARS AGO!

 

All of your seals have gone to rot.

[Eagle]

I'm pretty sure all the oil is in the cloud of blue smoke that comes out of my tail pipe. This motor only has 3500 miles on it

 

With that low mileage, either the rings haven't seated yet, or it wasn't broken in properly and the rings and/or cylinder walls are scored. 3500 miles should be more than enough to seat any set of rings, so I'll lean toward scored cylinder walls. IMHO there's no way to fix that without tearing down the motor to see what's going on inside.

[thejim42]

Well I do know I've built up compression since I first started out. What exactly is the proper way to break in an engine?

[Guest]

If it were a completely fresh engine with top, bottom, and head redone and shined up, I wouldn't dog it for the first 100 miles or so, or at the very least, work it to it's limits all the time.. Eagle and J.D are right in their regards. Doesn't matter if it already had a rebuild; 10 years bagged no doubt caused internal rusting, and possibly gasket rot among other things. I've no doubt it's probably going to need a fair bit of work done on it to get it right again.

[Eagle]

Valve seals, pop the cover, then just remove rockers and Springs. Keep everything sorted to its exact position as they will have worn in by now. Easy fix but takes a bit of time. Seals are cheap.

 

I disagree. Valve seals smoke on compression braking, when vacuum is high. Rings smoke on acceleration.

[Jeep Driver]

Well I do know I've built up compression since I first started out. What exactly is the proper way to break in an engine?

Any oil that would have been on the bore and piston and rings would have gummed up.......somewhat solidified........however you want to state it.

 

If you want any life out of it you need to break it down and inspect/replace.

[Jeep Driver]

 

Valve seals, pop the cover, then just remove rockers and Springs. Keep everything sorted to its exact position as they will have worn in by now. Easy fix but takes a bit of time. Seals are cheap.

 

I disagree. Valve seals smoke on compression braking, when vacuum is high. Rings smoke on acceleration.

 

If his valve seals have hardened/cracked........no longer seal......he would have oil bleeding into the combustion chamber at shut down and blue smoke at startup.

[Eagle]

Well I do know I've built up compression since I first started out. What exactly is the proper way to break in an engine?

 

Drive it. Don't go over 50 MPH for the first 100 miles or so, then for the next thousand drive gently, and avoid staying at one speed for protracted periods. I like to do an oil and filter change at 500 miles, but that's probably overkill.

 

Ask your uncle if he coated the cylinder walls with assembly lube before he put the engine away. Not motor oil -- assembly lube. Something sticky and thick enough that it would stay in place for eight years and provide critical lubrication for the rings when you first started it up.

[thejim42]

I babied it for the first 500 with comps cam break in additive and changed the oil and I'm running mobile super conventional oil. He did use assembly lube.

[Jeep Driver]

No assembly lube in the bores, rings will not seat.

 

I just picked up my block from the machinist today. Everyone I've spoken to from the machinist to ring manufactures....no long idles and get engine under load ASAP (drive normally) to seat rings.