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Engine is using a lot of oil Were to start ?

54chevtruck

54chevtruck

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West Chester,PA
Ok, Took the Mrs. out today in my '54 for approximately 45 mile ride. Engine used slightly over 2 quarts of oil in that time.:( Since I got the truck this past winter has burned oil-(Something the person I brought it from forgot to tell me ?) Have only put on 130+ miles on the truck since purchase. My concern is not sure the exact mileage on the engine. Engine is original look's like he blasted it and painted blue. Were to start ? Has alot of oil coming down the drivers side rear block area seems to be coming out of cylinders #4 & #5 mostly around both the intake & exhaust manifolds. Even have signs at the exhaust flange connection. Engine runs decent but has a fair amount of smoke coming out the tailpipe worse when reving at a idle. Looking for some help to figure out what to do and were to start ? Also should I address just the issue or pull the engine for a full overhaul ? Look forward to your help. Thanks, Steve
 
Just a update. Pulled the spark plugs found "a lot" of oil on cylinders #4 & #5 plugs. The intake manifold is leaking oil at the sealing surfaces to the cylinder head at those 2 cylinders also. And have signs of oil at the exhaust pipe to exhaust manifold connection. Thanks, Steve
 
sonds like possibly your trucks been standing for a while and the oil control rings stuck in the piston groove, try some stp oil treatment down the bores, take plugs out an stick a healthy dose of stp down each hole and leave for a few days then clean plugs up and whack them in, bang it off and keep revs up fairly high for a few minutes then take her for a long drive, hopefully it will free the rings up and they will pop out of the grooves, wont cost a lot and it sometimes works, just remember that a lot of oil will be in the exhaust and will take time to burn it off so dont expect it to suddenly stop smoking, if it works then smoke will die down gradually over the miles
________
PENNY STOCK PICKS
 
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Thanks, brit 50 I was thinking with starting with a compression & leak down testing to start then see what I had. Shame is I just got a lot of the truck done to what I wanted. Engine looks like will become my winter project. Will keep you posted Thanks, Steve
 
I have heard of many things to remedy this and many products. My favorite product is Marvel Mystery Oil. I have used it successfully to unsticka variety of engine parts in a variety of engines over the years. Others have raved about Diesel Fuel Anti-Gel. Both products are thinner than STP and have penetrating properties and may cause the rings to let go. Was the engine indeed sitting for a while or not? It'd be good to listen to Nate's input as well as there could be another source of the oil. These old engines didn't have a lot of oil pressure so not a lot of oil made it's way to the top of the valve train. Probably not bad guides, but you never know. Wait for Nate to chime in.

Andy
 
Hello Chiro, From what I know the engine was not sitting for a while. Truck seems to have lower miles based on body's condition. Starts & runs Great just smokes a lot worse when reved up. I have owned the truck since Feb. this year has always smoked for me and uses a lot of oil. Thanks, Steve
 
Smoking Issues & Cures

All the above sounds like good advice ~ don't be in any hurry to take it apart just yet .

I didn't see where you posted what engine this is ? .

Kano Labs makes a product just for this , like Marvel Mystery Oil , you use it to soak the piston ring lands and they ringd will often loosen right up and re-seal reducing smoke to a thin blue trail or eliminate it entirely .

I assume you've personally done a major tune up , valve adjust etc. and hot changed the oil once or twice as occasionally the fuel pump diaphram ruptures and ribbles fuel into the crankcase , diluting the oil so much it gets everywhere , goes right past the rings & etc. causing smoking .

As long as the oil pressure gauge gets up off the peg above idle , it's got plenty of oil presure , moreso if it's a 216 engine .

As mentioned , if there's decent compression , some times it just needs to be soaked loose then run hard as all the oily gunk in the ports will take a while to burn out .

Even if the piston rings are totally collapsed it's a simple in-frame overhaul to fix but a compression test and wiggling the valve stems will tell you how much $ it'll take , it's easy to drop $1,200.00 into the cylinder head alone :eek: so let's check it out _very_ carefully before taking it all apart .

Oh yes ~ congradulations on getting SWMBO to ride in your truck ! :cool:
 
Hello Nate, I apologize for adding to your work load on the site. Is the original 235 engine. I have not done the major tune-up deal yet. Oil pressure is strong & engine runs good in a over all sense other then the oil smoke/heavy usage. Fuel pump is new & has already been checked along with the carb for any signs of internal leakage. At this point I am going to start with a basic engine cold/hot compression & leak down testing and will take your advice removing the valve cover to check the valve train further. Will probably be next week loaded up this week. I will post the results after completion.
I will work this week on trying to figure out what "SWMBO" means. Will probably take me a while Thanks, Steve
 
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GREAT !!!! KEN 50 PU, Nate has some good ones. I was sitting here at lunch trying to figure it out on a piece of paper. Wife has actually been a good sport. First time I took her out in the truck ran out of gas due to a guage issue. She is a saint put's up with my crap. Will be our 20th on December 6th.
Thanks Again, Steve
 
My " Work Load " ?! :p I live for this Steve ! I am one of those dinosaurs who still doesn't own a modern car bike or truck :D

If I could only make $ at this , I'd be all set :rolleyes:

Seriously , you've not yet done the tune up ? go to it old son , it's all laid out in tye archives you've been reading , IIRC :rolleyes: . just make a point of doing it all step by step in the correct order , you know : K.I.S.S. :D

The 1954 235 is a one year only deal so whatever you do , DON'T let it overheat as those heads are a bugger to find and I don't know anyplace still pinning cracked heads , more's the pity .

When you're fiddling the valve train , don't be surprised to find the rockers are all wobbly on the shaft , this is no big deal unless the syncopantic cacaphony of valves doing thier thing bothers you , then dump $500.00 or so into all new rocker shafts and new or re-bushed rockers etc. and it'll still clatter like grannie's old Singer sewing machine . remember : A Noisy Valve is A Happy Valve ! ;)

Once in a while the rockers oil supply stops (this can happen in a variety of ways) and causes serious valve guide wear , it won't smoke under acelleration then though . to check , simply remove the oil filler cap and look at the weep hole on the top of a few rockers whilst the engine is running , if oil is burbling out it's fine ~ if the hole looks dry , try running the engine at a fast idel ~ you now have a tiny bit of oil coming out ? good , that's the ticket ~ if still no oil you'll need to remove the rockerbox and have a look , early engine often plugged up the internal oil passage or tube leading to the rockers but it's an easy bypasss , GM even made up a it to fix this in the field , I see them every once in a while on E-pay or you can make it up cheaply @ home .
 
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