On the hunt for the oil burning problem.
08-03-2011, 07:36 PM
#1
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On the hunt for the oil burning problem. Alright guys so I am really in the mood to get my Firebird ready for a track event in September. Anyways I have a huge oil burning problem. Its eating a quart of oil in about 20 miles. I am working on getting a leak down tester and I want to pull the plugs Friday. May be able to do that tomorrow but its been triple digits and we just moved. So I need to move some stuff in the garage so I can pull the Bird in. The car is still driving like a champ but just smokes a ton of oil. Tho I have parked it. Then engine is a 87k short block junk yard engine. The top engine has my heads with new fel-pro 1074 head gaskets and arp bolts with a lt-4 hotcam. The rest are fel-pro gaskets all torqued to spec. Now I also have a wideband in the car. Anyways just driving is all over the board from 13-15 depending on throttle and revs. At wot its dead on at 12.3 to 12.9. Idle on the tune is 14-17 which is a little lean when its at 17. Tune was done by Trifeca. I want to get that lowered a little on idle to about 14. Yeah it would be rich but I would prefer it that way. So is there anything else that could be the problem. Everyone I talked to thinks I have cracked a piston ring which would show up on the leak down test. If so then its engine build time. I would like to add when I moved the car from my old house to new house which was a 10 mile drive the car had a low end miss. I highly doubt it but could a bad intake manifold gasket make the engine burn this much oil? Any other thoughts or is it just time to save up for a engine build?
08-03-2011, 08:27 PM
#2
Don't make any judgement calls until after you do a compression/leakdown test. It could be something simple like valve seals, could be bad rings. A quart of oil in 20 miles is massive, so it should be easy enough to find.
How does your coolant look?
How does your coolant look?
08-03-2011, 08:30 PM
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i would have to bet on a either rings lined up or one broken. if one was broken i would think you would notice a miss. as far as the intake i wouldnt think it would cause it but you never know also check your pcv system out as well. if it was burning oil through the intake you should be able to look in and see oil sittin in the intake
08-04-2011, 07:25 AM
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With the engine running, and the PCV system in tact, pull the breather tube off the TB and see if you are getting positive pressure. If that checks out, pull the intake and see what the intake runners look like on the heads. If they are soaked in oil you may have an intake gasket problem. A leakdown will not prove your oil rings are bad, but it will prove whether or not your valves are seating properly. During the leakdown, if there is excessive pressure into the crankcase it may prove you have a damaged piston(s). You can also pull a spring off a cylinder and see if there is excessive play w/in the guide.
As stated, if the engine is consuming that much oil the problem should be easy to find.
As stated, if the engine is consuming that much oil the problem should be easy to find.
