Heat Treat Pete

I have a sat of Patriot heads on my 1999 z28 and one of the cylnders is oil fouled. Someone told me Patriot had a problem a while back with there valve seals. Has anyone heard the same thing. My number 2 spark plug is so black I think i'm running on 7 cylinders.

Ryan02SS

iTrader: (3)

Patriot did have a problem in their early run of heads. I bought mine in 2003 and have not had a problem. If you are burning that much oil it should be confirmed by bluish smoke from the exhaust on a cold startup. If so it very well could be your valve seals. It's a very easy fix if you have the time and tools.

Heat Treat Pete

Ryan02ss, Yes there is blue smoke. I went through a quart of oil in about 350 miles. Can the valve seals be fixted on the car or do the heads have to come off? I have the time and I can get the tools. Thanks for your help.

Gunnar@Patriot

iTrader: (20)

Give us a call and we will be glad to go over any issues you may be having.

delsold

iTrader: (7)

yet again patriot performance customer service proves why the patriot name is so highly recognized!

but if its the valve seals they can be done with the heads on the car you just have to pull the rocker arms and springs

Heat Treat Pete

I have no complaints about the performance of the patriot heads. My car ran 1240 with one cylinder oil fouled. After I fix the problem the car should run 11's. I thinks its something i can fix myself with a little guidence. Just to let eveyone know about the patriots heads, my car with a cam,LS6 intake,and patriot heads dyno-ed at 395rwhp. I think thats great. Gunner I'll be calling you soon.

Gunnar@Patriot

iTrader: (20)

Just ask for me when you call !

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

It may also be a case where one seal came off and is riding up and down with the valve. Had this happen on my daughter's Nissan and it burned oil like crazy. Either way, if its the seal, easy fix. A good valve spring tools makes things much easier though, the Crane tool would be my recommendation.

Heat Treat Pete

Let me ask one more thing, could it be a bad coil or bad coil wire? The only thing that makes me think valve seals is the amount of oil its using. The spark plug looks like its full of oil not gas.

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

Are you getting any misfire codes? You could also do some basic checks to make sure the cylinder is firing, but I would think you would pick it up unless the misfire detection is turned off. If it is, then you need to do some elementary checks like the spark plug is firing, etc. I would do these first if you suspect there may be an issue as a single seal that bad would be less likely than say all valve seals are worn.

Heat Treat Pete

I just left the speed shop by my house ( A Team ) and Rob the owner says it sounds more like a valve guide then a valve seal. He metioned he had just done a set of Patriot heads and that the valve guides were bad. Like vettnuts said I will do some elementary checks and try and find out the true cause.
I would like to give thanks to Gunner from Patiot Performance. He has e-mailed me and wants to help. Thanks to everyone else for your input. I hope when I get done I will be able to help someone else.

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

Just to add a few thoughts. I have always felt the poor wipe pattern on the stock rockers would accelerate valve guide wear with heavier springs. When I checked mine, I couldn't believe the poor pattern they produced so I am running aftermarket roller rockers. Something to think about if the guides are going bad, they may have excessive side loads from the stock rockers.

Heat Treat Pete

Thanks vettnuts, i'll check them out.