Help diagnose my LS2 stroker oil usage
Help diagnose my LS2 stroker oil usage My recently purchased LS2 402 stroker car uses some oil...about 1qt per thousand miles...maybe more. The seller told me up front this was the case and said he felt the valve guides, or valve stem umbrellas were to blame. Other than a tear down, is there any way to prove this theory, or prove where the oil is going?
What I have observed is car doesn't smoke on start-up, nor does it smoke while driving regular, or under heavy load (lugging). The only noticeable exhaust smoke is at WOT above 6000rpm. I recently went to the drag strip...after the last pass I removed the oil fill cap and noticed there is NO smoke at all inside the motor. I don't know what that actually proves but I would think if my rings weren't sealing and blow by was occurring I'd see some smoke. I also noticed the motor has several small oil leaks...not enough to drip, but dirt sticking to moist oil in areas around the valve covers and oil pan. Also a small leak from the bell housing area...not sure if it's running down the back of the block from the lifter valley, rear main, plug in the back of the Eagle crank...who knows. The leaks definitely don't account for any significant oil loss, but do they point to excessive crank case pressure?
The car has a Mike Norris catch can...and I noticed the previous owner cut and plugged the vacuum line coming off the PCV valve on the drivers side valve cover. Not sure why that was done?
The oil loss isn't really that big of an issue, but I'm about to be swapping headers, rocker arms, maybe heads, maybe cam...etc. If I knew my valve seals were the cause of the oil use it would probably help my decision to throw a new set of Trickflows on it
For what it's worth...this is the build...Shortblock has approx 14K miles on it now - the heads have 40K or less but I'm just guessing.
TSP 402 Shortblock - Eagle Crank, Eagle H-Beams, Diamond pistons, 10.8scr
Patriot stage 3 heads
244/248 - - .619/.619 (w/1.85 Comp Pro Magnum RR's) - - 112 LSA
Fast 92 ported to approx 95mm
95mm TB & 100mm MAF
FLP 1 3/4 long tubes
What I have observed is car doesn't smoke on start-up, nor does it smoke while driving regular, or under heavy load (lugging). The only noticeable exhaust smoke is at WOT above 6000rpm. I recently went to the drag strip...after the last pass I removed the oil fill cap and noticed there is NO smoke at all inside the motor. I don't know what that actually proves but I would think if my rings weren't sealing and blow by was occurring I'd see some smoke. I also noticed the motor has several small oil leaks...not enough to drip, but dirt sticking to moist oil in areas around the valve covers and oil pan. Also a small leak from the bell housing area...not sure if it's running down the back of the block from the lifter valley, rear main, plug in the back of the Eagle crank...who knows. The leaks definitely don't account for any significant oil loss, but do they point to excessive crank case pressure?
The car has a Mike Norris catch can...and I noticed the previous owner cut and plugged the vacuum line coming off the PCV valve on the drivers side valve cover. Not sure why that was done?
The oil loss isn't really that big of an issue, but I'm about to be swapping headers, rocker arms, maybe heads, maybe cam...etc. If I knew my valve seals were the cause of the oil use it would probably help my decision to throw a new set of Trickflows on it
For what it's worth...this is the build...Shortblock has approx 14K miles on it now - the heads have 40K or less but I'm just guessing.
TSP 402 Shortblock - Eagle Crank, Eagle H-Beams, Diamond pistons, 10.8scr
Patriot stage 3 heads
244/248 - - .619/.619 (w/1.85 Comp Pro Magnum RR's) - - 112 LSA
Fast 92 ported to approx 95mm
95mm TB & 100mm MAF
FLP 1 3/4 long tubes
Last edited by 74u; Jan 25, 2014 at 07:36 PM.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,326
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From: Hayward CA
I have the same problem on my block now..almost the same set up as urs..eagle crank and rods... Me ans my bou checked and it was leaking from the rear seal and valve covwr gasket..u might wanna start with the rear and clean the bell housing and see the next day if it gets oil!
