My motor is smoking!

-
340sFastback said:
I think if you take the intake off and its dry the next step is to pull the heads and see if its a head gasket issue. If its neither of those then it has to be rings. Again sorry about your engine.
Click to expand...


I believe it is the intake gaskets leaking. I'm not fond of the steel ones I used like above in the pictures that I posted. Composite would have been better.

I have made up my mind and going to find a 360 because the lil 273 will never be the torque monster I want. So I'm not going to invest anymore time and money in the 273 until I start to pull the motor. LOL!
 
If you do pull the intake and see oil in the ports then I would clean the heads and intake gasket surfaces real good. Then lay the intake on the heads with NO gasket. Use a feeler gauge to see if there are any gaps due to the machining. If the surfaces do not meet flush then that is contributing to oil getting sucked into the intake ports.
 
340sFastback said:
If you do pull the intake and see oil in the ports then I would clean the heads and intake gasket surfaces real good. Then lay the intake on the heads with NO gasket. Use a feeler gauge to see if there are any gaps due to the machining. If the surfaces do not meet flush then that is contributing to oil getting sucked into the intake ports.
Click to expand...

I know you can't tell much from pics but here is one close up without gaskets heads setting on block.

Heads 003.jpg


Heads 002.jpg
 
340sFastback said:
If you do pull the intake and see oil in the ports then I would clean the heads and intake gasket surfaces real good. Then lay the intake on the heads with NO gasket. Use a feeler gauge to see if there are any gaps due to the machining. If the surfaces do not meet flush then that is contributing to oil getting sucked into the intake ports.
Click to expand...

Oh... what size should be used on the feeler gauge to see if ther are any gaps?
 
Old school.........
If you start up the engine and it smokes, right off, then it your valve seals. The oil leaks past the seals when the engine is off and causes some smoke on start.
If while running it, it smokes, it the rings.
On an older engine, it's not uncommon to "blow out" the bottom end by doing a head job (increased compression). The best way to check this is to do a compression test then try it again after squirting a little oil into each cylinder. If there is a marked increase in the compression then there is excessive blowby indicating you need new rings.
That's my 2 cents but that's old school and has never failed me.
Jim
 
Make sure that the crankcase ventilation is working as it's suppose to, too much pressure will force oil by the rings as they become the weakest link for pressure to get by.
From the low pressure of the cylinders that you had before you may have washed the cylinders out with too much fuel and it will take time to get the rings to seat as they should. As low cylinder pressures generally dont burn all the fuel they generally get. The excess has to go somewhere and this excess will wash the oil from the cylinders and create a smoking problem when pressure returns. Use of a heavier weight oil will help this situation out quicker, and get it to either stop or slow down the smoking problems.

The heads have good guides and teflon seals, so the amount of oil that would get by them is very minimum.
Have you retightened the intake bolts after the engine was warmed up? You may find that the bolts are a bit loose, just as hedder bolts get loose after the warmup so do the intake bolts, as were talking about two different types of materials and expansion rates.
If all the things mentioned are in good shape then the bottom end is the fault.

As for the feeler guage, use the thinnest one you have, and the gap will be at the bottom of the intake where the manifold meets the heads. .004 - .005 wont leak with a gasket, even a steel gasket. As the ribs in the steel gasket are .020 tall and will take up the difference.
 
Bobby,

I checked the PVC valve while the motor is running and I have vacuum and the ball is moving up and down in the PVC. Now it seems when I remove the breather/oil cap I don't not have any pulling force going into the valve cover when I place my hand over the hole on the valve cover. My breather/oil cap has oil inside it on the foam filter and has even dripped on the valve cover because there is oil on the valve cover. I have observed the inside of the valve cover while the engine is running and can see the rockers and springs moving and notice at running temperature that there is a little cloud of smoke in there but it does not come blowing out of the valve cover.

I am currently running 20w-50w VR-1 Valvoline.

I have retorqued the intake bolts to 45 ft/lbs.

How do you check the bottom of the intake with it sitting on heads with no intake gaskets? I guess on all four corners of the intake since that is the only accessible place?
 
Yep that the only place that you can check the intake. Another thing that I thought of is if the pull is too strong or there isnt a baffel under the PCV valve then the vacuum could pull raw oil in through the PCV hose in straight into the carb. The next thing is it starts burning oil and it's because of strong intake vacuum.
 
I took the intake off today and there is oil all over intake where it meets the heads. The head ports are not soaked in oil but has a oily feel to them. The paint in the intake port is a high performance mod that I'm trying out.=P~

Heads 009.jpg


Heads 013.jpg


Heads 014.jpg


Heads 016.jpg


Heads 012.jpg
 
Bingo! I believe you found the problem.

You can put the intake on and push it back or better forward if the dist. is still in, to check how the intake sits, if its flush with the heads.

I believe its best to do with a gasket in place, since thats how its going to be on there.

Get a thick gasket, not steel--those were for cast iron intakes. Clean the head and intake with brake cleaner, not paint thinner or carb cleaner-those have oil in them. Put some stuff like high-tack or Indian head sealer. Use RTV on the front and back rails.

I also like using a valley tray to limit the oild flying up from the camshaft. Cheap $25 and if the intake ever leaks, theres far less oil hitting the intake.
 
Like Dodgefreak said the steel shim gaskets were designed for cast intakes but you can use them if you seal them with High Tack or a similar shelaq (sp?) but fel-pro's or other good composition gaskets work better and don't require sealer around the ports. In fact if you use sealer on some of the composition gaskets they don't seal as well. Also never use RTV on an intake port because it turns to jelly when gas hits it. It's great for the end gaskets but not the ports.
 
fishy68 said:
Like Dodgefreak said the steel shim gaskets were designed for cast intakes but you can use them if you seal them with High Tack or a similar shelaq (sp?) but fel-pro's or other good composition gaskets work better and don't require sealer around the ports. In fact if you use sealer on some of the composition gaskets they don't seal as well. Also never use RTV on an intake port because it turns to jelly when gas hits it. It's great for the end gaskets but not the ports.
Click to expand...


Yeah I never use RTV around anything on the intake to head area. I use a 1/4" bead of RTV on the front and back of the intake. Eldelbrock says not to use the cork gaskets but use RTV instead on the front and back. I'm sold on the composition gaskets now for sure.
 
If you have had the heads milled for compression, the rubber/cork end rail seals will cause the intake to sit too high and it won't seal (you may even crack it). I absolutely HATE RTV, but that is a good place to use it. Be careful using sealants with composition gaskets. I would be inclined to follow the instructions. Some come with a surface which seals better if it contacts the metal directly.

Glad you found the problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top