4AGE - smoke machine

[Grega]

OK. Help.

Well after much work to get the 4AGE running, it runs my problem is now this. I have a smoke machine.

I built the motor from scratch ; ensured that the all the rings were in the correct orientation ; everything was lined up ect correctly ; only to find that after a little bit of driving (30 seconds) it starts blowing smoke (oil burning) like a JB Camira on steroids.

I pulled my plugs, and, the porcelain insulator is nice and black on all 4. No2 cylinder however when i pull the plug basically oil "smoke" is coming out of the plug hole - plus the plug is blacker than the rest.

Two things that come to mind :

1. My rings have not sealed/bedded in. I've only run the motor a short while (although I did have to diagnose a fault with the injectors which saw me turning it over quite a bit prior to initial start)

2. When my head was recoed the valve stem seals were not done correctly hence I'm getting oil past the valves.

My understanding is that to determine whats at fault here, i can do a comp test - both wet and dry to tell me whats the problem. What would be the expected outcome (I don't have a comp tester so will need to get one) of glazed/non seating rings OR knackered stem seals?

Far out

[mic*]

You will struggle to do the "dry" part of the comp test if theres already that much oil in there...

Test all four, you should see them all within max 10psi of each other, approx 130-140psi depending on your static comp ratio.

To test, start your motor and pull out the fuel pump relay, let it run till it dies. This is so no fuel messes up the figures by remaining, or being injected during the test. Then pull out one plug at a time and test comp. The wet or leak down part is where you repeat the process but put a few drops of oil in the cylinder first. The idea is that if there is a big difference between wet & dry then there is definitely a sealing issue. I find the leak down part most useful if you unsure what figure to expect initially (dry)...

[jeffro ra28]

the theory behind wet and dry test tells you if the rings are worn excessively. if the results improve substantially with a wet test then the rings are worn.... supposedely

[oldcorollas]

not suckign oil into the intake from somewhere else? or crachked head? or headgasket put on wrong so the oil channel is not sealed?

[Grega]

stu ; nah the head has just been recoed
i triple checked the headgasket when i put it on also to ensure everything lined up correctly

going to do a comp test in an hour or so

[jeffro ra28]

when the head was recoed was it crack tested? crack is unlikely but possible.

[Grega]

jeffro, yep sure was

[IN 05 NT]

all the rings in the right lands?, check ring gaps?

[Grega]

yup.
rings in the right lands alright plus the right way up
double checked that as well

just did my comp :

dry
1 : 195
2 : 190
3 : 200
4 : 175

wet
1 : 225
2 : 220
3 : 220
4 : 190

4 seems to be down a fair bit over the others, they all sealed up though with the wet test.

idling outside before, now not blowing smoke. WTF?

will take it for a drive after T and see how it goes (if i still have light to see smoke that is)

[Cuzzo]

Smoke could be the rings arent fully bed in.

Also could be you PCV valve? Blocked?

[Grega]

Smoke could be the rings arent fully bed in.

you could be right.
i drove it before around the blocks and it wasn't blowing smoke. WTF?
I checked the hose b/w the rocker box and the plenum - seems to be venting AOK.

strange problem thats for sure...

[oldcorollas]

oh.. if you have just rebuilt... and car has only been running a couple of minutes... than any oil in the cylinders or ports that got blown into the exhaust etc, is stil probably oil.. takes a bit of time to heat up the exhaust and burn it out...

so oil burning for a couple of minutes of driving is normal if you have slopped oil around for the rebuild...

so.. start break in, and keep eye on smoke.. if it stays same or gets worse.. there is a problem.. if it gets better all good

is it running well rich?

[Grega]

stu
man i am stupid
yes - the car has prolly done 1-2km since rebuild
so its not even bed in yet

i took it for a little run before, and, no smoke.

i seem to think it might be just the bedding in process that needs to happen which will stablise the compression readings also

we'll see how we go - it will either work out or go bad in a big way.

[feral4mr2]

did you soak the rings/pistons in run in oil while rebuilding? (i always pour oil over the rings/pistons before insertion into the block), if so it could just be burning off that oil.

[turbo4agte]

did you soak the rings/pistons in run in oil while rebuilding? (i always pour oil over the rings/pistons before insertion into the block), if so it could just be burning off that oil.

Why exactly would you soak your pistons and rings in oil before breaking in a rebuilt engine?

idling outside before, now not blowing smoke. WTF?

BTW, I should add that you arent supposed to let the engine idle for any length of time when breaking in rings.