i have a straight 6 ,235 chevy engine and the oil level was full yesterday..i drove it today and yesterday for a total of maybe 2 hours and my oil level is empty i knowm the rear main seal is leaking a little and smokes a little but what else can be causing the oil level to drop so quick or burn so much...... what can i do to solve the problem? i know i could buy a crate motor and put it in but tryin to save a little money around the holidays.... what do u guys think is the problem with my oil situation?
Drove it at highway speeds for 2 hours or chugging around town? ...smokes a little? how much is little? Under acceleration? Backing off the throttle?
drove it today at highway speeds for about 30min yesterday just cruising around town for about an hour and no it looks to be white smoke and not a lot but i can see it when other people have their headlights on behind me
when i say a little its not steadly blowing smoke but its more when i at a stop that i can tell its smoking,,,i mean i can barely see the smoke at night because of the lights,,,during the day u prob wouldnt notice it besides the smell
has the motor/car been sitting along time? Lots of miles? cuz it sounds like piston rings ...possibly broken or seized but could be advanced wear....one possible quick fix, if its a wear issue is put in a heavier grade of oil or change brands at the very least...see if it slows down....some engines don't like some oils I've learned over the years
It isn't anything a triple carb 348 couldn't fix , mabye the ****** is growling?...nuthin a good ol' T-10 can't fix....
yes the motor has been sitting for about 3 years , its says 25,000 miles ,,i got it from a old lady that had it in her garage,, i used 10-30 pennzoil what do u recomend i try? i didnt think about that i could be the piston rings...ding ding
Ok Now we're gettin somewhere...***uming the motor was protected from the elements...it sounds like you just installed it or got it running...am I correct? if that's the case then run it for few days make sure its up to temperature, 195 degrees or a pinch hotter...try some straight 30 or 40 weight...above all keep your eye on the level... it'll tell you a story.... if you were running this motor for a while and it just started using oil like this ...then I suspect broken rings...and there is not much you can do but change it out...
That seems like a lot of oil loss in a really short time. Is the undercarriage all oiled up from a leak? I ran a SBC for a short time and found it leaking from a threaded hole near the fuel pump. Turns out I needed to put a short bolt in the hole to stop the leak. Interesting thing is it would not leak at idle, only when the engine revs were up like on the highway, so watching it idle in the driveway did not show me the leak. I am wondering if you have a leak somewhere that doesn't show itself until the revs are up high. I also had a similar issue with a 4cyl Tempo (yeah, not one of my proudest moments), it would leak and spray one side of the undercarriage with oil, turned out to be a loose timing chain cover. It just sounds to me like you are losing too much to just be burning it. If you really are burning that bad I think you would see more smoke and you would definitely be fouling your plugs rather quickly (in my opinion). Degrease the engine, make sure the engine is dry ... take it for a run (so the revs come up), then look for the oily spot. Good luck with it.
that's a good theory too...but you would think he would see the results a large leak like that on the ground...he made no mention of it...
theres a small puddle of oil on the ground after it sits from driving bit not even big enough to notice unless u were looking for it ya its pretty nasty on the underside of it,,looks more like caked on grease and oil from over the years....but your right if it was burning that much oil u would figure it would be a big cloud of smoke ,,,,i meanwhen i hit the gas i get a small puff but like isaid its hardly noticable unless some light is reflecting off of it
Actually no you won't find a big puddle under the car .... that's the odd part about it. On a SBC there are two holes in the block down near the fuel pump ... one of those holes actually lines up with the fuel pump pushrod. The idea is that when you are changing a fuel pump you can run a long bolt into the hole and gently put pressure on the fuel pump push rod, this will allow you to remove and install a pump without having issues with the rod dropping down and impedeing installation. Once you have installed the new pump, you remove the long bolt and fill the hole with a short bolt that can be tighened but is not long enough to touch the push rod. The problem is (if you don't install the short bolt) it will leak BUT it only leaks when you are driving, so the vast majority of the oil is lost out on the road, when you idle into your driveway the hole (in my case) does not leak, so you really don't end up with a large puddle on the ground under the car. I know your car does not have a SBC but I suspect you might have a leak similar to the one I described.
i will clean the engine and try the heavier oil this weekend and see what happens,,,, i just dont see it losing that much oil with the small puddles and little smoke,,,kinda weird
sounds good,,, after i clean it ill get under there and check for any leaks,,,i know ,,well i think i know that the rear main seal is bad because i do see a small drip from that area
I made a couple of changes to my post above yours. You may even have a hole in your pan that is above the oil level line, or your timing cover, or possibly even your rear main seal. When the engine is idling/driving at slow speeds the oil isn't getting tossed around enough to "fall" out of the hole ... different story when the crank is flinging oil around at highway speed though.
Doing a compression test and a cylinder leakdown test would help to decide whether you should keep dinking with it or make some serious repair or replace. You didn't mention how much you have to crank it to get it to start. Especially when cold. Pull a spark plug or two and see if it/they looks choked up with black crud. And one more word. An engine that has sat for years may have a lot of stuck rings that could free up after some serious run time and maybe the addition of a can of some kind of miracle chemical that can be bought at your friendly auto parts store.
so ur saying maybe a should take the fuel pump bolts out and see if they are short,,,ifi have a long one it may be the problem i really appriciate all ur help,,,ill try these ideas and let ya know what happens
its been kinda cold here in texas, about 40 or so in the mornings,,it starts right up well maybe a couple trys but i gotta keep some gas on it to warm it up and then it stays at idle,,,,,when i first got it running i didpullthe spark plugs and the first piston closest to the grill had some black crud on it all the others were \black so i leaned my auto choke a bit,,but havent checked them since that,,,i figured sinced it ran better with the adjustment that the problem was it was to rich
Clean it real good with a degeaser, dry it off with a leaf blower. Then take some flour, like what you make biscuts with. Throw flour all over the engine and take it for a drive. Get it up to highway speed, then take her home and look for the leak. The flour will show you the leak, it will be yellow where the leak starts.
smart idea, ill try that but if all else fails i guess it will be time for a sbc but that 6 looks so cool in it
Nooo .... the short bolt thing is for SBC. There are two bolts that hold the pump itself to the block (mounted to the side of the block) then there are two holes at the front of the block right near the fuel pump. One of those holes needs a short bolt in it or you will get a leak. Since you are not running a SBC (small block chev) I am just using this as an example. I am suggesting you have a similar type leak in your engine ... a leak that really only loses oil when driving not when idling in your driveway (not neccesarily caused by holes near the fuel pump as I am not familiar with your engine). Wash the engine, make sure it is dry, take it for a run then bring it home and look for an area that is wet from oil ... you should find the cause of your leak near there. Again, the fuel pump leak was specifically a SBC problem, your real issue could be anything. My thought does explain the lack of a large oil puddle on your driveway and it also explains the lack of an insane amount of smoke. I am not saying I am correct, I am saying it is worth looking into. The leak in the Tempo also did not leave a large puddle on the driveway because the oil was being lost out on the road and on the underside of the car.
so i cleaned the engine and transmission and dryed it all so that i could see a leak,,,no big leaks....i see a small drip from rear main seal, oil pan plug and a little around the valve cover but nothing big....its still not smoking enough to burn up al the oil.....i put in 40 weight oil and some lucas ****.... dont know what else to look at,,,im losing oil level and dont have an idea where its going? anymore suggestions
Okay, first, put the correct weight oil back in before running it more. It has little to do with leaks or burning. You say it starts after a couple of trys. What do you call a "try"? When it finally catches, does it fart and belch and jerk around a little before it settles down to run? I take it you haven't done a compression test. It's important. And it needs to be done right. Get help or study up on the subject. Most Haynes and Chiltons service guides have a very good section on how to perform tests. Read it.
when i sa try,,it starts up first or second turn,,,and takes about 5 seconds to mellow out,,,after sitting all night it takes about 5 times to start,,,,ya i know i need to do a compression test,,,but that still doesnt tell me where the oil is going...thanks
use this stuff, it worked for me till i got a new motor! not a fix but it will get you by till you can buy a new one! http://www.restoreusa.com/faq.html
if it was run with non detergent oil wich most old engines were and u put high detergent oil in it it will definately use oil. we always mixed 2 qts detergent with 3 qts non run it couple thousand miles and change it each time increasing the ratio of detergent oil.
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