365 Cadillac motor, need some help

Hi all -

I purchased a 57 Cadillac about 6 months now and am finding some of the reasons why it was sold in the first place. It needs some work.

I've been wondering why this car always smells rich even when I lean the carb. way out. Well today with the help of the trusty girlfriend we found that blue smoke only came from the drivers exhaust, not the passengers ( there is no exhaust cross over tube, and the intake manifold exhaust bridge is blocked off) . When the car is warmed up at idle you can see a trace amount of blue smoke exiting the drivers side exhaust. If you rev the car up you get a nice cloud of blue smoke. When I first got the car we did a compression check on the motor and seemed to get decent numbers ..

Here are the numbers -

1 - 187 (w/ oil?)
2 - 162
3 - 169
4 - 174
5 - 165
6 - 168
7 - 170
8 - 183 (w/ oil?)

For cylinders 1 and 8 we think some oil may have gotten in the cylinder (valve covers were off for other trouble shooting reasons) hence the slightly higher psi.

So since the compression test seems good and the car seems to have power, no oil in the coolant that I can tell and no coolant loss, I'm uncertain of why I am getting the smoke from the drivers side only . I'd really like to fix this car to get it to drive right (also so I can work on the other issues that are wrong with the car). Any ideas? Any experience from people that have worked on Cadillac 331,365, or 390's ? Thanks!


Alex

 

I'm subscribed, I have one of these engines and any posted info will help for the future.

I hope you get the answer that will help out...

 

Alex....could be worn oil rings or bad guides in the head on that side.....might be as simple as worn valve seals on that side...

 

I was thinking the same thing about the valve guides.. but I thought that the indicator for those going bad was smoke only on start up?

Wouldn't the compression test have lower numbers if the oil rings were bad?

Not trying to say you're wrong.. just trying to trouble shoot (and I'm not sure if I was told car lore all these years).. and I really don't want to commit to pulling the heads yet. lol

Alex

 

I know this sounds weird, but years ago I worked for a guy whose Olds smoked like a banshee, turned out it was pulling ATF through the modulator

 

I drove a '57 Coupe DeVille from 1984-1992. I thought they were supposed to blow some blue smoke! Sounds like valve guides to me, or a stuck oil ring.

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

I would think that if it was burning atf it would come out of both pipes....I guess it depends on where the vacuum source is for the modulator...

 

If a 49- 62 Cadillac motor has set around much, it's usually # 5 cylinder - broken or stuck rings.

 

I would run the car for a bit, and pull the rocker cover on that side. Sometimes the oil return holes get plugged with sludge or carbon, and the valve cover fills with oil, which is drawn down the valve guides. Also check the valve stem seals while the cover is off.

---John

 

Stuck oil rings, or broken rings gets my vote.

 

No modulator on these (controlled coupling hydramatics) transmissions. So check the valve guides. If you have a PCV valve you might want to check this too.

 

Buy a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil. Put half in the oil and half in the gas. Run it till its gets good and warmed up and then shut it off and let it set for a couple days then run it and see if it still smokes.

 

do the test wet and will indicate if its rings or guides

 

What test is that?

Had the valve covers off of it when I was trying to discover why I had valve tick.. it was super clean on the inside. (Previous owner had one of the rocker shaft pedestals flipped upside down and torqued.. so the wrong clearance was set).

I have run the car for a bit (wanted to get out the "smell" which I thought was initially old gas). I've driven it on a 150 mile road trip. It ran.. ok to the best of my knowledge. The exhaust smelt like crap and now, like I said, I discovered it's only from the drivers side that the funky exhaust smell is coming from (probably the burnt oil) and the blue smoke is being generated . The passenger side smells like old car exhaust.. tasty. , and has no blue smoke or bad smell.

I feel like throwing marvels mystery oil in it will only cover up the problem and not really give me a true solution. But thanks, maybe I'll try that later on.

Alex

 

I'll try and take a cell phone video tomorrow.. Maybe that'll help?

Alex

 

put oil down the bores and do the compression test if its still the same readings it is probably the guides, if its higher then prob rings

 

MMO doesn't cover up anything. It frees up stuck rings and valves without any disassembly.

 

Ok, my mistake. I'll pick some up and give that a shot tomorrow.

Alex