I have a 57 392 I have been fighting oil in the plugs since its build aprox 1000 miles on motor I have tried new tubes etc ,blamed the mag ,I know I am over carbed but its oil I am fighting By Chance can the oil filter bypass cause higher oil pressure if not istalled properly ,also if the head bolts dont have teflon on them can they leak oil in the head ,I had a proplem with my mag ,oil keep running up the shaft ,I put a machined out washer on the shaft for a oil slinger problem went away ,also will the valve stem seals cause this much oil (as pictured) Seems like I have too much oil pressure ,I have a new 340 pump from hot head ,any one have any ideas Thanks Chris
Seems like this happens when there's not enough oil to the bottom end of the motor, but since it's a fresh rebuild, it seems like that wouldn't be the case. Probably something really simple. Is it a stock type 340 pump conversion or a higher flowing pump? Strange for sure!
Thanks for the reply ,I bought the pump from hot heads ,I think it is a stock 340 I dont know if the engine builder put in a oil filter bypass ,did you see the pictures with the oil Chris
Few things to consider... Is is so fat that the gas is washing down the cylinders....scuffing the rings.....resulting in excess blowby?? What's the actual Oil Consumption?? Your tube seals don't seem to be working.....are the rocker arm/shafts within spec?? Loose fitting parts there can cause excess oil to enter the heads - made worse by tired valve seals and or worn guides. Were there any "special" mods during the build??? Full groove cam bearings or something else????? Did you check the Leakdown before tearing it down??? Are the drain back holes in the head clean???
I have had some much oil on my plugs ,I thought it was the valve seals ,but then I found more than I thought I decided to take the heads off ( no leak down ) ,motor has never used oil
If the motor hasn't used oil then I think what you're looking at is mainly excessive carbon buildup. Is this thing huffin' black smoke all the time???? That intake looks neat as heck but if you can't tune it then there ain't no sense in keeping it on there. IMHO
Its does not smoke at all ,the oil is fouling out the plugs ,I need to find a way to stop the oil getting to the plugs ,the carbs are rebuilt and jetted for application
In my limited experience - when you have enough oil to foul the plugs - you are burning it as well. I can't see how you could get enough to foul the plug - cake in the combustion chamber and then NOT burn. What I could see is running it so fat that the normally DRY carbon gets gas soaked to the point it not only fouls the plug but also looks "wet" enough to look like oil. YMMV
Its not an oil pressure problem. And if the plugs are seated properly there is no way oil can get from the outside (or inside) of the tubes into the chamber to foul the plugs. The oil you see in the plug recess is a non issue. It doesn't take much oil to grime up a motor like that; 200 miles and no appreciable oil loss in a motor i recently tore apart. The short story on that motor was that the machinist who honed it left a mirror finish on the bores and the rings never found a home and rode up on a slick of oil. I'd call the machinist and ask him about the Ra and Rz of the surface roughness of the bores after he honed them. If he doesn't know, I'd find a new machinist, have the new guy hone it, and put it back together with new rings.
Thanks for the replys , the bores are very smooth ,after wear ,but it does not use oil or smoke ,cant oil get in thru the head bolts ,or guides
four-thirteen, My comment about the tube seals wasn't meant to suggest oil is entering from them - but oil sitting in the plug well INSPITE of the tube seals suggest one of two things to me - they aren't installed properly OR there is HUGE amounts of oil in the heads - that's what made me suggest checking out the rocker arms/shafts. If you look close at the pic - you'll see STOCK shafts - another reason to suspect they might not be to spec. I do agree with you - -oil sitting in the plug well doesn't mean anything - in of itself - but it does make you wonder why it's there when those seals are meant to keep it out. Stock shafts - potentially improperly installed tube seals - nothing alone to point to a smoking gun - but collectively it may suggest bigger issues. I still can't see this as an oil issue if the motor doesn't USE any oil. Sorta like being a little pregnant. Now maybe the motor IS using oil but the mileage is low enough to not be noticeable - I dunno. Yanking the heads before doing and compression check and leakdown check was a mistake IMHO. Can't cry over spilled milk - so we move on. You might be on the right track with the Surface finish of the bore - but I gotta wonder why is the plug on the right looking OK. Makes me suspect the induction again. Back to the excessive oil possibility in the heads again - is the motor pretty level in the chassis? Is the "clean" plug toward the higher end of the head? ---getting back to that excessive oil in the heads and/or valve seals/guides worn. The thing with these hemis is that since the plug is centered on the top of the piston - you don't need to yank a head to peek at the pistons, but I suppose that's a little late to mention. Since the heads are off - you might as well check them out. What did the motor do??? It MUST have been blowing smoke - when did it do that?? On start up only?? Decel off the highway?? There's a story to be told here somewhere.
http://www.verrill.com/moto/sellingguide/sparkplugs/plugcolorchart.htm Mabe its just my eyes but , those plugs look like your running way too rich . what are your plugs gaped at, running a mag i'd set them at .023 to .025 or even wider if it will fire on the starter motor. those little oil puddles in the plug tube holes are normal for a hemi
where is the rest of the spark plug on the one that is clean i think the electrode .. i dont kno the name of the part thats missing but the little metal part that you gap is gone.
Not sure what Flop means but your plug gap does seem pretty tight from the picture. My plugs have the same fouling on them in my crap motor running 90lbs compression and too much fuel.
sorry didnt enlarge the pic i see the part now its just real light .. looks 100 percent lean compared to the other 2 ...
My guess is that it needs a proper set of plugs with correct gap and a serious tune on the carbs by someone REALLY familiar with them. A plug that's washed with excess gas looks like the ones in the pics............... The way that motor is setup, every cylinder is tuned separate from the others. Balancing the mixture and flow is critical.
Just out of curiosity, did you ever try running that motor with the rocker covers off and just the tubes held in place by the plugs? You said you replaced the tubes, with what type of tubes did you replace them with? Spun aluminum? Stock replacements? Something else? I agree with what has been said already. If you're getting oil in there it's because the tube and plug are not seating correctly. I'm having a hard time grasping the theory that oil is getting past a perfectly seated tube and plug. You've definitely got fuel mixture issues there and that seems to be a big part of your problem. I know you were taking some video of this engine. Do you have any that focus more on the running issues you've been having?
Thanks again for the reply's ,the bore looks ok the questions I have 1) Can oil filter by-pass not installed correct create top end oil pressure (had a hell of a time gettig my mag to quite leaking ) 2) Would warn out quides and seals create this much oil 3) Can oil come up the head bolts Thanks Chris As to carburation I am running less CFM than the 2x4 set up the motor came with stock
You prolly checked...but the oil return holes are clear right? I had a friend recently blew his NFC because his return holes were plugged with silicone.
Also looks like the threads on base of leaned out plug are stripped or smashed . Maybe check the tube that plug came out of to see if it is sealed so not to be sucking air causing a lean condition
1. no 2. yes 3. no CFM and mixture are different. You could have a single 500 CFM two barrel on there and if it's jetted pig rich it will foul the plugs - CFM only represents a capacity - no get out of jail for free card there. Look closer at your induction system......
Just looked at the plugs again... Am I looking at the pictures wrong or do you still have the washes in place on those plugs? If you do, that will cause issues right there. They have to be removed.
What kind of oil pressure do you have? If valve guide were worn you would have seen white smoke out the exhaust from burning oil. As hemirambler said to get excess oil up in the heads your shafts would have too much clearence. Some engine builders did not use valve seals on the exhaust valves on the hemis for lubrication on the exhaust valve guide since the heads did not get that much oil up there through the shafts. Do you have valve seals on the exhaust valves? If you are getting too much oil up there and no exhaust seal then it could suck in to much oil and cause the problem you have. One more question do you have the engine properly vented as in PCV valve and breathers?
As per VERTEX MAGNETOS you plug setting should be .015~.020, No wider than .020 !! Also, Im not that familiar with Chryslers, But isnt that plug reach real long ? I run AC 45s in my DeSoto & they are lil short bastards, But Chrysler could be different. You also need to run a NON~RESISTOR plug with a mag.. Are you ? From the looks of everything in your pics, I am going to gamble that you are WAY OVER CARBURATED, Looks & sounds just like what happened when i bolted to many 97s on my 389 Pontiac. Would run good for a lil while then run like shit, Pull out nasty black plugs & replace for another 200 miles then do it again. remove them webers & replace with 3 or 4 97s on progressive linkage. But while its down, Hone & ring it at the very least.
Your right gap .015 as picturted ,hard to find non resistor ,washers are on plugs ,I have tried no washers small results
I am not a authority on IC reciprocating engines, but it seems to me that they all must burn some amount of oil. Bolt the heads back on and do a leak down test. If it fails, then you have your answer. If not, you can chase other theories as to the cause of the problem. Oil has a very hard time leaking into the chamber from any other source besides the rings or valve stem seals.
You NEED to find them... Autolite still offers them, Get a parts guy to look them up. Any results are results... Even small ones are a plus. Honor Thy Hemi !!
The Jalopy Journal
