Odd oil burn in 440???

[440fish]

Had a strange thing happen today when tuning my new carb. After an 10 minute idle period the temp rose steadily and she began to emit some blue smoke. Not horrible, but noticeable. I quickly switched on the elec fan (yea yea i hate those things too, came on the car) and temps quickly dropped from 225ish back to 190.

After a few minutes at 190 the smoke subsided to slightly noticeable once she cooled some.

Pulled the dipstick and its pretty dirty so I'm definitely going to change it out.


The car starts instantly and runs very strong. I've had it a month and it never burned any oil and no evidence of this issue before. (Exhaust tips dry and clean)


Ever heard of some oil getting by the rings when the engine gets real real hot?

Oh yea.. It's a 440, has a cam (no idea what), headers, performer rpm intake,
probably around 9:1 compression. Runs fine on hi test





Thanks

 

[Photon440]

How high was the idle, and do you know what vacuum you were pulling? Might be as simple as valve guide seals.

 

[440fish]

How high was the idle, and do you know what vacuum you were pulling? Might be as simple as valve guide seals.

Funny you ask. The throttle cable routing is lousy right now and it doesnt always return to idle so it was hovering around 1100. (new cable on the way)

Didnt have a vacuum gauge on it. What might that indicate in this instance?

thanks

 

[67 coronet]

before you try to condem anything it sounds like you should do some basic maintinence first.dirty oil is much thinner then good oil and may bypass things when heated.

 

[Pops1967GTX]

You just tune the Carb? It could be running over rich condition....Easy pull & check the spark plugs ....Use a vacuum gauge to setup carbs & recheck timing, can cause engine to run hot.....You can try a thicker oil....

To check for blow by you could run a leak down test. it will tell you if your piston rings are good or bad...

Read more: http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/...eading_spark_plugs/viewall.html#ixzz2mQnoLP00

In order to properly read the plugs and use the readings to improve performance, it's important to keep them in order with the cylinders they were removed from. In a good running and properly tuned engine, the plug tips should all be very close in coloration. A tan, slightly reddish deposit on the spark plug is normal. Other color or condition on the tip may point to fuel, ignition, vacuum, or larger, more fatal engine problems.
If your spark plugs are covered with black and fluffy soot on the insulator, this indicates an over-rich fuel condition, which may be caused by an out-of-adjustment carburetor. If the plug has small, white deposits on the insulator, nine times out of ten this may indicate oil consumption. If that's the case, now you can look deeper for possible problems with a cylinder's valve seals, worn valve-guides, a badly worn or broken piston ring, or even a badly scored cylinder.
A very light tan or, even worse, white, blistered insulators may point to a mixture that is too lean. If proper carb tuning doesn't seem to help, a vacuum leak may be the cause of this condition. Other spark plug conditions include wet fouling, which indicates no spark is getting to the cylinder, or a physically damaged electrode, which indicates serious internal engine problems.

 

[440fish]

Thanks for the answers everyone. I hope to get into it this weekend. Starting with an oil change and plug read.

 

[BeastlyBirdie]

Blue smoke-oil. Black-unburnt fuel. White-coolant. If you heat an engine too much, yes it can collapse the rings, but, very little chance they will ever work right again. I'd be guessing, but I would say old oil (as posted earlier it thins out).