Smokey engine

The 'ol L head in goldmember is smoking more and more. Its a bluesish white smoke and it starts right at start up and dies off at idle, under any kind of load its puffing away out the back. I thought (hoped) it was just a stuck ring or two and tried flooding the cylinders with MMO but 3 of the 4 cylinders emptied within 20 sec of filling it. So it would appear that the cylinders are just wore out (guessing here). I really dont feel like pulling it right now to do a rebuild. I would do a compression test but dont have the tool to do it. My question is, is that stuff at the FLAPS on the fluid aisle called engine restorer even worth a shot or has anyone had any luck with it??

 

AFAIK those are only viscosity increasers. Well, you'll get different opinions abut this, but back in the days when I worked parts counter, we sold lots of 70wt single grade Valvoline to limit oil burning. If you're using a lot of oil, in addition to smoke I'd also expect it to show up on the plugs. You may need to go to a hotter plug or anti-foulers as well as the heavier oil.

 

Well I dont drive it enough to notice it burning alot of oil. Just go out and start it up and go to the store for a snack every other weekend or so. I replaced the plugs after doing the MMO and 3 of the 4 (the ones that MMO drained out quickly in) had a good bit of oil on them. The 4th looked alright.

 

Jason have you thought about just pulling the head off and just doing a quick look see? Head gasket is cheap and easy on the old L head. You can check the bore see if anything is wrong. My .02

 

Yeah I had thought about it.....but thats about as far as I got Plus was kinda afraid of knocking loose the 60 yr old crud holding it together, tried doing that on the carb and I instantly had vacume leaks all over it

 

coby's got the idea... we had a nasty problem that seemed like timing after getting an l-head rebuilt and founda bent valve on a whim when the head was removed. it's quick and easy to see what you've got, unless you start breaking studs.

 

Ok pressure wash first...........uh scratch that thought......might cause more problems

 

Update...I borrowed a compression tester from a friend and here are the readings.... 150/145/140/150. What should I check next?? If it is the valves just not seating what can I do to fix that? Im thinking I may just need to run a heavier oil in it.

 

Clean combustion chambers to make valves seat tighter. Cleaning will remove excess carbon buildup. Restore does work, 1st hand experience. It will get you buy but is not a long term fix though. Restore fills in the micro scratchs with polymers. It will however not stay there but for short periods of time like maybe 1200 miles or so.

 

I went ahead and ordered a head gasket today, so hopefully sunday I'll pull the head off and have a looksy in there to see what is wrong. Plus now is as good a time as any to put that supersonic head on

 

What oil you got in it??

 

I think its got 10/30 in it.

 

Ok got the head pulled and the cylinder walls look great, no scoring in any of the cylinders. I havnt gotten as far as pulling the side cover yet, but the the valves look great and there is no slop in them(trying to wiggle from side to side). Is there anything else I should check while its apart like this?

 

Wanna put an F head in it?

 

I dont know if Goldmember can handle all that extra HP

 

R) You can detune a little. R)

 

with your hand, try and move the piston side to side in the bore
it could still have stuck rings
I'd try straight 30wt myself

 

Tried that earlier and there was no slop, does that mean stuck rings or not :? I wish I would have asked the PO when I got what weight oil they ran in it, I've changed it twice since I've had it and the smoking is getting progresivly worse.

 

F head Jason.
I can bring it to Windrock. R)