After 2 weeks I noticed I already burned up a quart of oil. I havent noticed any obvious blue smoke or leaks or anything. But when I checked the plugs, 2-4-6-8 looked good with white/tan insulators but 1-3-5-7 looked charcoal light black around all the insulators. They were not wet. I dont know if that's from oil or somehow one side is burning richer than the other with dual plane Performer RPM.

Looking for ideas from you guys on what and how to check this out. My first gut feeling is the intake gasket on the LH side might be off though I spent alot of time making sure everything was perfect. I got AFR 195.

Thanks.

 

I'd be checking the intake gasket. Did you go through any ring seating procedure ?

 

Intake gasket not sealed well on the left side.

 

 

I disagree. If an intake gasket is leaking ALL CYLINDERS will be exposed to the leak and hence get wet with oil. Same principle applies to fuel ..if it's running rich. Both banks would have evidence because of the dual plane set up. You have something else going on.

I have new 383 and earlier this year it was burning oil..bad. went through the intake gasket thing, changed heads etc. Turned out the rings were bad and with reversion in the intake, all the cylinders were wet with oil
Happy Holidays and best of luck, Mark

 

It depends on the design of the intake. That's the only way I can think of that would allow one whole bank of the engine to burn excess oil...and the other side not to. Other ideas?

 

Well I was wondering if the PCV could do any of this? Somehow suck oil from the valve cover and send it to one side only thru the carb?

I sat the rings by some hard accelerations and decelerations but that could still be an issue. I will do a compression test tomorrow and report results.

 

I vote for the drivers side intake gasket is out of position. That would be my first move. dirty plugs on one side and oil loss has got to be related.

-Mark.

 

If you have a dual plane intake and the gasket is leaking. It would be rare that all 4 intake ports would be leaking on one side. All the cylinders on one side or bank are not directly connected. Take a look at a dual plane intake. The runners or ports are separated, but eventually connect at the plenum and have 2 differect "planes". So if one port is leaking, it would show up on other cylinders due the the dual plane design. The oil would be pulled into oher ports and cylinders on both banks.
Like I mentioned in an earlier post. I went through the gaskets, changed heads, another new intake, removed again to angle mill the intake where it mates to the head. In an attempt to be sure it was "clamping" the gasket and sealing good. Did the "Italian" break in to no avail. Re. rings, Its always good to have a ring sealing strategy.

But consider this. New cars don't smoke or burn oil and there is no break in procedure. Cast or moly rings will seat under normal driving conditions. The only exception to break in, on a rebuild, is if you use a flat tappet cam. In the past, when cars came with flat tappets from the manufacture. There was little or no break in procedure.

If it smokes....like mine did...after 500 miles...something is wrong (and there was)

Did anyone mention valve seals? Possible you have a bad head...bad seals on one head....

Also what ring pack is in the motor??

Best of luck. I feel for you. I have as well as others here on CF have been there.

 

I have had one plug foul from a misaligned intake gasket so sorry I disagree with your disagreement

 

I'd certainly try the intake gasket before looking a the rings. What brand of motors are you all having trouble with? I'm thinking of buying a ZZ383.

 

The thing about the intake gasket is I can see my scribe lines at the top and the gasket is still perfectly aligned to them at the top. So it makes me think maybe there's a gap at the bottom of the "V". The block was decked but I bought the intake from someone here on the forum. The intake could have been milled and I didnt know. But when I layed the intake on for prefit, I checked gaps with feeler gage and didnt see any issues. Maybe you still cant tell from that.

If it is the gasket then the only fix is a thicker intake gasket. I used the Felpro one AFR recommended for these heads. Anyone know of thicker one to use that matches up well?

 

THere is another fix which I use all the time, run a bead of Permatex Black along the bottom of the gasket that seals the intake ports from the valley Make sure you do it on both sides

 

I suppose it can happen....but again think about any opening in the intake. As in your case, the port in question could get more oil. But when that cylinders intake valve is closed and another opens. The oil would be pulled through the intake to another cylinder...and so on. Both banks plugs could be colored...I am open to suggestions on this.

Like I said I fought my problem for months and lots of $$. Eventually took the motor out went through it again. Fresh hone and a set of file fit Total Seal rings. All good now.

I agree try a new intake. My engine was the original block bored .030 over and using an Eagle internally balanced 383 stoker kit. Sealed Power coated Hypo pistons with Hasting moly coated ductile iron rings. A tried and true combo....

Felpro makes a 0.60 thick intake gasket. If you pull the intake check each side for straightness and if both sides are parallel. You mentioned it was used, could have some history.

Just another thought..have you checked the vacuum? A low reading woulld be a clue

How many miles on the engine?

Dino or synthethic?

AFR's new or used? If new, unlikely its a valve seal issue.

You might want to do a leak down test...but I would get 2-3,000 miles on the engine first and see if it clears up...

In my case an oil ring was bad. A leak down didn't show anything was wrong. In fact the excess oil in the cylinder bumped the numbers.

 

Right now only 300 miles on it. About to do compression check now. I'll check vacuum also.

 

OK here is a pic of the plugs.


I might have jumped the gun since only number one is solid black. The rest on the LHS look reasonable. The compression check was: 1(170)3(172)5(170)7(169)2(174)4(177)6(16 9)8(172).

So I think now I just have a problem with #1 maybe at the intake gasket. #5 looks pretty black also.

 

IMO, all but one of those plugs show signs of oil fouling. There shouldn't be anything like the carbon deposits those plugs show on a newly rebuilt engine with 300 miles. You are getting oil into the intake somewhere...and it is getting to most all of the plugs. Since #5 is the worst, the leak is probably located near that cylinder.

 

Stupid question but I've got to ask. Did you do an oil change after break in (15-20 mins) and then check the level after that?

My reason for asking, if you filled up a dry motor with oil and checked the level before priming the system, that could account for a lot of the oil. Lots of oil in the lifters, galley, on top of the heads and in the filter.

 

With only 300 miles on the engine...I would drive it... period . Check the plugs again at 2500-3000 miles. You might see a drastic change. The compression test numbers are good.
If those plugs were new on the engine build..they look OK, again for 300 miles.
You're motor is not really broke in. It may take 2-4,000 miles for the motor to settle down. Those plugs are not oil fouled/ More like fuel rich. I prefer a projected tip plug, Like and NGK or Accel. I used to swear by AC's. But AC Delco is not a GM product. GM sold off this unit. Hence I like NGK's or Accel's.
What carb are you running?
Mark

 

Did an oil change after cam break in. Carb is Qjet with 74 jets.