Cavu2u

Nothin' visible came out of the breather holes on startup. No fog, vapor, mist......nothing.

BTW:
Anyone here have a problem with this type of high rise Valve Cover Hold Down "nut"?



Steve

jkippin

damn 28 years you gat me beat by 20 LOL wished I stayed in I would have been retired a few years ago now. LOL

jkippin

pull the valve cover quick and check the gasket....

hamck

I am experiencing a similar problem. well , one of many. I removed the engine and did a leak down test at TDC and BDC. Nothing higher than 10% most were 5%. So when I removed the intake, the gasket was wet with oil. I used a gasket with the heat crossover blocked with a little metal insert. So my theory is an exhaust leak past the gasket, pressurizing the crank case, giving the impression of blow by. I was using a quart of oil per tank full of gas. It sounds far fetched and maybe some one here can comment. I hope that's all it is.

Cavu2u

May not get to it right away, but yes, I'll check the gasket.

BTW, what are the best, most dependable valve cover gaskets out there?

Steve

Cavu2u

I think I left that metal insert out when I laid down the intake gaskets. I did put a thin layer of RTV around the water holes only.

Steve

hamck

Me too only I left the insert in

Cavu2u

Well, no molten metal on them anyway. #3 & 8 look a little grayish.

500 miles on them and the new engine. Compression check next, then the leakdown exam after that.

Steve

jkippin

plugs look clean no signs of anything there, she maybe lean porcelain looks super clean. Are you sure that is not the valve cover leaking and the turbulence under the hood blowing oil everywhere?

REELAV8R

while they are out you could read your plugs for future reference. Use this guide.

http://honda-tech.com/forced-inducti...ug***-3063102/

Cavu2u

Positive.
After shutoff, a quick look of the left Valve Cover Breather shows oil dripping from it's lower underside edge. Removing the Breather then, and setting it on it's edge, lets the oil really drain out.

And the rivet that holds the oil filler cap together: oil comes outta there too;


I was told by the Stroker kit manufacturer to expect a compression ratio of over 10:1, so perhaps until the rings seat,

Steve

Cavu2u

Plenty of info on plugs there! Extremely informative REELAV8R.

Thanks,
Steve

REELAV8R

Do a compression test on # 3 and compare it to any other cylinder other than #8 as it looks suspect as well.
Looking for markedly lower compression to indicate a ring seal problem.

forvicjr

Good luck man. Definately a crank case pressure issue. Hell i had one sending steam out the valve covers. Turned out it was ARP's crappy headbolt sealer that came with a kit from them. My machinest told me to pull them one by one clean and lube with oil and re torque. Problem solved......

Sure sounds like ring seal to me. Could dump the oil you have and go to a non detergent 30 wt and see if they will seat. I started one on 20/50 castrol and no go on ring seal. Dumped and went with some extra cheap 30 wt and another couple hundred miles they seated. Im sure not as well as they should have but kept me outa the motor.

Cavu2u

First two cylinder readings I just completed:
#1: 175 psi
#3: 179 psi

When the engine turns over for the testing, it doesn't sound normal. Like there's one cylinder that doesn't sound like the rest.

Back to the garage.
Steve

REELAV8R

Both of those sound a bit low, but Ok, test the rest, see if you can find the smokin gun. What cam you using?

Cavu2u

This one:


The plugs, with all their readings (psi).:


#5 is the lowest. It's in the left head, which is the side where all the oil leaking is. The right side (Valve Cover/Breather} is tight, with no oil leaking.

I really wanna do a leakdown test on #5.

Steve

63mako

I have had the baffles be inadequate on aftermarket valve covers. High volume pump, lots of oil in the valve cover plus poor baffles could be the issue. When I was about 20 I junked a nice, forged 302 engine that was leaking oil and smoking. Installed a new engine with my cool valve covers and breather/pcv. New engine smoked and leaked at the breathers too. Poor baffles were allowing the aerated oil mist to suck through the PCV and saturate and leak out the breathers. I think my cool valve covers were Mickey Thompsons. Try a different left valve cover with known good baffles. Your compression is good, Nothin' visible came out of the breather holes on startup. No fog, vapor, mist......nothing.

Cavu2u

Well, next question: Which valve cover to buy?

Thanks much.

But even before that:

A good friend just told me of a case pressurization problem he had once. Said he faintly remembered it was a head gasket problem.

Now, I remember having to remove that head, because a hole under it had no oil plug installed, and it spewed oil when I went to prime it with a drill and distributor shaft (To my horror!).



Now perhaps I never prepped the block correctly when I put a new head gasket on. I'm just thinking aloud, that anything disturbed is a chance for something bad to happen.


Steve

REELAV8R

Cavu2u, I'm trying to get the whole picture here to see if something is up with those compression figures.
I figure your cam overlap at 63*. That and a late intake closing angle of 71*, would make the compression figures lower.
However in figuring your CR with 4cc pistons 4.030" of bore .040" of squish distance (distance down the bore plus gasket thickness) 5.7" rods, 3.75" stroke and 64cc combustion chamber.

With tthose specs and cam I come up with CR 11.23:1, and a DCR of 8.98:1. Both of which would be unsatisfactory for a street motor on pump gas.
Are the specs I used correct?

Edit: If i manualyy input your intake valve closing I get 8.55 DCR. Still pushing the edge of the envelope for pump gas.