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No, A missing Vacuum line will not cause an engine to run rich or burn oil. PCV all set up correctly??? PCV valve working Correctly???
As per compression check, All Cylinders will read perfectly normal, all within 10PSI of one another. Sucking oil into the intake from the Valley Will make her smoke, but Valves and
Cylinder seal will be fine. Run the compression test, but all 4 on the right fouled like that doesn't really look like a valve lash issue.
Last edited by 4-vettes; Mar 24, 2020 at 03:09 AM.
i didn’t check 1 and 3 because they are a PIA and the plugs look good.
The engine is the original 350 stoked to a 383 bored 40 over with new aluminum heads, new cam, old performer intake, rebuilt carb, new HEI distributor, new plugs, new wires, new engine bay wiring harness to the starter, new starter.
Tgis engine is practically new, aside from the block and crank, which were both machined. What gives?
i didn’t check 1 and 3 because they are a PIA and the plugs look good.
The engine is the original 350 stoked to a 383 bored 40 over with new aluminum heads, new cam, old performer intake, rebuilt carb, new HEI distributor, new plugs, new wires, new engine bay wiring harness to the starter, new starter.
Tgis engine is practically new, aside from the block and crank, which were both machined. What gives?
My money is still on valve lash.......the engine can only leak from:
1) Head Gasket....which would have to be pretty bad to get zero on three and forty on one......like almost loose, head ready to lift off.
2) Rings.....again, the likelihood of one whole side being low is lottery odds.....the rings would have to be damn near gone.
3) Valves I or E......they could be bent and not closing or most likely, someone Bubba'd the valve lash when they did it.
Pull the passenger valve cover and look for any valves that appear to be open.....on a small block, it will be easy to spot, bent valves do not close........if they all appear to be closed then......go through and perform a full lash on all eight cylinders...here is a great article with contributions from the pros....Shaffiroff, Musi, and David Reher......nobody knows more about Chevrolet engines combined.
Once lashed......recheck your compression numbers.
Also...check one and three....if you do not then you do not know for sure.....don't discount those two cylinders because the other two on that side are ok....(180 is excellent). Incomplete data is incomplete data.
Jebby
Last edited by Jebbysan; Mar 24, 2020 at 01:20 PM.
Thanks Jebby. I backed off the valve on #6 and am getting over 200 psi. So it sounds like you are correct. After lunch, I’ll adjust them and try again.
Thanks Jebby. I backed off the valve on #6 and am getting over 200 psi. So it sounds like you are correct. After lunch, I’ll adjust them and try again.
Thank you!
Yes....you will see higher than normal compression numbers with the rockers undone as there is no overlap. You are on the track......now go slow, write down your cylinders and follow the procedure.....do all of them, all eight cylinders, because if those are wrong....then the others are off too although they are allowing the valves to shut.
Is this a flat tappet? Has the cam been broke in? If not......you need to pull the intake and all of the lifters to inspect.....I doubt you have run it 20 minutes for cam break in......do it now, or risk failure of the cam lobes. When the lifters are out.......mark the position of them, clean, and reinstall with some moly paste only on the foot of the lifter, not the sides......oil the sides and reinstall.......this will be the cost of time and an intake gasket to do and could save you hundreds.
Jebby
Last edited by Jebbysan; Mar 24, 2020 at 01:27 PM.
Valves were the issue. After some fine tuning, compression came back and it’s running much better. Not right, but closer. Now for the vacuum gauge to get more dialed in.
RESOLVED - So I realized I never gave the final answer to the issue. My lifters were stuck. Yep, had the motor rebuilt and it never ran right. Finally gave the motor to someone else to help me and they found most of the valves were stuck. No idea how, as I was told they were new/replaced. Apparently not. The guy that built my motor is the husband of a high school friend and known by a lot of my friends as someone who is reputable and knows what he is doing. He owned a parts store and has drag raced his entire life. Rebuilt his first engine at age 12. He spend numerous hours at my house trying to get the motor to crank the first time and even went back into the motor to make sure he didn't have something off. Due to the time he spend trying to get it right, I don't think he would have intentionally screwed me over.
I never went back to him to tell him the lifters were stuck, because I just wanted to move on. I try my best to think people are good and that it was an honest mistake and I just want to move on to the next project. Life's to short to stay mad.
So overall, the car runs much better. After getting the lifters replaced and updating the rockers, all ticking was eliminated from that area. Then I discovered some exhaust leaks that caused additional ticking. Corrected those. So slowly but surely, getting this engine right. Just replaced valve cover gaskets this past week to eliminate some leaks. This has been the longest engine rebuilt project ever.
