I've been having oil consumption problems with my motor since day 1. In my last experiment, I ran it to 5K+ RPM at least 2 or 3 times every time I drove it and I put in a 10w30 oil instead of the other 10w40 or 20w50. Well, my consumption went up from 1 qt per 600 - 800 miles to over 1 1/2 qt at 600 miles. I pulled the intake and verified that there are NO sealing problems between the intake and head. I think I've come to the conclusion that it's the rings.
Here is a thread I had about my leakdown test and everything I've already done: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=484783

The one thing I had not previously mentioned is that when I first started the motor, my carb (Q-Jet) had been sitting for a while and the power piston was stuck up. It ran real rich until I figured out the problem. It was blowing black smoke out at a steady 2000 RPM and wouldn't run < 1500 RPM. I didn't think much of it at the time, but I read somewhere that running a new engine rich will not allow for the rings to seat.

So, now I've got the intake off and it is plain nasty:

The heads are about to come off and I'm seriously thinking about re-ringing the motor. It shouldn't have too much wear as it's only got about 15k miles on the block.

What are the odds that a re-ring will fix (or greatly reduce) my oil consumption problem?

Anybody have in advice, especially with respect to honing and the pattern needed.

 

This sounds like my problem. I went through the same thing. Before you rering check the valve stem seals. Mine were bad from the beginning. Probably from valve grinding compound left on the valves. Pulling the heads will still be necessary. Don't be surprised it valve springs are shot from excess carbon buildup on valves being pulled through guides having worn them out. New springs and valvejob solved my problem. Hope this helps.

 

The stem seals have been replaced twice: once when I put it all together (teflon) and again when I was eliminating problems (rubber).

Also, the valve stems are not all carboned up where they pass through the guides, but only the top of the valves are all cruddy. I have a pic, but it's pretty badly out of focus.

 

I think I have oil from the fuel pump like described here: http://www.hastingsmfg.com/Service%2...il_use_350.htm

I know it was an Olds motor, but what really has me convinced that this is my problem is that when I put the black light over my carb (remember, I put fluorescent dye in my oil), it is fluorescent yellow everywhere that there is fuel. Here is a pic that I took with only the black light for light. The camera doesn't do it much justice, but you can see the whitish areas where they dye is "glowing"


Now, I'm aborting the re-ring and will probably swap out my fuel pump for an electric one.

 

This is from another thread on how to do a leak down test. You really need to beg, borrow, or steal a real leak down tester. To have oil consumption I would guess that the rings were not compatable with the hone job. The end gaps were way to large, or the valve seals are not correct along with stem to guide clearance.


Before I started tearing everything down i should have put some thought into using a leak down tester first.

So yeaterday I went over to friends to watched a failed Daytona 500 race and borrow his leak down tester. For any of you that have never used one here is the basic idea behind one.
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Remove all your spark plugs to make it easy to rotate the motor

This is how it works. You place a piston at top dead center on the compression stroke, like you would when adjusting valves. This doesn't have to be real precise like when timing cams. I usually place a long phillips screwdriver in the spark plug hole and turn the crank until the screwdriver is all the way at the top. You can also use the timing mark on the stock advancer. Another option which I use is just bump the motor a series of times and watch the valve events and you can see where the cylinder in question is at. Once the cylinder is in place lock the motor because 100 psi will rotate it to bottom dead center. Easy to do if you have a manual tranny1 It's just simple math as to why it will rotate. 4 inch bore X 3.14 = a little over 12 sq. inches of piston area. Now apply 100 psi. The piston now has 1200+ lbs of force on it.

With the spark plug removed you screw the tester adapter into the hole. This is a short piece of tube with threads on one end and an air compressor fitting on the other. The leak down tester applies 100 PSI of pressure into the cylinder. If the pressure drops to 95, then you have a 5 percent leakdown. If the pressure drops to 90, you have 10 percent leak down.

What is good?? I like to see all of my new engines at 1-3 percent. Most good race motors should leak no less than 4-5percent. Most engine builders rebuild at 6-7 percent. Some people think up to 10 percent is OK. That's ludicrous. If you have a engine leaking over 7 percent, YOU DON'T HAVE NO MOTOR, at least not one that's going to win a race! Look at it this way. If only 1/3 of the heat energy is going to push down on the piston, and your loosing 10 percent of that, how much is left? Even brand new total seal rings with the best hone jobs never seem to achive more than 1-1.5 % leak down rate.

Leak down testing will also tell you where the cylinder is leaking. You will be able to here air flowing around the rings. ( normal) but if you suspect head gasket you will see bubles in the coolant. If you suspect leaking valves just remove the intake or exhaust. Just squirt some soapy water in the port and see if it starts blowing bubbles when you apply air to the cylinder