Milo209

Hello Hello,

I have used the search function and found several posts made by people with similar oil burning issues. I have already tried a few solutions though and I would like to know what to do next.

Lets start with the history behind this issue. I purchased this 1988 4x4 truck last year with 107k miles on it from a random craigslist guy who claimed that the engine was rebuilt and had a new oil pan and clutch installed by a local shop. He showed me an invoice which listed a single item on the invoice of "Retap" with no details and showed me the new oil pan on the bottom of the engine. At this point I should have ran away as fast as I could but I was not smart enough to do so. The engine ran really smoothly and the truck acted like it had a new clutch when I drove it around so I ended up buying it. Forest service roads have not been kind to this vehicle.

Since I have purchased this truck I have replaced:
the battery(would not charge),
the starter(did not want to start one day),
the alternator(one of the reasons for the death of the old battery),
the power steering pump(suddenly started leaking one day),
the O2 sensor(engine code),
the muffler(hit a bump a little hard),
the front wheel bearings(it was their time),
the upper ball joints(hit a bump REALLY hard),
the windshield wiper arms(tree branch on a forest service mountain road),
the parking lights(tree branch on a forest service mountain road),
one headlight(tree branch on a forest service mountain road),
the front grille(tree branch on a forest service mountain road),
the front turn signals(tree branch on a mountain road--upgraded to LEDs),
the rear bumper(the old one was missing),
and the front bumper(the old one was attached with industrial strength zip ties upon close inspection).
I also used B-12 chemtool on the air intake to keep the accelerator from sticking in order to pass California smog when I purchased the truck.

The engine has been using approximately 1 qt of oil every 200 miles ever since I purchased it. When I first noticed the high burn rate I did as much research online as I could as to how to stop the burn. I did complete oil changes including the filter every 500 miles with QuakerState SAE 10W-30 to keep the engine running. I have done 6 oil changes in a year even though I only put 3000 miles on engine. Each time the oil is charred black within 100 miles.

The radiator fluid looks clear/slightly tinted green so I do not think that the oil is getting in there. There is a lot of moisture coming out of the exhaust when I first start the engine and let it idle. I have not noticed "blue smoke" coming out of the tailpipe but I admit that my eyesight is not what it used to be. When should I be looking for the blue smoke?

Unfortunately, a friend of mine suggested putting Techron into a tank of gas to get the engine to run smoother. To his credit, the engine did run smoother for a little bit. To his discredit, the oil burn rate has increased causing the engine to run something other than what I would describe as smooth.

There are no visible leaks of oil on the engine anywhere that I can see. The only fluid to hit my garage floor was ATF from the power steering pump when its side seal popped. That stuff was a bugger to clean up.

On December 10th I need to start driving across the USA from San Diego, CA to Baltimore, MD. I need to have a plan in place to keep me safe and my engine running for the 44 hour journey but I also cannot spend a lot of money. Can this problem be solved for less than $1000 USD? Ideas? Comments? I always appreciate constructive criticism. Also, if anyone knows of a reputable shop in San Diego county I would appreciate the info.

Oh, I almost forgot. Here is an image of the truck.


Regards,
-Milo209

TrikeKid

Lots of things can go wrong on a "new engine", valve seals can be cut on assembly, cylinders not honed properly, rings not gapped properly or installed properly will make it difficult for them to seat and seal. I would perform a compression test and a cylinder leakdown test (or have them performed if you lack the skills/equipment) and check out the general health of the engine. Stop wasting the money changing your oil/filter that often, oil being black does not indicate it being past its service life.

I recently had a car in the shop where I work with less than 3k on the engine and it was siezed up, everything but the block junk. It had burned off quite a bit of oil in the time it took the rings to seat and everything to seal up... nearly ruining the block in a numbers matching SS396 Camaro. New/rebuilt isn't synonymous with good.

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...ealing-215113/

Read this thread, lots of critical information in here. I can nearly say without a doubt, this is your problem.

Milo209

Compression
190-190-190-190
Leak Down
10%-8%-9%-9%

The mechanic had a few suggestions. The oil has been switched to Valvoline10W-40. Lucas heavy duty oil stabilizer has been added to the mix. 25% Lucas 75% 10w-40

racersg

I'll be willing to bet anything that the oil is getting by the rings. The tests you have done are very thorough and great job on all of it. If you want it to live, you are probably going to have to tear it down. As suggested by DeathCougar above, the thread is all about your problem.
I have been building engines all my life and your problem sure sounds like the rings not seating, plus you really do not know what his other guy did. Sounds bad, but you will be happy once you get it fixed.
I had a friend that used to drag race with me. He freshened up his motor one winter and came to the track and that thing smoked like crazy. I asked what he did and he said I replaced the rings, valve job, new bearings etc. Well he ran it for 2 weeks and still smoked like crazy. I told him I would help him fix it. We were taking the engine out and he was telling about the extra set of oil rings that were in his set. I told him, I have never seen a extra set of oil rings in a set. When we pulled out # 3 piston, no oil rings on it.
So that being said, it may be a simple mistake or maybe worse. You will not know till you tear into the engine.
Good luck.

Milo209

I read the entire thread linked above and even had a machinist friend of mine explain some of the things I did not understand to me. The message I got from it is that the honing process is an art, not a science. Sadly, I do not have the setup here to tear down the engine properly and I do not have enough money to pay a shop to do it around here. When I called around for quotes, they wanted between $4000 and $8000......Until I can afford to setup my own shop or I find enough money to pay a shop, I will have to deal with the oil consumption as best I can.

I must say, this has not been a fun first experience with a 22-RE.

Regards,
-Milo209

racersg

Dang. Sorry about that. If you were close to me, I would tell you to bring it over and we would fix it.
That is a very expensive quote. I wish you well with it.

Milo209

How much would you charge?

westjohns yota

buy a junkyard motor for 400-600 bucks, keep the motor you have, tear it down when time permit, and start learning about engines

Milo209

So far my local shops want between $1600 and $2200 to swap out an engine and I do not have enough space in my garage to do that kind of work. I am still calling around in order to find a cheaper quote.

snobdds

22RE's are about the simplest engines to work on. I took mine out in a day going at a leisurely pace. Just pull it out, take it to a shop and have them go through it. Put it back in and you’re done.

Once you do it once, you will kick yourself for ever considering having someone else do it...

racersg

About 1/4 of that just changing the engine out.
Like I said, if you were near me, you could bring it and I would let you do it at my shop. I might even help! LOL.
I can have it out and tore down in about 2 or 3 hours.
Come on out to Texas and we will fix it up.

TNRabbit

WOW. That is HIGH compression.

snobdds

I guess i missed the high compression numbers. If those are accurate, then your rings are not the problem. I bet your valve seals in the head are allowing some leakage.

Pull you spark plugs and post some pictures for us...

Milo209

I had a shop I know run the compression and leakdown tests for me. The usually do custom jobs for off-road racing buggies. I trust their numbers.

What exactly should be included in the pictures? What am I trying to take a picture of?

Thank you for bearing with my noobish questions. Everyone here seems very helpful! I never worked on a gas engine before I purchased this truck. My mechanical background is in HVAC/Radiant Heat/Industrial Machinery.

Regards,
-Milo209

Milo209

Oil consumption has definitely slowed since I made this change. I have driven 200 miles and consumed less than 2 oz of oil according to my dip stick.

Milo209

The Lucas Oil Stabilizer does not behave when it gets cold. When I say cold, I mean 6F. The stuff turns into slime. Other than that, it works.

Milo209

Here is another update. I have had to do even more work.

I have replaced....
the power steering pump two more times(crappy parts are crappy)
the starter again(crappy parts are crappy---fuuuu partsgeek)
the driving control arms(they were wobbly)
the battery mount (the old one broke off)
the steering dampener(the old one failed)
the radiator and all radiator/heater hoses(the radiator failed and gushed fluid all over my engine)
the muffler(it cracked in half as I was driving)
the clutch slave(the clutch was not engaging properly)
the clutch master(the slave was not the only part failing)
the seat has had memory foam added for increased comfort

I had the rusted areas cut out and metal mig welded back in place.
The entire frame and under-body has been re-coated with 3M Professional Grade Rubberized Undercoating.(Maryland is harsh on older vehicles)
The bed has been painted with a cheap spray on bed liner.




The engine is still eating oil at a rate of about 1/2 quart per 300 miles. The valve seals or valve stem seals must have been nicked during the engine rebuild. It would cost $250 to have someone check the valve seals and $1000 to have someone check the valve stem seals. I think that I am going to switch over to diesel motor oil for my next oil change to see if it will decrease the rate of oil consumption.

I need some help finding the door weather seals. My current ones are on their last legs. The forum posts here tell me to go to the dealership for the seals but I wanted to know if there was a better or cheaper solution to this problem.

Also, does anyone have any tips for redoing the interior door panels? My panels have holes cut in them for 6" speakers which I have removed. It gets drafty in the winter with these huge holes next to my legs.

Thanks in advance for your help. This forum is a treasure trove of information.

-Milo209

osv

a fascinating thread... references to bon ami, all over the map, lol

people have been using bon ami since way before the 22r series of motors was ever invented, as the reference to bon ami/chevy 283 indicates.

as I recall, the reason that you scrub the bore with bon ami instead of comet was because there is far less rust afterwards... bon ami does/didn't have chlorine or something in it.

from that thread:

"6: lightly oil using regular 10-30 oil. I simply wipe down the bores with a cloth rag and small amount of oil." ...now he uses wd-40 instead of oil?

all to better promote ring break-in, by metal-to-metal grinding of the rings against the bore wall, I guess.

the purpose of bon ami scrubbing, with the hottest water you can stand, is to flush the micro-residue out of the bore, which I suppose roughs up the bore surface, in a sense... all I know is that it works very well, on stock and hi-po motors, and if you do it right, there is no bon ami residue left in the bore... probably not a realistic alternative in a production environment, tho.

I guess that the consensus was to not run chrome rings? I can't see why anyone would want to that anyway, they are well-known for having break-in issues.

milo... you don't need to spend $1000 to have someone check the valve stem seals... you'd be better off having ted send you a new head, $550 or less shipped to your door, then just pay someone to put it on, if you have to.

and no, there is no motor oil that can significantly lower oil consumption that is caused by mechanical failure.

Milo209

Humm...I don't know....

When I ran 10w-40 with Lucas Oil Stabilizer I had almost no oil burn. Somehow oil viscosity is affecting the oil burn rate.

My compression numbers are pretty good.

Do I really need to replace the head?