My truck always burnt a little oil, but it's gotten much worse lately. Going through 1 litre of oil every 200km or so. No oil leaks.

I checked the compression with two different testers and compression was 175 across all pistons, both times.

So is that just my valve seals leaking oil? Should I go get a leakdown test to confirm?

Is there anything I can check with just the valve cover off?

trucks running awefull. Had to switch to 31's as I have no power anymore. Can I do a minimal rebuild here? Can anything be done w/out removing the head?

 

Have you run a compression by squirting oil into the cylinders?

Are you seeing oil in the exhaust?

Any blow by in the PCV valve or breather lines?

You can have the oil rings leaking and still have good compression. Though, it could also be valve stem seal related. In either case, you will have to pull the head. Sorry.....I know it bites.

 

Ooops....double post.

 

what is there to learn by adding oil to the compression test? I thought that was just if you had low compression?

exhaust seems fine. I had it apart not too long ago.

I'll check for blow by in the morning.

I was figuring it was head pulling time. Just trying to figure out what I'll need to replace before it's in pieces if possible.

 

I had some oil burnoff, then I tried using Lucas' Oil Stabalizer. I know there is some controversy on this stuff, especially from Bobistheoilguy.. but none-the-less I have no more burnoff or leaks for that matter. Level has been fine for the last 2,000 miles after I changed the oil with Lucas in it.

 

this is verrrrry true, you have compression rings and oil rings....

 

Well, I thought I'd posted my reply last night. Apparently it didn't go through. I've been having major problems accessing this site. Hmmm....

You can do whatever want, mojo. The way I figure it, even if the compression was low, you still have compression. So, whether it's low or high makes no difference. Adding oil will change the results either dramatically (in the case of low compression with bad rings) or very little if the valve seals are bad. It doesn't hurt anything to try it, and if the resulting compression readings rise considerably, you know if you valve stem seals are still good. Anyway, it's just something I would try to avoid a leak down test.....which would mean pulling the head, AFAIK. I say this because I'm thinking there is a way (to contradict my earlier statement) you can replace valve stem seals without pulling the head. And, wouldn't that be nice?

Anyway, the oil rings were very congested on my 22re when I'd pulled the pistons in my 22re. I was getting signficant amounts of blow by, but also had good compression (160psi +/-) and saw no oil from the exhaust. I wasn't using much oil either. But, every so often I had to clean the plugs and PCV valve to keep the motor happy. I have pictures of what the pistons looked like, if you're curious.

 

I just pulled my pcv valve. It was working fine, but there was definitely a little oil on the valvecover side.

My compression is 5 better then the top range of stock. good compression is supposed to be 142-171. My compression was 175 on two different testers. Is this indicating something else? carbon buildup or maybe something else going wrong that could somehow distort a compression test.

I don't think you have to pull the head to do a leakdown test. So that's a reasonable step still. I'll see what a shop wants to charge to do it or a cheap tester is about $60.

thook, What did you mean when you said your rings were congested?

Sure, love to see your pistons. I have very little engine experience so I've been trying to learn as much as I can quickly.

 

if the oil rings are 'congested' (clogged/stuck) using seafoam can help.
also using techron into the cylinders can loosen some of the crud causing the blow-by.
either way cleaning it shouldnt hurt anything.
the worst case is youll be pulling it to replace the worn parts (rings and seals)

the best crap ive found to stop either from being an issue (short term fix!) is bardahls no smoke/no leak.


not sure about a 22re head, but most valve seals can be replaced w/the head on. youll need something to prevent the valves from falling into the cylinder (air pressure / rope/ ...)

 

Hmmm....as I recall, high compression is result of valves being too tight. When's the last time you've adjusted them?

Congested/clogged/gunkified pistons. Note the bottom two rings you see on each skirt is the oil control rings.....also the filthiest ones. This should illustrate how you can still have good compression while the oil rings are leaking. The compression and scraper rings are all shiny on the outer edge from still being able to make contact with the cylinder. They weren't even worn beyond ring end gap spec. Really, the only problem was the sticky, leaky oil rings. Well, that and having thrown the timing chain....which forced me to completely rebuild.









The carbon builds up on them from blow by gases and they no longer expand completely flush against the cylinder wall to seal as well. Mine were all pretty much the same, but I'd already started cleaning one of them when I took the pics. If you have one, and if you rebuild at some point, use a bench grinder with a brass wire wheel. Cleans them up very fast without taking off the aluminum.

 

wow. yotatech back from the dead...

I had last adjusted my valves about 10 months ago. I just double checked. A couple were slightly tight, but it didn't affect the compression. dry was the same at 180. I added 5 ml of oil and compression rose to about 190.

Do you have to pull the engine to change the rings on the pistons?

 

No you do not have to pull the engine to change out rings, although it would be a lot easier if you do. When something major like that comes up for me, I pull the entire motor, and just do a basic overhaul. Plus you have all the IFS b/s to deal with if you want to keep the motor in the vehicle. BTW I have had pretty decent success with seafoam, so you might try that out.

 

Have you ever rebuilt that engine or added any engine mods like a cam or something?

 

engine's never been rebuilt as far as I know. Stock cam.

I ran a couple bottles of seafoam through it last summer. I didn't notice much of a difference. Ran it in the gastank, oil and through my brake booster I believe. I don't know if anywhere carries seafoam up here. I brought some back from the states last summer.

Truck has a history of running rich and carbon buildup, which probably is the high compression. When I bought it the exhaust collector was cracked all around the weld and leaking air before the o2 sensor.

I bought some no oil/smoke stuff to see if it helps temporarily. I couldn't find anything seafoamish at my local lordco though.

 

Right....carbon build up. That one slipped past me.

Well, you saw my pics. That was after several Seafoam treatments. Didn't do much good, I'd say.

There are atleast two threads I can think, though I don't remember the titles, that explain using water as opposed to Seafoam. It's safe...don't worry, if you are. People freak out at the idea of using water, but it's really no different that using Seafoam. Sure, SF is combustable, but lots of people have used water with great results. I have.....accidently...but, it did improve how my v6 ran.

I don't know....you may wind up having to do a ring job, but trying some options first doesn't hurt, eh.

If you are interested in the idea of using water, I can explain it. It's not much different than using SF/=, though.

 

Oh, and if you're wondering why I didn't try the water myself, my timing chain jumped ship on me. Too late!....blah!

 

No power? Burning oil? IMO, rebuild the motor, it'll be worth it in the long run if you intend to keep the truck, otherwise you're throwing parts and effort on a tired powerplant. Plus with gas so expensive, it's not worth it to run a sloppy engine. It's not hard to rebuild, but there will probably be a bunch of little hold ups that extend the job into a few weeks at least. If it's your only transpo, I'd consider getting a reman engine from a reputable shop, then swap it out. If you have another vehicle, you can take your time and rebuild the motor you have. There are a lot of people that can help here with questions, and I'd also recommend having a friend help with engine assembly. Engbldr has all the parts you'll need.

 

u can get seafoam at napa in vancouver. Although I like you have the same problem, every 200kms or so i throw a litre of oil at it. Also the engine is runnin like garbage. Ive tried seafoam, cooland and water through the combustion chamber with no success. Ive yet to try a product like lucas but im considering it. Im basically waiting for the engine to go and then I will get a rebuilt unit as this is my DD and i have no down time right now.

Also one of the reasons for your great compression reading might be the oil consumption.. basically the oil that gets into ur combustion chamber is soaking your compression rings and giving you a wet test reading (as if you just dropped oil into the cylinder before the test). So dont be so sure your compression is actually great. If you do a rebuilt best to get all the machine work done.

 

ok, sounds like it's time the engine is getting pulled. I've got two weekends of camping coming up first though.

I'm looking into ordering the engnbldr kit then. What about sizes for pistons, rings bearings....? Can I assume that stock size is fine or am I going to have to pull everything apart first to know.

 

Yep....you'll have to pull everything apart and gauge all of your tolerances before you'll know where to go. You may only need some light machine shop work done and can go with standard sizes. Otherwise, if the engine has enough wear to warrant cylinder boring or crank turning for example, you'll be going with new tolerances.