[Tommy Vercetti]

hey all,
as i was saying my car's thread i'm having issues with spark plugs and oil consumption.
i removed all plugs and i'm checking compression, so far i only tested 3 cyls and they are fine (from 160 to 175 psi), i'll do the others and i'll update this as soon as i can. keep in mind that i'm at a lil over 270000 km.

car smokes so badly i have issues parking it in reverse because i hate the smell of burnt oil. it eats about 1 quart of oil every 800 miles (10w40).

plugs are absolutely thrashed only on the driver side (they are filled with black stuff). on the passenger side they are fine-ish. you see 2 pics here, the worst one is from driver side, the better one is from the pass side.
these plugs got this bad in about 12000 miles.

so, coming to the question, how is it possible that i'm only fouling plugs ( and possibly eating oil) from the driver side of the engine?

and sorry about my english, hoping i made myself clear.

 

[TriShields&Pentastars]

I saw you mentioned valve seals in your other thread, that's a good maintenance job to perform with your high 'mileage' (kms) but that wouldn't explain why THAT much oil is making it into the cylinders and only on one bank. Just a guess but I'd start looking closely at the PCV system, have you replaced the PCV valve and checked all the vacuum lines and hoses for cracks or breaks? It sounds to me like oil is somehow leaking into the intake ports on that side of the engine. Might be a good time to do the intake manifold gaskets as well although I know typically those cause coolant leaks, not so much oil.

 

[dezldave961]

Let us know what the full results of compression test end up being for #1-6. That would provide an obvious path, but if you're carefully changing the rest of the top-end gaskets and o-rings, you will be doing all you can to help seal things back up.

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

thanks guys, i'll update you with the compression result in the next days.

pcv has been replaced recently, but got me nowhere though.

i'm thinking about some drain holes too...where are they? could they get clogged up?

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

hey all, sorry to bother you. i just finished doing compression check. all 6 are fine , from 160/165-ish to 180/185-ish psi. will post a pic later with exact number and position. valve seals are coming in on monday. ordering a lim this afternoon. still have to check pcv seal. gonna start removing valve covers tomorrow morning. thank you all for your help and patience .

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

hey all,
uploading the compression test results pic here:

f is for front of the engine, driver side compression il lower then pass side. driver has all plugs fouled as i was writing above.

also , i removed the valve cover and rocker arms on driver side .
uploading pics:

there is some sludge

anything unusual ?

 

[dezldave961]

The grime typically comes from long-time use of cheap, non-synthetic oil. Most junkyard engines I see like that, but look better after a few rounds of Mobil1 or similar.

The slightly lower numbers might just be from a bit of that grime sitting inside the piston rings and letting a little air past. Not a significant enough difference between the numbers, though.

Check the condition of the valve seals, maybe use your camera phone to take pics for the difficult angles. They should look normal, not torn or crooked on the guide/stem.

If you go through the top end to clean/replace the gaskets, o-rings, seals... you may find something that looked like it wasn't performing well, and the kits are pretty inexpensive to do that (just helped a Camaro owner do his for ~$50 from RockAuto, down to lower intake).

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

first 2 valve stems are installed!

i have to say that the intake stem looked good enough, the exhaust one di not. i'm no mechanic and i'm not sure this is the cause of my issue.
pics:

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

hi all,
changed all the valve stems and put it back together

need to install new plugs and so on now

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

hey all, yesterday i finished the installation and fired the bird up.

it's running fine so i did not messed up anything lol

it's still smoking though, maybe a lil less, but still smoking.

while reinstalling the valve covers i noticed that i have basically a puddle of coolant and oil just above the valve cover next to the intake manifold. so, i think i don't have a lim anymore....i think my engine is eating so much oil due to this lim issue.

what do you think?
edit: one more thing, what would you recommend to flush the engine? some diesel fuel? or some generic oil additive?

 

[dezldave961]

Don't flush, just drain when you pull the LIM and pour some oil down the valley and over rockers to let it run out the drain.

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

okok, thanks for the help

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

i'm ordering the lim now, do i need anything else?

More Information for ULTRA-POWER MS958091

 

[dezldave961]

I'd prefer the aluminum AC Delco gaskets for longevity, but fresh plastic ones will survive for years, as well, with universal coolant instead of original Dex clogging up the works. Be sure to put PTFE (teflon paste or tape) on the LIM bolts to seal the passages in the head they bolt into, and RTV silicone in the corners between the ends of the 4 gaskets.

O-rings are usually a necessity, and come with UIM gasket kits, typically. They like to start leaking/tearing at fuel injectors, coolant passages/elbows, etc. especially when you disturb them after decades of running.

Clean up everything you remove, so it not only looks nicer, but it's easier to see anything when troubleshooting later.

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

thanks for the tips!

 

[Tommy Vercetti]

got the lim and plenum kit