Thread: White smoke from breather and oil drops formed

Tweet

Thanks roger i appreciate it. I dont have any sort of hot rod, but an 85 chevy c10 that had an engine fire. Ive come along ways with it, you cant even tell its the same truck. The only problem i have with clocking the rings to fix my issue is that ive read they move all on their own. But being the run time on this motor is less than a few hours ill start with the rings. I knew i was at risk taking a bored over sbc 400 to start with.

I don't feel the step asides were due to frustration, rather that they had offered all they had, and now It's up to you. My first build wasn't without its problems either..
Good luck, keep us posted.

Originally Posted by Jakemstar

Thanks roger i appreciate it. I dont have any sort of hot rod, but an 85 chevy c10 that had an engine fire. Ive come along ways with it, you cant even tell its the same truck. The only problem i have with clocking the rings to fix my issue is that ive read they move all on their own. But being the run time on this motor is less than a few hours ill start with the rings. I knew i was at risk taking a bored over sbc 400 to start with.

So did you assemble the engine, or was it assembled by someone else? If by someone else was it a machine shop, or someone of unknown experience level?

Before you tear it down consider trying the BonAmi trick, with the added step of inspecting the cylinders with a boroscope ahead of time. Your local auto parts store might even have a boroscope that they loan out, or get one at a tool rental place for a few bucks. You may well have just glazed the cylinders with the synthetic oil mix. Just my $0.02.

I'm sorry again, you have misunderstood, I am not frustrated with you or washing my hands. Simply, we are giving you directions while assuming all things are correct, realizing now that we need to step back a bit. Not to sound mean or belittling, but it appears now that the motor needs to come apart and at the very least cylinders plathoe honed and new rings with the ring gaps checked and installed correctly. I suggested a book or two because the whole motor building process will be outlined in much more detail than we can on a forum. Please dont take offense, the books are valuable knowledge that you will continue to Learn from as you hone your skills.

Thanks roger. I dont have any kind of hot rod but an 85 chevy c10 that had an engine fire. Ive come along ways with it, you cant even tell they were the same truck. The only issue i have as far as the rings is that again ive been told they move on their own anyways. Being this motor has less than a few hours run time though, ill start with the rings and go from there. I knew i was possibly getting myself into trouble anyways being its a bored 400. :/

Jake-some questions so we can determine the seating around the table------


You said 400sbc bored----------how was the finish sizing done? What type hone and how many different grits to reach final size/ finish?


Does any of the steam holes or bolts holes showing cracking towards the cylinder??


What was the ring end gap of the top and second rings?


What type rings did you use---moly?,chrome?etc


Did any of the pistons rock/swivel hard on the rod??(tight wrist pin?)


How hard is it to remove that head from motor installed in truck?


Did you torque head bolts and to what number ?


Can you get the pan off in the truck? Not 4 x 4?

Gotta catch up again....
when you glazed do you mean the oil was too thin and disrupts the break in process?

I assembled the engine myself

The motor was already bored over when i bought it. I took it to the machine shop to have it all inspected before assembly. Block, crank, heads. The machinist did my cam bearings, my valve seats and checked the bores and crank for any disformities or damage. Everything checked out ok. At least as ok as i trust the machinist.
As far as sizing/honing i couldnt tell you as i left that all t him.

Since installing the heads i havent looked at them but again, they checked out at the shop

The rings are sealed power moly rings

The pistons and rods fit very tight, no sway or anything from my knowledge

The heads arent too hard to remove. Just have to remove the pulleys and intake/distibutor. Ive got tons of room under the hood it is quite nice

The heads were torqued to 65 ft lbs and i went over them 2 or three times to ensure they didnt loosen at all

Oil pan isnt too bad to remove. Its not a 4x4, just usual frustrations because it sits over the crossmember

So it was a fresh bore job when you got it? any hone cross hatch pattern visable? or-was it a used over bored block that you put fresh rings on used pistons into a worn cylinder wall? Ridge at top of cylinder? no crosshatch pattern? rings on correctly? there is a top side to them! If new pistons how were the installed on rods-just pressed? or rod heated and fit?


have always used 75 lbs sbc except outter row

The cylinders were honed and yes it was used. Pistons are not brand new however they are not stock either. It appeared the the pistons were barely used and have no damage. So yes i guess you could say fresh rings on a used piston in a worn cylinder wall. I installed the rings correctly according to the instructions that came with the rings. However, as you know i did not clock them.... when i looked up torque specs for aluminum heads it said 65 to 70 lbs, so i torqued to 65 then gave a slight nudge. Being they are also used heads i didnt want to chance cracking or anything

so was it honed with an electric drill driving a bottle brush hone or a real sunnen type hone? What grit were the stones? How was the top side of the rings marked?
If you followed directions why did you not clock them? Why did you use royal purple?

If you did not clock them, I'd probably just pull the engine. It looks like you have at least 3 cylinders for the potential to have some rings installed wrong, or the cylinder walls could have more wear than some of the rest. Yes the rings will move, but usually the move together and the gaps never reach each other, is how I've understood it. One time I built a new engine for my corvette and I was in a hurry, and didn't check my ring gaps because I had customer engines to build. I always check them, but I figured, it'll be fine. My cylinder walls are bored on the large side to help prevent scoring due to the nature of the beast. Well, that was an expensive mistake because I ordered .040 over rings, the box said .040 when I got them, but they were actually standard rings in the box. Not cool and expensive dumb move on my part. I don't rush on my stuff now.

Lol! We have all done something similar! Stuff happens, we just move forward and fix it.

Fyi, im in the army and just got back from training for five weeks. I have pulled the pistons only to find out that the number 3, 5, amd 7 pistons are all cracked in the SAME spot. Right between the two compression rings. Tue number 1 piston was also cracked in the exact same spot however it was not near as bad as the others. Like i saod before the 3, 5 , and 7 pistons had very low compression. ALL OF THE RINGS were almost lined up, not clocked what soever. So now im curious to WHY those 4 pistons ALL on the drivers side (1, 3, 5, 7) are cracked....

Thanks for being a part of our nations military several of us on here are veterans

A reason that pistons crack like that after a rebuild is that new rings in a used bore( especialy with a tight spot above the ridge worn by the old rings will hit the top ring and crack the land down toward the second ring

If the crack appears to have been upwards--second ring probably hooked on top of block from a poor fitting ring compressor and/or a heavy hammer in inexperienced hands during install-also since block is overbored,there may (probably) not be a slight bevel at the top of the deck surface--------

Your going to need new pistons, rings and install on your rods ( not pressed but the electric rod end heater)

And if i get new pistons and rings, if the bore is still worn from before (which is kind of hard to believe being the cylinders were honed) whats to say this wont happen again? Another thing thats mind boggling is it was all on just ONE side of the motor.