engine question

[guitardude]

this is a repost of my project thread, but i figured i might get more sympathy here...

tonight was a bad night for the build, although it started off ok. I grinded off all the extra engine bay brackets, patched em up, and got the engine bay ready for the engine to drop in.
also installed my treehouse lollipops.

we were off to a great start so we decided to go ahead and put the tranny onto the engine. As soon as we lifted it up (at a steep angle) i noticed oil streaming out of exhaust port #6...so i think to myself shit, thats not a good thing.

we instantly take off the valve cover and start inspecting everything. nothing noticable, so we pour some oil in to see whats going on. nothing.
finally i grab a cresent wrench and crank it over.

for your viewing pleasure:
http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/m...0925082227.flv

oil shot 9.5 ft. (measured precisely of course) out of the 6th cylinder spark plug hole.

so we scratched our heads for about an hour, and closed up shop for the night...tomorrow we decide what to do from here.

any other thoughts on what exactly is wrong?

[2Big4a3Series]

Maybe you had considered the obvious but I will suggest it anyhow- Could there be an issue with the ring on the #6 piston or even worse, a hairline crack in the piston itself? That seems to be the only thing that would permit oil to get into the combustion chamber.

Other than that maybe you have a bad, missing, poorly aligned valve seal and oil seeped in while filling the crankcase.

[terrytinney]

If the engine sat upside down for a while, oil could leak past the rings, even if they aren't totally worn out. You should still probably do a leakdown test.

[guitardude]

Maybe you had considered the obvious but I will suggest it anyhow- Could there be an issue with the ring on the #6 piston or even worse, a hairline crack in the piston itself? That seems to be the only thing that would permit oil to get into the combustion chamber.

Other than that maybe you have a bad, missing, poorly aligned valve seal and oil seeped in while filling the crankcase.

my first thought was a valve seal, or cracked head...but after dumping some oil around in there, the oil isn't coming from the top. its coming up from the bottom...

the engine sat at a steep angle for about a month...could it be a worn piston ring? or could the ring be just worn enough to let oil seep in at that angle...i don't know, i am not an expert...

[guitardude]

If the engine sat upside down for a while, oil could leak past the rings, even if they aren't totally worn out. You should still probably do a leakdown test.

didn't see this post before i posted...maybe im on the right track...

can you do a leakdown out of the car?

[2Big4a3Series]

If the engine sat upside down for a while, oil could leak past the rings.

That's something that I forgot to suggest also. I imagine that if a thin layer of oil can get all the way around the cylinder wall for lubrication purposes, there is no reason why a little bit couldn't gradually seep past the rings over a period of time.

[guitardude]

That's something that I forgot to suggest also. I imagine that if a thin layer of oil can get all the way around the cylinder wall for lubrication purposes, there is no reason why a little bit couldn't gradually seep past the rings over a period of time.

yeah i agree...but this was more than a little bit, it was a cylinder full...chances are it might be alright, but i would hate to waste all that time swapping to find out things were bad.

[2Big4a3Series]

I think that simple compression test should give you the story. Now that I think about it, (and please forgive me for coming up with these after thoughts every other post) even if your ring was bad or even missing for that matter (worst case scenario), there is no way that a cylinder full of oil could be drawn up from the crankcase especially when it's vented through the heads.

Also I figure that the oil could not have shot out of the plug hole and landed exactly 9.5 away if there wasn't a tight seal on that piston. If it shot out at 9.4 feet, we would have had something to be concerned about. ;)

[guitardude]

I think that simple compression test should give you the story. Now that I think about it, (and please forgive me for coming up with these after thoughts every other post) even if your ring was bad or even missing for that matter (worst case scenario), there is no way that a cylinder full of oil could be drawn up from the crankcase especially when it's vented through the heads.

Also I figure that the oil could not have shot out of the plug hole and landed exactly 9.5 away if there wasn't a tight seal on that piston. If it shot out at 9.4 feet, we would have had something to be concerned about. ;)

yeah your right...i actually thought that in the beginning, that the piston ring had to be somewhat sealed. which led me to think it was the head...then after i blew that out of the water i went back to the ring thing.

guess there it only a couple options here...ill start with some tests.

thanks for the help

[E30SPDFRK]

Judging by the color of that oil, I would say that you never drained it after pulling it. If the engine was sitting the way it was in the video the whole time, the oil had gathered around the #6 cylinder and had slowly filled it up. Oil only squirted out the one time, right?

If all of that is true, your engine should be fine.

[alpinaclone]

I havn't read the other thread, so I may be missing something here but....could the PO of the engine have filled the bores with oil to stop them from rusting in storage. I have seen it a couple times with old motorcycles.

I would do a leak down test regardless.