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smoking 120-130

posted by  Danny on  Fri Apr 19 09:49 CST 2013
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last visit: Mon Oct 6 22:01 CST 2014
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Fairly new to me '65 4 door with B18.
Engine idles & runs smoothly but has begun to exhaust blue smoke.
Replaced valve stem seals (which were incredibly hardened, but not broken). No help there.
There is no blow-by - it's all coming out the tailpipe.
My deduction is that the oil is getting past the oil rings and being burned and exhausted. Prior experience with bad rings has been crankcase pressure pushing exhaust past the brings (blow-by), and oil vapor up through the valve cover and hose into the front oil filter which then dripped oil onto the pass side suspension, etc. That is not happening in this situation.

I did a compression test dry
front to back:
140
155
150
145

Then did leak-down test
60%
45%
40%
50%

Then did compression test with oil in the cylinders
155
170
170
160

Any ideas about the cause and remedy?
I added some Lucas heavy duty oil stabilizer to thicken oil with the hope that less would be drawn up to the top end. Little to no effect.

thanks







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    smoking 120-130

    uid 37336's pic
    posted by  B20Paul. on  Sat Apr 20 11:23 CST 2013
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    last visit: Mon Oct 20 10:54 CST 2014
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    Prior experience with bad rings has been crankcase pressure pushing exhaust past the brings (blow-by)

    If it has the original one piece oil rings, they give up before the compression rings. How many miles does the engine have on it? Is it original?
    --
    Three 164's, Two 144's, One 142 & a partridge in a pear tree.








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      smoking 120-130

      posted by  Danny on  Sat Apr 20 12:05 CST 2013
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      last visit: Mon Oct 6 22:01 CST 2014
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      It is not the original engine. I do not know how many miles are on this engine.

      My experience (from rebuilding two engines) has been that broken compression rings resulted in blow-by and lack of compression, and that in this case (reasonable compression and little blow-by) that oil rings were somehow the cause of excessive burning of oil. I was hoping that there was a remedy short of, at least replacing the rings, short of rebore and replacing pistons as well. I don't know what is the cause of oil ring failure. Could a solvent loosen or clean what is affecting the oil ring function and thus the smoking? Probably not.











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        smoking 120-130

        uid 37336's pic
        posted by  B20Paul. on  Sat Apr 20 12:36 CST 2013
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        last visit: Mon Oct 20 10:54 CST 2014
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        One way top rings break is when the piston ring groove gets too wide & lets the top ring flog up & down, it's usually in two pieces. Alternately, If you have detonation for too long, the top ring will be in about 20 pieces which ruin the piston & bore if you don't fix it imediately.

        If your engine was rebuilt & has Mahles in it, it could still have the ugly one piece oil rings, a quick hone & $20 bucks worth of plain Sealed Power rings is a quick fix. If you recycle some gaskets, you could get buy with buying a headgasket & source the front & rear seals from a bearing shop.

        --
        Three 164's, Two 144's, One 142 & a partridge in a pear tree.








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    smoking 120-130

    posted by  KlausC on  Fri Apr 19 13:24 CST 2013
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    last visit: Fri Oct 24 10:15 CST 2014
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    Your compression and leakdown tests point to rings. Because of the cost to rebore and install new rings, take a look around for a nice B20 engine. A bit more BHP and probably cost justifyable.

    In the meantime, if the oil consumption isn't too great, switch to 20W40 and leave out the snake oil. You might also want to route the oil separator to a catch can and eliminate the PCV valve to stop gumming up the carb.







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    smoking 120-130

    uid 779's pic
    posted by  matt b on  Fri Apr 19 11:12 CST 2013
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    last visit: Tue Oct 14 16:33 CST 2014
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    I'd say you answered your question... you need rings, probably overbore.

    Could be scoring in the cylinder walls and/or oval cylinderss.

    Probably a bit of all.

    I've never tried it, but have had friends who have had good results with "Restore". I recall there being two types. A cheapo on in a plastic bottle, and a more pricey ($10+) one in a metal bottle. I'd give that a try.

    If it works, great! But it's a band-aid. Not a fix. Basically plan on an engine rebuild, or sourcing a better engine.

    Any history on teh motor? Is it original? Has it ever been rebuilt? (you'll find out if/when you get into it). they are good for maybe 3-4 rebuilds. Unless it's a B18 that's been punched out to a two liter, in which case.. it's done for or needs sleeved.



    --
    -Matt I ♥ my ♂








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    smoking 120-130

    posted by  HillBilly on  Fri Apr 19 11:03 CST 2013
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    last visit: Thu Oct 16 08:26 CST 2014
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    I once owned a 61 Model 122S with a B16 that did the same thing....my first Volvo 44 years ago.
    The engine always ran great and then one day it began to produce blue smoke.
    Have you recently changed the weight or brand of motor oil that you use?

    My problem turned out to be worn oil rings.
    I don't know how many miles the car had, but at the ripe old age of 18, I remember running the little engine hard and with various cheap qualities of motor oil, so I learned way back what not to do.

    The compression looks OK if maybe a little low, and you removed one possible blue smoke problem by replacing the valve stem seals, so I would guess a ring job is in the future.

    hope this helps
    steve








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      smoking 120-130

      uid 779's pic
      posted by  matt b on  Fri Apr 19 11:52 CST 2013
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      last visit: Tue Oct 14 16:33 CST 2014
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      That's a very good point...

      I've had old volvos that didn't smoke at all with quality oil. I've always run 10-40 in winter, and used to run 20-50 in summer in worn engines. I was a Castrol guy at that time, I'm not as picky now.

      Any event, I once did an oil change using less expensive oil (won't mention the brand, but it'd be high scoring Scrabble word, were it allowed), and my oil consumption went from a quart every 1500 miles to a quart every 500, accompanied by blue smoke...

      --
      -Matt I ♥ my ♂








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        smoking 120-130

        uid 37336's pic
        posted by  B20Paul. on  Sat Apr 20 11:31 CST 2013
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        last visit: Mon Oct 20 10:54 CST 2014
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        20-50 oil is how you break oil pumps, 15W-40 is what you want. I used Castrol RX Super, an average brand. My preference was for Shell Rimula X because they mention that it meets Volvo's tappet test.

        --
        Three 164's, Two 144's, One 142 & a partridge in a pear tree.







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