Well, as the shakedown continues, I have been chasing down various fluid leaks and I FINALLY have it down to only one ...... and I SWEAR to you we checked the rear seal BEFORE we installed the engine and it was dry as a bone ... no sign that it had ever leaked ... we took that as a GOOD sign ..... anyway it was Sunday and the Volvo parts store was closed and anyway they would have had to order one in ...Yadda, Yadda, Yadda ......... and as Ole Reliable is my daily driver I REALLY HAD to be mobile ........ Yadda, Yadda, Yadda ......Anyhooooo looks like in the not to distant future I will be learning how to drop a transmission out of a 122 and install a rear main seal and while I am at it I'll take care of that annoying dribble from the rear of the OD unit.

This engine has been sitting at least a couple of years and although it runs well... geez, really well .... it likes to puff blue between shifts and when decellerating after getting off the highway ... the compression test wasn't bad ... not perfect but a heck of a lot better than the engine we removed .... which BTW DIDN'T smoke. I am of the opinion that this is rings related and probably the rings have been gunked up due to the long layoff and am hoping that they work their way loose with driving and time..... Unless, of course, some of you ladies and gentlemen might have some other suggestions like an "Italian Tune-up"...... or some other witches brew that might do something for the rings .... Any suggestions will be gratefully accepted .....

BTW thre darn thing actually IDLES at 850 rpm .... Geez, I never knew they could DO that ;-)
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Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 Canadian

Speaking from the USA so I don't know what you have access to. Boat engines, OMC maker of Johnson Outboard engines they sell this stuff called Tune Up. It is specifically designed to degunk Rings on 2 cycle boat engines. 2 guys I know swear by the stuff.
That sounds more like your smoke issue. I think if it were Valve related it would just puff at startup not on deceleration.
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwr and two motorcycles: it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me

Hi Tony .... well I took someone's idea .... and added 1/2 liter of ATF to the gas tank .... actually that was suggested to me by someone at the CVC Meet in Ilderton, Ontario last summer or the summer before .... don't know if it is helping but on the way home from work today I didn't notice any smoke ... time will tell I guess ....

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Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 Canadian

Brett,

Congrads on the weekend swap out....As to the issue at hand, an old guy I use to work with, who was nothing short of a mechanical genius, had a procedure for engines that had been sitting awhile. He would always put about a teaspoon of transmission fluid (ATF) in each cylinder through the spark plug hole, turn the engine over a few times manually, and then let it sit at least an hour or so. The transmission fluid will burn off when you start her up the next time (major white smoke), but it will provide lubrication to the upper rings, that don't get that much lubrication if the lower rings are seated.

Good luck

Oliver
1966 1800S

Blue smoke on acceleration = rings leaking oil
Blue smoke on deceleration/ liftoff= valve seals/guides

The high vacuum when the throttle is first closed results in some oil getting sucked through the bad guides into the intake and burned.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 'Roterande Fläkt Och Drivremmar!'

Yes, we did check the rear seal and there was no leak. But as you have said, the engine was sitting for over 3 years - with as we found out, very little oil inside - 1 1/2 to 2 litres (sorry, quarts to our American Friends). Valve seals may be a little dry as well. Keep at it. I want to see this thing really fly.

Richard
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80 242 350ci

Ron.... The Valve seals had entered my mind too ... but thought they were more likely to just give a little oil consumption all the time ... well, they would be easier to replace I guess ... all we need is compressed air and something to compress the valve springs .....

Oliver ... an Old Friend when I was growing up was into Modle A Fords ... he used to pour RISLONE into the cylinders like you suggested with the ATF ... but he usually let it sit about a week ..... then when he started it up the whole neighbourhood would disappear in a HUGE cloud of blue/white smoke .... but the engine usually did better on oil . What about adding ATF to the fuel tank .. say about 1/2 liter to the tank?

Richard ..... Have all the leaks under control except the puddle that forms from what appears to be the rear seal ... engine is running better daily but still does not rev as freely as the old greaseball .... have taken it to about 5500 .... those stiffer throttle return springs make it seem harder to really get into it .... Just taking my time getting used to it ....it definately DOES have more torque than the old engine ... LOL But that wouldn't be hard ;-)

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Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 Canadian

I agree that smoke only on decel is usually (not always) oil getting through the valve guides.

Sorry, I haven't been following along properly... what stiffer throttle return springs? Shouldn't be so stiff that you really notice it in the pedal -- that would cause rapid wear of the throttle shafts.

Is this a whole "new" E motor, or just the head on a different block? I ask because I ran a B20E with SU carbs for years, and it took me a while to work out the tuning -- glad to share if that's what you have.

Hi Phil ... Yep it's a whole "new" E ....

Brett, here's how I ran mine towards the end:

With a centrifugal-only dizzy, basic timing at 14 BTDC and full advance around 37 BTDC. Gradually bend the tabs that hold the outer end of the springs under the breaker plate outwards to delay the onset of the advance until you get no pinging in the midrange (or anywhere else, for that matter). You can get at them with needle-nosed pliers through the holes in the breaker plate by turning the motor.

DX needles in the SUs... I had KDs at first, but they ran a bit lean in the midrange. Tune for best idle and find the rich edge of that, just short of the point where the rpm starts to drop.

Colder plugs (!). NGK BP7HS is the stock heat range for an E motor, not BP6HS. If you're going to run it hard, go a step colder yet to B8HS (I can't get BP in that range here).

Valve lash .015" HOT. (It's a D cam)

This gave me quite acceptable performance on 92-octane.

BTW, this was just an unknown motor out of a '71 142E junker. I'm going to reuse it in our Amazon. Might put the D-jet back on it... still contemplating.

Hi Phil .... also using centrifugal only distributor .... but fitted with CRANE XR 700 optical trigger .... been getting a little pinging on a steep climb .... still running a mixed bag of plugs ... one of the Champions in the engine was totally dead ... so grabbed an NGK out of old greasy ... ordered a set of NGK's but will have to check and see what heat range .... may help out with the pinging to have a set of matching NEW plugs ... I think the initial timing is set at 10 BTDC. The stiff throttle return springs are actually the old ones but the block attachments have been moved from the two end manifold bolts to the two end Injector plugs. Clutch is a bit grabby as it had some light rust on the surface ... had to use it because it was an 8 bolt and the old greaseball was a 6 bolt. Don't know if I can do the mods you suggested because of the optical trigger mechanism ... sure fills up the distributor but works nice. Going to be a while before I change the oil to try the MAX LIFE maybe a lot of these problems will clear up just with driving ... watching the oil level closely .. so far so good .....

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Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 Canadian

You might try some of that 'high mileage' oil they sell. It has more of the additive that swells rubber, so the old worn seals puff up a bit and start sealing again.

John ... Thanks ... I was wondering about that .... I'll give it a try on my next oil change .... any specific brand you might recommend? Valvoline Max Life or what ?

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Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 Canadian

I dunno, I don't use it on any of my cars - they are all on Mobil 1.

If the engine hasn't run in a while the seals could just be a little dried out and the regular oil might revive them. I think all oil has the seal-swelling additives, the 'high mileage' oil just has more.

Brett;

For high oil consumption due to stuck rings, I've had very good results with a capfull or two of Marvel Mystery Oil (in each plughole, let sit for a couple of days).

Good Luck!

OK Ron where do we Canadians find this Marvelous Mystery Oil ? Today I did find a local source for Valvoline Max Life .... so I'm moving in that direction right now .... just about to have to add a liter so will start switching over from the Esso Extra 10W30 I put in and see if it begins to make a difference or not ... will do the complete change on the next oil change in another 2500 or so miles. Who makes MMO anyway ???
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Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 Canadian

Hi Ron .... Only problem with that is that the car is my Daily Driver so can't let it sit that long ..... don't have backup wheels .... except #1 Son's 90 Celica GT ... and he has to travel to work too ..... Maybe I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy that 780 Turbo I've been dreaming about .... or a V6 and swap in a Chevy ..........
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Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 Canadian

Brett;

... from your other post, it sound like the ATF may be helping free the rings also...great!...if "a few days" is not doable, I would still recommended you might try a bit of the MMO, just overnight...can't hurt!

Cheers