High oil consumption after rebuild
 

Hey guys,

I posted a few days ago regarding the time it takes for the rings to seat because it seemed like I was going through a lot of oil after completing a top end rebuild on my '87 Carrera. I just got back from a week long road trip up to New England, and my concern was validated: burned through approximately 10 quarts of oil over 2,500 miles. The car now has over 3,000 miles on it after the rebuild. It smokes slightly on idle, and then noticeably more on hard acceleration in first gear after idling for 10 seconds or more. There is definitely an oil leak between the cam towers and the heads, but it only results in a very small puddle after the car has cooled.

We're going to tear down the motor again to put proper sealant between the cam towers and the heads. What else should I plan on doing while I'm in there? I'm guessing I should re-ring the cylinders? Should I send the cylinders (3.3L Mahles) to a specialty shop to get honed? I got a valve job done by Supertec, so the valve guide issue should be resolved. What else would cause this much oil consumption?

Thank you for your help.

Bump.

tthat's too bad, you ruled out the turbo i assume?

Hey Jerry, no I hadn't ruled out the turbo. To be honest, it hadn't occurred to me that the turbo could cause this level of oil consumption. How can I determine whether it's causing the problem or not?

check the air train to the afm.
my car leaked at the cam tower interface to. I just never did anything about it and didn't think it was a big deal. My leak was small though... I had other issues with rocker shafts walking. Which brings up another point, more smoke, bigger leak, etc.
I would think losing that much would really make the car smoke a lot. Just check the intake for an oil slick.
maybe someone with more know how can give you more ideas

Whoa thats allot of oil in 2500 miles. I don't go through 1 qt in that milage. I would think turbo could be your culprit very easily. is yours ball bearing turbo? do you have a restrictor in place in the oil line(only if ball bearing? If not you need one but probably too late for the turbo seals they may be shot already? sorry to hear Andy

I doubt rings would go through that much oil without complety fowling the plugs out it is more likely the turbo is blowing oil out every orfice

yes, it's a ball bearing turbo, and yes I have a restrictor fitting in place. Now that I'm thinking back, I noticed that the oil pressure was pinged all the way to the top of the druck press gauge for the first couple hundred miles. Then it calmed down about thereafter. Not sure if that has anything to do with this. Would something else that I've done aside from the restrictor fitting cause the seals to blow?

is the oil draining well from the turbo. Broken rings on the pistons?

Do you have a gage to run a quick leak down?

I thought I was writing that as well ..


Anyhow craig where is gruppeb now?

Right here: http://moto-delta.com/forum/index.php

Would it be possible for the compression rings to seat but not the oil ring? Would a leak down give an indication of whether the oil ring is problematic? If not, what would?

Bump.

Andy,

Leakdown testing would be strongly recommended at this point but it won't reflect anything about the oil rings.

JMHO, but I think its prudent to take it apart to inspect everything very closely.