The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop engine using oil

bought a 54 about one and a half year ago. ran good when i bought it but had not driven it more than 10-20 miles before doing a lot of work on it. Brakes, steering, cleaning under the hood etc. got it ready for a good drive test. Drove it about 150 miles and it used 4 qts of oil. Had lots of suggestions from friends, but wanted to go to the experts befor e trying anything or rebuilding the engine. any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
Frank

That is a quart of oil every 37.5 miles. That is a lot of oil. With that kind of use, you should look like a crop duster driving around. Do you? Is it burning or leaking? If burning, are you sure its not leaking on say the exhaust manifold and burning off as opposed to burning as part of the combustion process?

Do a crankcase flush by adding 2-3 quarts of Diesel fuel or kerosene to a fresh change of oil. I'd suggest using straight 30 weight detergent oil, not some kind of fancy multi-weight stuff. Run the engine at a fast idle, maybe 1000-1500 RPM for about 30 minutes.

DO NOT DRIVE THE TRUCK OR PUT ANY LOAD ON THE ENGINE DURING THE FLUSH!

Drain the oil/Diesel mix immediately after shutting the engine down, while it's still hot. Any sludge or other crud that's built up over the years will drain out with the oil. By overfilling the crankcase enough to make the crankshaft and connecting rods dip down into the liquid, it splashes the thinned-out oil around like the agitator in a washing machine, doing a better job of cleaning than you could possibly do with a brush and solvent. In the process, it should dislodge any carbon under the piston rings that might keep them from doing a good job of oil control.

Even if this procedure doesn't help with the oil consumption, you'll have to do a lot less cleanup of the crankcase when you do an overhaul.
Jerry

The one thing I'd add is to start with the engine up to operating temp before the initial drain & refill with the mix.

One quick check. Pull the PCV valve out of the valve cover & see if it has oil in the valve & hose. Sometimes these after market fancy valve covers have no baffils in them & the PCV system sucks oil out from the rocker arms.
George

I can count the 54 Chevy engines I've seen with a PCV valve in the past 60 years on the fingers of one hand! It was a very scarce option on anything other than a big truck.
Jerry

Sorry. I had v-8 engines on my mind.
George

pretty sure it is going through the engine. Lots of soot in exhaust.

Thanks Hot rod Lincoln Plan to try this. weather is crappy for a few days. want to be able to run outside. Thanks makes sense.

Hotrod has the best thing to do for your problem. Doc

Weather got better. Tried it and did not seem to help. I 'm going to go the rebuild route.
Don't know any thing about the engine, but will after i OH it. Thanks for the suggestion.

Question is where is all that oil going? If it's being consumed you would have a cloud coming out the tail pipe, blueish in color. Did you notice that when doing your 150 miles test run? If there's no cloud, I would say its a leak some where. Might find out where the oil is going before doing an overhaul. Could be as easy as a gasket replacement.

That would be a pretty good leak. The bottom of da veh should be coated. Or If that much was burning, it would look like James Bond smoke screen. Lol. Any pics? If it soggy, start at da top. Replace whats leaking at da highest point, if thats what happening?. If its burning, try to pinpoint a root cause to know what to look for internally. Oh, you are sure on the amount of oil you started with? Right dipstick? How many were put in when you changed it? Just food for thought.

If this has a vacuum pump on the fuel pump for the wipers, I'd start there. When the diaphrams go bad they can suck a huge amount of oil, much ore than rings or valve guides. If that turns out to be the problem, look for a rebuild kit rather than a new repop pump from China. Those aren't good for much.

tore the engine down. Engine block is cracked. Not sure where the oil was going but a definite crack on the block about two thirds to the rear on the left side. Have purchased a rebuilt engine.

Don't scrap the old engine. Even with a cracked block, lots of usable parts will still be there- - - -crankshaft, connecting rods, cylinder head, sheet metal, rocker arms, pushrods, and a lot of other bits and pieces. Some cracked blocks can also be repaired, especially if the crack is in the water jacket, to the outside of the block.
Jerry

Thanks. I will salvage what i can.