Thread: 400 SBC problem - Newbe
Results 1 to 6 of 6
Threaded View
-
08-15-2014 12:15 PM #4
Welcome to CHR, Duane! Hope you find what you’re looking for and that you have a nice long stay here. Love those old Healeys. Had a coach in high school that drove a 3000 – black with tan leather and a real wood dash. Sweet little rides.
Blue smoke is never real good. There are typically two causes – one fairly easy to remedy and the other is, as you’ve alluded to, rather costly. I’d start with the breather system. Make sure you have a clean PCV valve and a clean breather on the engine. Typically there is a breather in the valve cover on one side and the PCV valve on the other. Soak them in a non-flammable solvent overnight and see if that helps with your problem.
The oil pressure numbers you mentioned are not atypical for a SBC – especially one with a few miles on it. Do you know what the mileage is in this engine? Have you pulled the plugs and looked at them? 125 is well within specs for a SBC (100-160PSI) so I wouldn’t jump to rings right away. Valve seals could be the culprit and they can be replaced with the engine in the car. It’s an “all-day-sucker” and you need to have a few specialized tools to pressurize each cylinder and compress the springs. It can be a little tricky and it’s easy to destroy the new seal if you’re not real careful. Watch this little video to determine if it’s something you can tackle of if you want to have it done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsGqmOQus6Y
The guides could be worn and to properly fix requires pulling the heads and have them knurled or replaced.
A quart every now and then might not be such a bad thing at this point.
Let us know what you decide. Again, welcome to CHR!
Glenn"Where the people fear the government you have tyranny. Where the government fears the people you have liberty." John Basil Barnhil





1Likes
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
I'm on Firefox and generally don't have any problems.
Back online