This week I got to a little over 3,000 miles on the new motor and I did the switch to Mobil 1. When I accelerate I can smell oil, but it did that for a while last time I changed the oil too. Today I passed 2 cars on the way to work, and at around 5,000 rpm the car started spewing a smoke screen. What gives? Is this something that I should expect from using Mobil 1 or do I have issues?

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I think you have have issues Jim. I assume the smoke is constant and probably getting worst. I suspect either an improperly seated ring (bad) or a leaky gasket (a pain in the butt).

If it is burning oil due to either of the two reasons, you would probably find one (or two) of you plugs covered in oil.

Pull your plugs to determine if (and which) cylinder has an oily plug. Then do a compression test of that cylinder and compare it to the others. If it is a ring problem, you'll get a noticeable drop in that cylinder's compression. If the compression is fine, then it is most likely a gasket problem.

Lets hope it is just a intake gasket problem.

 

The smoke screen stopped as soon as the rpms came back down. I got to work and revved it a few times to 3,000 rpm and jumped out of the car. No smoke at all and no hint of any kind of oil smell from the exhaust. The car has always had a foul smell from day one when I accelerate, and from what I understand, motors tend to consume more Mobil 1 than conventional oils. I don't know if my Moly rings never finished seating properly or what.

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That does sound a bit odd. In either case, I wouldn't expect the smoking to be rpm dependent. It may be that you have an oil build up in your exhaust system and the higher rpms are causing it to "burn off" due to higher temperatures. But, even that doesn't make too much sense.

How is your oil pressure when the rpms are climbing? Is it getting quite high above 3,000 rpm? It maybe that the rings didn't seat quite yet, and at higher rpms the higher oil pressure is blowing by the rings.

I still say to check for an oil spark plug and do a compression test, but before you start tearing down your motor, maybe you should switch back to regular oil for a while longer to ensure the rings are properly seated.

 

My oil pressure is pegged at 60psi at high rpms, and for that matter anywhere above 2,000 rpms. I've got a high-volume oil pump. It sits at about 35psi at idle after the car warms up, and stays at between 45 and 55 during normal driving.

I know that I should go back to regular oil, but I just dumped $30 into this fricking oil change! Plus, I'd rather have the synthetic in the car over the winter nap (which is quickly approacing) as opposed to normal oil. One of the guys on nethirdgen.org suggested replacing one of my breathers with a PCV system. I may try that, but I really want to find an answer before I just start chucking parts at it. Like I said, my previous oil consumption was virtually zero, and because the smoke stopped after I brought the rpms back down, it doesn't seem like broken rings. I'm sick of problems with this car

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View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
"I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow" -Shenandoah

 

Maybe under high RPMS you got all that oil sitting at the top of the motor and its leaking past your valve guides or seals?? Do you know its coming from the exhaust or just from under the car somewhere. A rear intake leak will dump the oil out on the exhaust, and maybe its only pumping under hard upper RPM's....this could go for a valve cover gasket as well. I use Mobil 1 and have since about 2000 miles and I don't burn a lick of oil (~20k miles)with Moly rings. The last thing is the smoke definitely oil or could it be something else?? WHat color is it??


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Tom
'88 Ragtop 379 SuperRam/Haltech EFI
'64 SS
http://home.sprynet.com/~ragtop88/main.htm

 

It's blue. I suppose it's possible that it's leaking onto the exhaust, but I think it's doubtful. I'll have to check it out.

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View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
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I believe you have something else going on, unrelated to the Mobil 1. I have Speed Pro file-fit moly rings in my new (8k miles) motor right now, and Mobil 1 0W-30, and no such problem. Also I don't agree with the notion of motors consuming more Mobil 1 than dinosaur juice: that's some kind of urban legend.

Is the oil coming from the exhaust, or is it a leak? A common new-motor oil leak is the upper of the 2 bolt holes on the front of the block, to the pass side of the damper: that bolt goes directly into the fuel pump pushrod hole, and if it's not there, alot of oil will come out at high RPMs but not low. Check to see if there's a bolt in that hole. If not it will spew oil all over the right side of the block and the right header.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."

 

That's exactly what it was! No bolts in either hole near the fuel pump blockoff. I threw a bolt in each hole last night but haven't taken it for a ride yet. Is there anything behind either hole that a bolt about 1" long could interfere with? I didn't have anything shorter in that size. Thanks a bunch!

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The IROC Homepage
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View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
"I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow" -Shenandoah

 

Jim,

As long as you don't have a fuel pump push rod in the block, a 1" long bolt won't cause any problems. A little sealer on the threads should solve the problem forever.

As far as moly rings, since they do tend to take a little longer time to wear throught the coating and get a true seal, you might have a problem with synthetic oil until you have done several full-throttle accellerations to completely load and seal the rings. After 3,000 miles, one would think that the rings would be seated, but the moly coating can hang on there for quite a while before wearing off.

BTW - Thanks for the feedback. All too often a post just stops without any hint as to whether the problem was solved or not.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

RB - You are one BADASS ****! Nice call, dude! Most of us have completely forgotton about mechanical fuel pumps and the rod, even though every new cam still has the "reminder" lobe.

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Later,
Vader
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"Make Me Bad"
Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0

 

Glad to be of sevice! I've made that mistake before, and put up with that same mystery oil leak for about 6 months before I finally took it to the car wash, sterilized it, took a quick blast through the gears on the freeway, and stopped & looked, and found it. You can't imagine how stupid I felt. Any time I can help somebody not suffer through what I've already suffered, I'm happy to pass it along.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."

 

Did you say Blue smoke? Wouldn't that be a fuel problem? Flooding at high rpms?
Just a thought.

 

yeah RB is the man...He saved me a lot money and headaches with my 406 buildup.

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Black 90 IROC, L98, A4, 323 gear. SuperRamed 406 in the works!

 

No. Blue smoke is oil. Running rich (i.e. flooding at high rpms) makes black smoke as a result of unburnt particulates.



------------------
The IROC Homepage
<A HREF="http://www.rit.edu/~jli4307/camaro" TARGET=_blank>
View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
"I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow" -Shenandoah