Oil spitting from exhaust

[Shran]

Well... that is an interesting question. You could blow whatever is clogging the oil passages down further into the block, potentially clogging something else - like the oil pump pickup screen. You could also try vacuuming it out or just picking it out with tweezers if you can, but you might not get all of it. You basically have the choice between causing major damage to the bottom end of your engine because it will starve for oil if you do nothing, or potentially causing major damage to all of your engine if something else is clogged.

The best way to fix it is to tear the engine down and clean it ALL out but I don't know if that is a realistic option in your situation.

If anybody has better ideas feel free to post them...

 

[birddog321]

Any suggestions would be helpful. You guys are an awesome resource.:icon_thumby:

 

[Angie]

Are you sure you are having oil spitting from the exhaust pipe? and not un-burnt gas? Do you get strong gas smell from the tail pipe? cheers.

 

[Big Jim M]

Ok Burofd!

thanks I may try it this weekend. Will i have to drain the oil?

Let's talk about this a bit. First of all if there is oil coming out the tail plpe the muffler is about 1/3 full of oil! If that happens there WILL BE an oil fire UNDER your vehicle..
My point here is you have disoriented yourself. That WAS NOT oil you think you saw. Most likely you saw some condensation that was full of soot and was blackish.
So whatever you do to that engine forget about oil in the tail pipe. Fix whatever you want to fix, but do the fix'n without the oil in the tail pipe in mind.
I'm surprised at the answers you have got and none of them even THOUGHT about how hard it would be to get oil to drip out the tail pipe!
So if something else is wrong with that engine go ahead and repair it..
Big JIm

 

[birddog321]

That makes a lot of sense. The exhaust does smell bad. Still going to change the valve rod seals this weekend. She's been so rough this week I had to down grade to the Buick

 

[Shran]

Let's talk about this a bit. First of all if there is oil coming out the tail plpe the muffler is about 1/3 full of oil! If that happens there WILL BE an oil fire UNDER your vehicle..
My point here is you have disoriented yourself. That WAS NOT oil you think you saw. Most likely you saw some condensation that was full of soot and was blackish.
So whatever you do to that engine forget about oil in the tail pipe. Fix whatever you want to fix, but do the fix'n without the oil in the tail pipe in mind.
I'm surprised at the answers you have got and none of them even THOUGHT about how hard it would be to get oil to drip out the tail pipe!
So if something else is wrong with that engine go ahead and repair it..
Big JIm

Oil vapor can travel throughout the entire exhaust system. My buddy has a 400 in a '79 F150 that will literally spray oil droplets out of the exhaust if you get into the throttle really hard.

I agree that it is highly unlikely that the muffler is full and that it very well could be condensation. I am just going by what he said, if I saw something I thought could be oil coming out of my exhaust I'd feel it, smell it - whatever it takes to identify it, so I assume that someone else would do the same.

 

[Big Jim M]

I doubt that also!

Oil vapor can travel throughout the entire exhaust system. My buddy has a 400 in a '79 F150 that will literally spray oil droplets out of the exhaust if you get into the throttle really hard.

I agree that it is highly unlikely that the muffler is full and that it very well could be condensation. I am just going by what he said, if I saw something I thought could be oil coming out of my exhaust I'd feel it, smell it - whatever it takes to identify it, so I assume that someone else would do the same.

C'mon! Enough with this vapor crap! Oil vaporizes and turns to smoke! It don't recreate itself into oil again.
It is possible for oil to come out the exhaust...ONCE! In it's last gasp!
Any oil that gets into the chamber gets burnt.. If some doesn't get burnt the plug will foul and start missing.. Indicating the demise of the engine.
Big JIm

 

[Shran]

C'mon! Enough with this vapor crap! Oil vaporizes and turns to smoke! It don't recreate itself into oil again.
It is possible for oil to come out the exhaust...ONCE! In it's last gasp!
Any oil that gets into the chamber gets burnt.. If some doesn't get burnt the plug will foul and start missing.. Indicating the demise of the engine.

So if the exhaust valve seals are leaking oil into the combustion chamber during the exhaust stroke (when the plug does NOT fire) where do you think that oil goes? You're right, it will foul the plugs, which he indicated here:

She's been so rough this week I had to down grade to the Buick

Look man, I don't want to argue. I am just telling it like I've seen it. :icon_cheers:

 

[Hotrodlincoln]

I'm surprised at the answers you have got and none of them even THOUGHT about how hard it would be to get oil to drip out the tail pipe!

I was wondering the same thing throughout reading this entire thread.

So if the exhaust valve seals are leaking oil into the combustion chamber during the exhaust stroke (when the plug does NOT fire) where do you think that oil goes? You're right, it will foul the plugs, which he indicated here:

It'll probably get burned by the 1000°F+ exhaust gases leaving the cylinder?

Funny thing about oil though, when it burns it leaves a residue. It's not "oil" anymore, but its similar. But you have to burn a LOT of oil to get drops of oil residue forming inside the tail pipe. I mean you would have a blue cloud that could reach to mars by the time you found droplets in the exhaust pipe.

 

[Big Jim M]

Certainly I'm right!

So if the exhaust valve seals are leaking oil into the combustion chamber during the exhaust stroke (when the plug does NOT fire) where do you think that oil goes? You're right, it will foul the plugs, which he indicated here:

Because I have THOUGHT about the problem! Little if any oil enters the chamber from the exhaust valve seal! If anything compressed mixture will go backwards into the engine out of the chamber during the exhaust cycle. It is the intake valve that has the suction on it and awards the chamber with oil.

Look man, I don't want to argue. I am just telling it like I've seen it. :icon_cheers:

I betcha you are the only guy on this forum that has seen it. You are indeed a special person.

Big JIm

 

[enginepaul]

Not taking any side here, but I've worked on a few engines - and I used to be a licensed mechanic - and don't remember seeing oil coming out of an exhaust pipe. I have seen "oily residue" but the likelihood of oil making it to the tail pipe is slim. Try putting drops of oil on the outside of a warmed up tail pie and I'll bet you see smoke and disappearing oil, but then again, I never tried that.
If there is something on the inside of the tail pipe - other than a little residue - rub your finger on it (after the pipe cools) and try to determine what it is. There is a problem with combustion and the fuel, possibly including oil mixed in, but oil being forced all they way through the exhaust system is very unlikely. If you have a working catalytic converter it would be impossible - but the converter will stop working very soon after the problem starts so that remains a remote possibility.
The point is that oil in the exhaust is the last thing to look for, but oil in the combustion chamber may be one of the first places to look AFTER checking the ignition and carburetor.

 

[birddog321]

I looked alittle closer and think now that it may just be water with soot in it. Never seen it before. But then again I never had a crap 2.8 either. This engine sucks

 

[birddog321]

Started the Valve seals this evening. Too hot during the day. I got the valve covers off and removed the lifters. I am looking for the drain holes and can not find them..:icon_confused: Sorry just a NOOB. Help would be great. Going tomorrow to get the seals and tools

 

[Hotrodlincoln]

I looked alittle closer and think now that it may just be water with soot in it. Never seen it before. But then again I never had a crap 2.8 either. This engine sucks

Soot is a byproduct of combustion. It happens on every engine regardless of design. Yours has more because A it's old, B it's burning oil which creates... more soot, and C it's old. The rings are worn, there is 25 years of carbon buildup in the carburetor, intake manifold, and combustion chamber, making optimal combustion impossible.

As for drain holes in the cylinder head. There should be one in each lower corner and one or two in the middle somewhere. They're not huge, but they go straight to the oil pan. When you look into them all you see is a void. If you can't see them, you got sludge. Mix up a batch of 4 quarts of non detergent 30w oil with 1 quart of diesel fuel or kerosene, and let the engine idle with that in it for about 20 minutes then change it with your preference of regular oil and a new filter.

 

[Angie]

"Started the Valve seals this evening. Too hot during the day. I got the valve covers off and removed the lifters. I am looking for the drain holes and can not find them.. Sorry just a NOOB. Help would be great. Going tomorrow to get the seals and tools "


ummmm you really CAN'T (easily) take the valve stem seals off/out with out taking off the head first. if it is possible to do this please correct me. And if it can be done easily how do you keep the valves from falling into the chamber of you don't compress the chamber with air of something to keep them in place?

1 - take off the spring, (using a compression clamp) this is after the rocker rails are off of coarse

2 while depressing the spring carefully take off the retainer clips.... (carefully for they can shoot out)

3 take out the valves and keep them in order if you are using the same ones.

4. pry out/off the old valve stem seals. being careful to not damage the seats.

5. read up on how to re-install the seals then reverse process to put back together.


ok, now there is no way you have the lifters out without tearing the top end of the motor apart. I think you might mean the rocker rails? Now why are you actually doing all this?????? valve seals are gone when and if you get small puffs of smoke when you fire up the engine... for the seal leaks small amounts of oil when the motor is off and this flows to the chambers.... seals are usualy only replaced when a full head/valve job is done. they are not something that is of general maintenance. when placeing back on the rocker rails get a torque wrench to make sure that you have them properly tightened. and don't adjust the rocker screws when you put them back on, for this could give you real probs, so you might want to set your rocker/valve lash when you reinstall.

 

[Angie]

actually i guess you can find the top of the piston to the cylinder and hope you have it right, using toilet paper in the plug hole to see when it flys out with the top stroke of compression. this will let you know when the piston is as far to top as it goes. this will keep the valve from falling to the bottom. risky if you get it wrong..... this was a thought

 

[kimcrwbr1]

It is actually quite easy using air pressure in the plug hole put the cylinder on top dead center and put 30 lbs air pressure in the cylinder to hold the valves up you can also push a length of small rope in the cylinder then push the cylinder up to hold the valves up and use a small verticle spring compressor to compress the springs and remove the keepers. New valve guide seals and duraspark ignition and a good nonfeedback carb brings those old engines back to life relatively inexpensive. I also did the intake manifold gasket and she no longer leaks oil either. but I hear if you clean the ends of the manifold with gas good and dry it out you can push some RTV silicone in the valleys to seal them and if you use a used dizzy always put a new o-ring on it when you put it back together. My old pos 2.8 purrs like a kitten now.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

I used a skinny long screwdriver to feel the piston go all the way up and if you get it tdc the air pressure will not push it down and I did that just in case I lost a valve but that did not happen I compressed the spring half way and tapped on it to break the keepers loose then compressed it all the way to pull the keepers. from trial and error I got lucky if you do it half way first the keepers dont go flying when you pop it loose I got lucky and didnt lose one when I popped it loose all the way compressed.

 

[Big Jim M]

Oh no!

Started the Valve seals this evening. Too hot during the day. I got the valve covers off and removed the lifters. I am looking for the drain holes and can not find them..:icon_confused: Sorry just a NOOB. Help would be great. Going tomorrow to get the seals and tools

Buford you are fooling around with things you have no idea about! Before you futch something up BEYOND repair, put that thing back together.

You are working in the dark.. You don't have a clue as to what you are doing!

I think you should start by asking questions BEFOR you get a wrench in hand and begin to take things apart.

PLEASE don't attempt to install valve seals with the head still on the engine. You simply don't have the needed knowledge yet.

Big JIm

 

[birddog321]

No worries mate. I didn't pay a dime for this beater. If I F it up I will just pull the engine and pull it apart. It needs lots of work anyways. It leaks oil from every orifice. I don't have the money for seals right now anyway. I just got a $300 power bill so every thing goes back on tomorrow.