[cruiseronly.com]

I have been working on cruisers for a lot of years but this is new to me. I have a 77 fj40 with 44,000 miles. This thing runs perfect, comprestion is at mid 150's on all cyl, 19 in of vacume at idle. The problem is it uses a quart of oil in 30 miles??? It has no leaks(first one ever), pulls really strong, smokes on down hill and after idling. I have replaced valve seals and pcv system. i know the only thing left would be rings but it is just hard to believe. All spark plugs look like they are all clean and burning even. please help

[Texx]

Something's fucktitious. Either it's had a valve job without rings, and the mileage is incorrect, or the rings are stuck due to so little usage over the years. Next thing to do is a cylinder leak down test. Could be burnt valve, also. That's very low mileage if it's true, and a whole lot of years sitting. Could be trouble.

[donny paradise]

Originally Posted by Texx

Could be burnt valve, also.

not connected with good compression as stated

[cruiseronly.com]

no, it is not posible that it is a burnt valve. the milage is corect. i could go with the stuck rings but all of them?

[cruiseronly.com]

mark i saw that you went to running 6 qt of oil. did this stop the consumption or just the smoking? going to 6 just seems wrong. has anyone else tried this?

[cruiseronly.com]

where are all of the smart guys?

[lostmarbles]

Originally Posted by cruiseronly.com

.... smokes on down hill and after idling. I have replaced valve seals......

Have another look at what you did here perhaps? Did you do something wrong or fail to notice something that wasn't right?

[Poser]

You state you are consuming a quart of oil every 30 miles.





You are not leaking oil.

You are saying that you have 150#’s of compression across the cylinders.

You are saying that you have replaced the valve guide seals.





You are saying that the plugs are clean.


This statement is not consistent with internal oil consumption.

[malcb]

How many miles / quarts have you done / used since the valve seals?

[Fast Eddy]

Originally Posted by Poser

You state you are consuming a quart of oil every 30 miles.

You are not leaking oil.

You are saying that you have 150#’s of compression across the cylinders.

You are saying that you have replaced the valve guide seals.

You are saying that the plugs are clean.

This statement is not consistent with internal oil consumption.

Maybe it's all sloshing around inside the valve cover?

[malcb]

If it has only been 30 miles and one quart I was wondering about a leak into the coolant, or rear seal, both not very likely but I think it's been using oil for longer than that.

The first post suggests the valve seals were done because of the excessive oil consumption so it can't be in the rocker/valve cover.. very odd, that much oil through the engine and it would be likely to spit oil out of the exhaust, plugs would be fouled etc.

[cruiseronly.com]

this is all true and why i cant get a handle on the problem. i would like to add that it has great oil presure hot and cold. i just can not figure out the problem. thanks

[amaurer]

Smoking downhill and after idle are still classic valve seal indicators. Could it be that your valve guides are so wrecked that the valve seals are not sealing or got beaten to death again on your first run?

[UltraFJ]

You could always just sell the POS to me for a $100.00 (+ shipping of course ). I'd be happy to track down the problem.


Lord knows my 40 is a perfect opposite of anything that makes sense.

[cruiseronly.com]

Originally Posted by UltraFJ

You could always just sell the POS to me for a $100.00 (+ shipping of course ). I'd be happy to track down the problem.


Lord knows my 40 is a perfect opposite of anything that makes sense.

thanks for the offer, i was wanting to at least get 200. i realy hate to tear into a motor that runs this good. thanks

[ken_79-fj40]

I'm in a similar situation with my 79. 104k, compression tests between 135-150 hot, 19 inches at idle, runs good, decent power, etc. But it has used some oil since 82k when I bought it. Over the last 5k miles or so I have actually been noticing it smoking at times and began keeping track and it's using roughly a quart every 150 miles. So I bought a set of valve seals. Before I got a chance to install them I got a leak down tester and used it on the cruiser. It's telling me i've got basically 50-60 percent leak down, and it's all coming through the bottom end. Which makes sense considering the majority of the smoke I see is when it's cold, and whenever it's under a heavy load. I'm going to tear into it this fall for a complete rebuild/balance/cam/shave head/valve job/etc. and i'm expecting to find most of the rings stuck to the pistons. Which would make perfect sense considering the truck sat without being started for 7 years according to the previous owner. What I do find odd is that before the last 5k miles or so I never saw it smoke at all. Now it's smoking to the point it's kind of embarrasing to drive.

[mikealeus]

I agree with Amaurer, sounds like valve problems, I'm guessing the guides are allowing oil to be forced past them with the good compression you state you have.

[32x11.50]

I've a similar problem, compressions are 150,150,152,145,150 and 152. Vacuum is at 20 in hg. PCV vacuum test lowered cranking vacuum by 3. I ran synthetic in it until I found everyone here runs 20-50 dino oil so I changed to it and after 400 miles it still smokes at startup and under heavy loads. The engine was reported as a recent rebuilt by the seller. I'm losing about a qt. every 350 miles. I think it is the valve guide seals. I don't know how you can lose a qt. of oil in thirty miles w/o some kind of engine failure in the near future. Now I've also heard that synthetic oil glazes the cylinder walls but that must be with new rebuilt engines cause you wouldn't get high compression values...would you?

[cruiseronly.com]

I think i will just put a case of oil in the back and drive the hell out of it. Iam sure it must be stuck or broke oil rings, i just think i would see the oil on the plugs? I am driving it every day so maybe the problem will surface or the cruiser gods will just fix it on its on.

[KOOTENAY KRUZER]

cruiseronly.com -

The first engine I ever repaired was an 1100cc Volkswagen beetle. the dealer sold me a wrong set of rings and I put them in in my ignorance. All 4 oil control rings broke in about 100 miles and it burned a quart of oil in about 10 miles, big smoke screen behind but no noticeable loss in performance, the compression rings remained intact.

If one or more of your oil rings are stuck due to it sitting so long but all of your pistons have functioning compression rings I think you would get symptoms like you describe. Problems with stuck rings do not show up right away because at first they are still making contact with the cylinder walls, but they do not expand to compensate for wear so the clearances eventually get too big.

[cruiseronly.com]

Thanks Wayne. I realy think this is the only thing it can be. Has anyone ever had any luck with soaking the top of the pistons to free the rings up? Any chance with more daily use they may free up? I know i am reaching here but the thought of tearing down such a good running motor makes me sick. thanks

[65swb45]

Found your thread. Better to just send me a link next time.

As Poser and other have said, consumption, especially at that level, without evidence on the spark plugs, is very unlikely.

Drive it.

[Hugh Heifer]

No puddles on the driveway? Weird....

[ken_79-fj40]

Originally Posted by cruiseronly.com

Thanks Wayne. I realy think this is the only thing it can be. Has anyone ever had any luck with soaking the top of the pistons to free the rings up? Any chance with more daily use they may free up? I know i am reaching here but the thought of tearing down such a good running motor makes me sick. thanks

I tried this on mine over last winter since I don't drive it in the salt. I would back it out of the garage, let it warm up, pull it back inside, pull all the plugs out quickly and put a turkey baster full of marvel mystery oil into each cylinder. I did this 3 or 4 times and went through 2 bottles of mystery oil doing so. In the spring I drained the oil and the first time I took it for a drive it was still smoking under load, and the oil consumption if anything got worse. Like you I have no signs of excessive oil consumption on my plugs. Due to my leak down test results I know it's rings, and it's getting torn down in a month or two to investigate further, and then i'm doing a rebuild. Mine has always turned fresh oil completely black within a few hundred miles too, another sign of worn rings. Yet it drives fine, I had it out yesterday and took my dog for a ride. If this truck sat for any period of time (which is very likely considering the mileage) it's probably got stuck oil rings. The machinist who is going to do the work on my motor says he sees this all the time on stuff that sits.

[dgangle]

It's evaporating!

Serioisly. If it isn't leaking oil externally or internally, the onlything left is burning it. I've had engines that used a lot less oil than that and they fouled plugs regularily. If this is not showing up yet you haven't waited long enough.

Something just doesn't add up.

[apeterson]

subscribe...

because I want to see the answer when you find out...

[igotta40]

"Which would make perfect sense considering the truck sat without being started for 7 years according to the previous owner. What I do find odd is that before the last 5k miles or so I never saw it smoke at all. Now it's smoking to the point it's kind of embarrasing to drive. "

My situation as well, pretty much, including a sooted up tailpipe and spark plugs that smell oily, and really low oil pressure. But it was running great. So it's torn down and in the machine shop right now. We found bad bearings, rings and worn cylinders. Yeah, pretty embarrassing blowing a cloud of smoke into the window of the Prius next to me.