‘77 fj40 oil issues (1 Viewer)

[KPruitt37]

Today after checking the oil, the oil was barely on the dipstick. There are no drips on the concrete floor of the garage and has not been driven very long since previous oil change. There is some smoke on idle but seems to go away when driving. But we have not followed at night to see if there is a smoke trail. There seems to be a little bit of a fuel fume by the filler neck on the passenger side as well, I saw a previous thread asking if there was a fume or not.

I have a picture where is seems there is some oil on the top of the motor but I am unfamiliar with the parts so that’s why I’m coming to the mud forum to learn and get some help. On the same side of the ending, there seems to be black residue on the fender wall. I will post pictures below.

I have seen that replacing the PCV valve may fix all the issues. Compression on the motor is good.

 

[brian]

the idle smoke is most likely valve stem seals leaking, and doesn't go way while driving, it's just not as noticeable. no oil on the stick is at least 2 quarts low, which isn't that big of a deal...but if it isn't on the ground, it is in the air.

 

[KPruitt37]

the idle smoke is most likely valve stem seals leaking, and doesn't go way while driving, it's just not as noticeable. no oil on the stick is at least 2 quarts low, which isn't that big of a deal...but if it isn't on the ground, it is in the air.

In the picture where the silver piece goes into the top of the motor there is some oil that sits there as well, should I tighten that down in more? And also what do you think would be on the fender?

 

[snaggletto]

As mentioned, valve stem seals. My ‘76 burned a lot of oil, and is low on compression. I pulled the head, lapped valve seats and replaced valve stem seals, newer type with rubber ring. The fit on the valve guides was not sloppy. New OE head gasket and threw it back together. I still burn some oil, but significantly less. You can do valve stem seals without pulling the head, but would still recommend pulling the head to inspect and clean. Or just have the head reworked at a machine shop for the best results.

 

[KPruitt37]

As mentioned, valve stem seals. My ‘76 burned a lot of oil, and is low on compression. I pulled the head, lapped valve seats and replaced valve stem seals, newer type with rubber ring. The fit on the valve guides was not sloppy. New OE head gasket and threw it back together. I still burn some oil, but significantly less. You can do valve stem seals without pulling the head, but would still recommend pulling the head to inspect and clean. Or just have the head reworked at a machine shop for the best results.

Do you ha s a link for some cable stem seals? Think the previous owner had the head redone.

 

[KPruitt37]

Do you ha s a link for some cable stem seals? Think the previous owner had the head redone.

The fj runs and starts beautifully. The previous owner did a nice job of going through the motor and the valve stems should be an easy fix and will update the post with results

 

[brian]

fel pro seals

 

[JDNs78FJ40]

Today after checking the oil, the oil was barely on the dipstick. There are no drips on the concrete floor of the garage and has not been driven very long since previous oil change. There is some smoke on idle but seems to go away when driving. But we have not followed at night to see if there is a smoke trail. There seems to be a little bit of a fuel fume by the filler neck on the passenger side as well, I saw a previous thread asking if there was a fume or not.

I have a picture where is seems there is some oil on the top of the motor but I am unfamiliar with the parts so that’s why I’m coming to the mud forum to learn and get some help. On the same side of the ending, there seems to be black residue on the fender wall. I will post pictures below.

I have seen that replacing the PCV valve may fix all the issues. Compression on the motor is good.

View attachment 2711532

View attachment 2711534

I have this exact same issue. I unfortunately do have a few drips hitting the concrete and I will address/find that problem this winter. Sometimes the plume of smoke is rather large after idling at a stop light and embarrassing and sometimes not so noticeable but it's there. Now that I have the top off I can clearly see a light trail of smoke while driving too. Super bummed about it but I ordered some valve stem seals from SOR and will start by replacing those and see if that eliminates most of the problem. Fingers crossed. Someone sent me a detailed thread of the the valve stem seal replacement and will follow it to a "T".

 

[JDNs78FJ40]

I have this exact same issue. I unfortunately do have a few drips hitting the concrete and I will address/find that problem this winter. Sometimes the plume of smoke is rather large after idling at a stop light and embarrassing and sometimes not so noticeable but it's there. Now that I have the top off I can clearly see a light trail of smoke while driving too. Super bummed about it but I ordered some valve stem seals from SOR and will start by replacing those and see if that eliminates most of the problem. Fingers crossed. Someone sent me a detailed thread of the the valve stem seal replacement and will follow it to a "T".

Builds - "Scout" the 1977 FJ40

Well, along the lines of... "spending too much time doing something I shouldn't worry so much about"... I decided to take a moment to remove the air cleaner and valve cover in preparation for the valve stem seal replacement. That only took about 2 minutes so I decided to remove the rocker arm...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[brian]

In the picture where the silver piece goes into the top of the motor there is some oil that sits there as well, should I tighten that down in more? And also what do you think would be on the fender?

the "silver thing on top of the motor"?...you mean the air injection rail into the exhaust ports on the head?....no that slight leak is from the valve cover gasket, and is not two quarts worth of oil or worth the effort.

 

[KPruitt37]

Here’s a quick update.

we redid the vacuum hoses and that alone has made a huge difference. There used to be a smoke around the fj while idling and now that is no longer a problem. The idle is also much smoother. We out in a new pcv valve and new spark plugs and all is good so far. We still plan on checking out the stem seals. Bellows a comparison of the old hoses to the new. Some of them were so dry that idk how they were even staying on the plastic pieces of the vacuum system because they were so loose. When you take the hoses off they hold their shape because of how dried out they were.