hagerty_justin Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 Ok, so i got the Z from my aunt for free with a sucked valve, tore the engine down rebuild with new pistons,rings, bearins and a new rebuilt head. The engine was not machined but we did hone it. (with all new gaskets and whatnot) I drove the car for 300 miles and blew a headgasket (due to forgetting to put one of the head locating pins in... ops), the car smoked the whole 300 miles and burned oil (lots of oil) Bought a new nisimo headgasket and head bolts and put it all back together, cheacked the head and deck for warpage and it was perfectly fine. I have 459 miles on the new pistons and rings and the thing still smokes, I have read that it may take 1,000 miles to seat the rings? I guess im just looking for advice on how to seat them faster becasue i feel like and ******* driving my car with a cloud of blue smoke behind me. I am only 19 so i dont know ****.... yet Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hagerty_justin Posted April 16, 2010 Author Share Posted April 16, 2010 I have read about people putting ATF in the cylinders and letting it sit to clean possible glazing from the cylinders? or people putting ATF in the oil? im not so sure about any of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesecakepiebar Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 (edited) I have read about people putting ATF in the cylinders and letting it sit to clean possible glazing from the cylinders? or people putting ATF in the oil? im not so sure about any of this. People will run ATF through the intake (not in the oil that I know of), but since the engine was just honed, there shouldn't be any glazing. In my experience, an engine may burn a small amount of oil during break in, but I haven't had an engine burn enough oil to produce a constant smoke. I would recommend a leak down test. If you get air coming out of the dipstick hole or oil fill, you most likely have improperly seated rings. If you get air out of the intake or exhaust (with the cylinder being tested at TDC) you have intake or exhaust valve issues. I'd try the leak down test and you can narrow down where to go from there. EDIT: I would also recommend a dry compression test followed by a wet compression test (wet = adding a small amount of oil to the cylinder). If your compression goes up significantly with the wet test, you have ring issues. If not, then your rings are fine. Edited April 16, 2010 by Cheesecakepiebar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hagerty_justin Posted April 16, 2010 Author Share Posted April 16, 2010 okay cheesecake, Thank you I will do the dry and wet test this weekend and look at doing a leakdown sometime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoov100 Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 If you only honed the block, I would suggest getting all of the deck surfaces machined flat, getting a new set of rings and make sure they are properly gaped and seated correctly. Also make sure your head doesn't need a rebuild, and doesn't have a warped surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hagerty_justin Posted April 16, 2010 Author Share Posted April 16, 2010 thank you hoov, while replacing the head gasket we made sure to check the deck and head for flatness. And the ring gap was fine. I talked to my instructor at school today about it, he said I messed up, i used synthetic oil and should not have. He told me to put in 20 weight with detergent. I couldnt find 20 weight so i got 30 hopefully this will be fine. If anyone else has something that may help, say it i dont know what to do, besides get a job and buy a rb25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaohabq Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 Yeah, it sounds like your rings are a little messed up, Are you sure you got the rings on the pistons in the right order? Did you Gap the rings correctly? Since you honed the cylinders they might be larger than the rings are originally set for. You should also search for the post on the valve seals. There's a set of Ford seals that are supposed to work much better than the stock Datsun valve seals Viton, or some stuff. You could be dripping a lot of oil into your intake that way too. Without a set of compression tests it's pretty difficult to say what's wrong with your engine. But don't worry, at least these engines are easy to work on. Did you replace your main crank bearings while you had the piston's out? Be sure to check the clearance on those too. Too tight and you'll muck your crank, too loose and you'll get lower oil pressure, and possible crank damage. Likely you'll have to tear it down again one way or another to fix the smoking. Oh and a little assy lube really helps things seat well. Good luck, and you can get a cheap compression kit at Harbor freight, or "borrow" it from Autozone/checker etc. Phar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaohabq Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 ahh, that's what I get for posting at the same time as you hoov. change the oil and 30 should be fine. might still smoke a while tho. Compression test will still tell the story. Phar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hagerty_justin Posted April 16, 2010 Author Share Posted April 16, 2010 Okay, thanks Pharaohabq. I am positive that the rings are in the right order, and I used a compression tester when I blew my head gasket I guess I should do that again. And your right the ring gap may be a problem im not sure, and i did put new mean bearings in when i replaced the pistons. I'm draining the oil right now what a waste of amsoil, then i will put in the 30 weight and hopefully after a few hundred miles it will go away. Yeah, it sounds like your rings are a little messed up, Are you sure you got the rings on the pistons in the right order? Did you Gap the rings correctly? Since you honed the cylinders they might be larger than the rings are originally set for. You should also search for the post on the valve seals. There's a set of Ford seals that are supposed to work much better than the stock Datsun valve seals Viton, or some stuff. You could be dripping a lot of oil into your intake that way too. Without a set of compression tests it's pretty difficult to say what's wrong with your engine. But don't worry, at least these engines are easy to work on. Did you replace your main crank bearings while you had the piston's out? Be sure to check the clearance on those too. Too tight and you'll muck your crank, too loose and you'll get lower oil pressure, and possible crank damage. Likely you'll have to tear it down again one way or another to fix the smoking. Oh and a little assy lube really helps things seat well. Good luck, and you can get a cheap compression kit at Harbor freight, or "borrow" it from Autozone/checker etc. Phar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hagerty_justin Posted April 16, 2010 Author Share Posted April 16, 2010 and ya the guy who i got the "rebuild head off of ebay may have not done the best job, the valve lash was to tight on a few of the exhaust valves so the only way to change it was to take of the nut and grind it down so the lash could be adjusted for more clearance. so the valve guides my be bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted April 17, 2010 Share Posted April 17, 2010 Whoa! You had to grind the lock nuts to adjust the valves? You have other, possibly very serious problems with that head. Post a pic of your valve train so we can take a look at it, or get it to a mechanic you trust to look at. Mongo . and ya the guy who i got the "rebuild head off of ebay may have not done the best job, the valve lash was to tight on a few of the exhaust valves so the only way to change it was to take of the nut and grind it down so the lash could be adjusted for more clearance. so the valve guides my be bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hagerty_justin Posted April 17, 2010 Author Share Posted April 17, 2010 Whoa! You had to grind the lock nuts to adjust the valves? You have other, possibly very serious problems with that head. Post a pic of your valve train so we can take a look at it, or get it to a mechanic you trust to look at. Mongo . okay, i have a few pictures but none that really show much i would have to take the head off if you wanted any pictures of the valves, i can get some of the cam and rockers later but heres what i ahve now. those nuts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wondersparrow Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 Ok, I know nothing, so take anything I have to say as a best guess and nothing more. It looks like the surface of the head or the base of the cam towers was shaved. I have shims under my cam tower, don't know if that is stock or not, came to me that way. I don't know how to properly set the wipe pattern on these heads, but I know you can get different thicknesses of lash pads too. Something doesn't look right, thats for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONGO510 Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 you have to remove the rockers before you remove the cam. Pry them off with a screwdriver or something. post a pic of the valve adjuster causing problem. Mongo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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