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Stuck Rings?

With only 140K, my 4AC Corolla (1983) is exhibiting what I believe to be excessive blowby. The oil gets cloudy very quickly after a change, small droplets shoot out when the oil cap is removed, good strong breeze coming out of the fill hole. The car has always had its oil and filter (major brand) changed every 5,000 miles and was driven 15K per year until about 4 years ago at which it entered semi-retirement, being used only on weekends and short trips. Currently, it is getting run about 50 miles a week only on the weekends. The car does not seem to burn any oil, the power has not declined much if at all (was allways low). I just pulled the plugs and they looked fine. PCV system appears to work fine. Have not done a compression test. It is finally beginning to leak oil from the valve cover gasket and the oil drain pan--from the blowby I am assuming, but really not that bad, my Caravan is worse. Should I just accept this situation? A neighbor recommended I try CD2, as if the rings were stuck, it may help loosen them up. Has anyone seen this work?

Reply to
Rob
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I've heard about stuck rings all my life, but have never seen a case that really turned out to be this. Maybe I am just unlucky.

Certainly, it won't hurt anything to try some additives like CD, Magic Mystery Marvel oil, or whatever to see if you can get some relief. And, I hope it works for you.

But, from my 45 years as tinkerer, racer, part time mechanic, and aficionado, this sort of symptom has always turned out to need mechanical intervention.

Reply to
Larry Smith

If you don't have blue smoke from the tailpipe or plug fouling I doubt the blowby is excessive. Both occured on engines that I've delt with that have had problems with the rings.

The only thing that sounds odd to me is the oil getting cloudy, whatever you mean by that. There will normally be some gases coming out the filler cap if the engine is running and it's off, as that effectively opens the PCV system. The oil droplets are likely normal splashing from the clyinder head.

My guess is that there is nothing really wrong with it and a compression test will confirm it.

Reply to
Brent P

You are describing a car with 140k on it that is in need of a wrench put on the valve cover and oil pan bolts. Maybe it's even time for new gaskets, they do wear out or dry out over time, especially on a vehicle that doesn't drive much.

The oil splashing onto the gaskets soaks them and swells them up. Let it sit and they dry out as the oil seeps away allowing leaks until they swell back up. This also loosens the bolts. I'll bet you find a bunch of the bolts finger loose.

Excessive 'blowby' is evident when the air filter starts getting soaked with oil. This happens from worn rings or a worn out PCV/CCV system. You don't mention this happening.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Rob wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

I am very familiar with this engine and situation. The first thing you should do is check valve lash. Too loose is better than too tight, but of course "spot on" is best.

Change your oil to Chevron "DELO" oil. This is intended for diesel engines and comes in 15W-40. It is not the recommended weight for that engine but won't harm anything in the coming summer months. This oil has a very high detergent level and I consider it a "silver bullet" for most engine problems where you have excessive smoke. (Of course when it is not the valve guides that are the cause - in this case the Delo makes it worse at times.)

When the car stops smoking, change the PCV valve. Check your ignition timing too. The 4AC distributor is known to have a weak advance mechanism and if it breaks you will get 30 extra degrees of timing!

Reply to
Miki Kanazawa

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