oil problems

[lj]

rebuilt my c16se block..... its had new shells rings and pistons... 1.4 muti point head and carbs...

done about 2000 miles in it and no problems... now its using loads of oil and i'm sure there a metalic noise starting....( doesn't go away with dipping clutch so engine not box ) removed the head today fearing a scratched bore but nothing. only thing that looks not right is there is oil on the valve heads from number 3 piston surgesting something is wrong... but pistons don't wobble in the bores nor does there look anything wrong...

its had new oil pump recently fitted so i'm pretty sure its working correctly.... when running it can fill a half litre catch tank in about 120 miles and puffs out good blue smoke!

anyone had any ideas?

gonna remove the pistons 2moz to see if any thing is wrong on the oil rings!

[meritlover]

did you recondition the head before it was back together? did you do a compression or leaktest on the engine before you stripped it?

could be a broken ring....but it might not be a ring and might be something else.
if you had done a test before ripping the head off it there may have been help for you.

removing the pistons will tell you if the noise is bottom end related (b'ends) but that would not explain the smoke and oil.

please
Meritlover

[lj]

nah didn't do that.... ops! i'll drop the pistons out anyway to make sure they are good...can the shells be reused as they are less than 2k miles old?

[meritlover]

as long as they are not wiped or scored, and they go back onto the same journal the right way round. they will be fine.

[craig green]

Could be a ring not bedded in & getting blow by (bad case of) or the head is leaking in oil.... ?

Was the head known to be OK or tested?

[meritlover]

yes mr green its possible but the metallic clic is familier of a broken ring.

have you been thrashing your newly built engine without bedding in the rings?? :(

[tom reid]

When you had the head off, did the bores look shiny?, they might be glazed, I assume you honed the block before fitting new pistons.
Does the smoke only happen off the throttle?, might be worn guides

[TIDGE]

metalic noise sounds like valves i think

[lj]

yeah i did hone the block and did 500 miles then changed oil....another 500 and did it again and drove it slowly for about 1500 miles! smokes when going up the gears, dip the clutch and then back on throttle! quick puff.

theres defo crankcase pressure! blows heavy up breather has from the very moment it ran!

pistons will be pulled out tmoz!

[Adam]

When was it tapping? All the time?
a 1.4 head on a 1600 8v is a fair wack up in terms of compression ratio too!

[meritlover]

if there is high blow-by its not valves. more likely to be a dead ring.

[mowgli]

is the breather gauze blocked?

how long after stopping it are you checking the oil? I only ask cos a friend had a cav that was running really bad & I cured it by draining 2L of excess oil out. he kept checking it as soon as he stopped it, so it looked low.

[lj]

the 1400 head works fine on the 1.6 block...its also got 16v 1600 pistons in to get the compression up even more! lol

gonna check the rings out first!

[lj]

removed pistons today! ones broken between rings.... any one know what causes this?

[meritlover]

sloppy/oval bores, incorrect ring gap (ring expands and breaks ring land)

also detanation does it, check the ign timing. it may have been due to incorrect running in also or too high RPMs
or a combinationism of all of the above

[lj]

ok...

so i need a new piston and get it set up on the rollers for mixture and timing!???

[meritlover]

only if you are sure that detanation caused the ring land failure. measure the bores and pistons and gap the rings before you put it back together. if you find faults, check all the bores/pistons/rings.
also check the spacing and thrust face of the rings is correct as per the book and the roatation/spacing is correct. are you sure the pistons were put in he right way round? (ie direction of thrust)