FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

my 202 motor has just been re-conditioned, compression is ok, leaves a film of oil on tappet cover.
enough to run onto manifold.

any suggestions, after say a 150 km run, if I idle the motor with breather off , you can see fumes being emitted. ( did not appear to use any oil from the dipstick measurement )

cheers yackboy49

G'day yackboy, did you replace the PCV valve (positive crankcase ventilation), it could be stuffed, although you shouldn't be seeing fumes coming out of the breather on a new engine, sounds like blow by which could mean a broken ring, is it just a wisp of fumes or is it under pressure.
                       Pedro

How did you run the engine in after initial start up?

You may not have bedded the rings in properly.

Pedro & Craig,

the motor has done about 1300 kls which has been pretty steady driving, the fumes coming out are more than a wisp, if a ring was broken  wouldn't the compression be down ?  I haven;t changed the PVC valve, although it seems to have plenty of suction. Have allowed enough K's to bed in the rings ?

cheers YB

The guys who built my new engine recommend that the cam be run in for 20 minutes @ 2000rpm then stop and check for leaks etc.

Restart with minimal idling and get out on the road, first gear just to get moving then change to second and 3/4 to full throttle until 3500/4000 rpm. Repeat procedure for about 20 minutes. This beds the rings in.

You could try to do this on your engine even though you've racked up a few K's.

Have a read of this excellent article which may help.

http://www.bur.st/~oljohnno/holden.html#C66

The first twenty minutes are absolutely critical for both cam life and ring seal. You need to be able to get the revs up to about 2000 straight away in order to get some oil on the cam. You also need to get some pretty heavy loading on the engine to bed in the rings. Don't let it idle; if there is a problem shut it off and fix it before restarting. The run-in period is probably the worst possible time to be setting up a new and untuned carburetor or ECU; if possible use a known good carb setup that will allow you to drive the engine under load immediately. You can always fit and tune the new setup later. Likewise make sure the ignition is ready to go before startup. A dyno is the best way to control the load, but if you can get on the road and load it fairly heavily that's okay too. Basically you want to accelerate the vehicle with at least 3/4 throttle for a few seconds at a time before closing the throttle and letting the car slow down before repeating the procedure. Use 2nd or 3rd gear at first, then later you can use higher gears and hold the load for longer. A properly built engine will tolerate full throttle and load right from the start without problems. After about twenty minutes of this you should have a very good ring seal and no further special treatment will be required though it certainly wouldn't hurt to give it another hour or so of limited revs before fitting the inners where this applies. Avoid idling even after the run-in procedure; it's hard on the cam at any stage of the engines life. It's not a bad idea to change the oil and filter after the run-in; also check the valve clearances again as a check on the health of the cam lobes and fit the inner springs if necessary.

YB,
Could be a few different things but does sound like a ring. What are the comps in each cylinder? My suggestion is to take it back to where you had the motor built. Did they put moly rings or standard rings in? Moly are slightly more expensive but does save some heartache.
Brett

Is the tappet cover after market or original? Ive had trouble will after market covers with no baffles in them