Oil Consumpion

[David Biele]

I have a 482 ci alum motor from Keith Craft and it suffers from the slight leak in the rear main seal. It seems that I am using more oil then I would expect.

I have put around 500 miles on the car, which I bought with 1000 miles on the clock. I have added around 4-5 quarts of oil over the last 3 months.

What I am asking is this normal? I had the compression checked and they pulled the plugs and everthing seems normal. Should I be worried?

Dave

[RICK LAKE]

David Biele Dave if you are beating on the car a quart every 500 miles is normal. Nothing is broken in yet except the tires and brakes. Oil leaks from the rear main seal area do happen. Under NORMAL 70/30% highway to local driving a quart every 1 K miles until the motor is broken in is not abnormal. The best thing I can tell you is to talk to your builder at KCR. If the motor is sucking alot of oil through either the rings or valve stem guides, a compression test will be high. A leak down cheak would be better for what you want to check. What color are the spark plugs? Black, Gray, White, off color lite gray? A picture of them would help. I see no problem at this time, how many times have you changed the oil in the motor? What are you running in the motor? synthesis oil or normal oil? What weight are you running also needs to be taken into account on this problem too. A little more info would help on this. Rick L. Ps Dave you have an aluminum motor at 482 cubes and it needs to BREATH a little. Just think of it as a 4 wheel Harley and it is marking it's territory. Mine has a 50 cent puddle under it after running.

[Keithc8]

This seems a little high for that a few of miles. See if the engine has a PVC system on it because I have had the engine pull oil through them causing oil usage. If it has a PVC system on it take it of and install another breather on the engine. If it has two breathers make sure that the plugs are in good shape and put a few more miles on the engine to see if it gets any better.
We have had a problem with some of the Fel-Pro gaskets on the intake side and quite using them a few years back. They would move or tear and let oil into the intake port and cause oil usage. One of the plugs should look darker than the others if this is the case. Check these things and let me know what you find.

Thanks, Keith

[jwd]

Let's see if I have this right. The motor has 1500 miles on it and in the last 500 miles it has used 4-5 qts. of oil. If that is correct, something is drastically wrong. I don't care who built the motor, something is wrong. Todays rings seat within the first 15 mins. of running time. I've built many motors and none have used more than a 1/2 Qt. in the first 1000 miles and after break-in, anything more than 1 qt. every 2000 miles is unacceptable.

Jim

[4pipes]

My engine had racing pistons which had short, light weight skirts. They deflected when cold and under power and caused excessive piston rocking. That lead to ring wear and I soon was consuming a quart every 300 miles. I don't know if you have a similar situation.....just thought I'd share the cause of my excessive consumption.

[Keithc8]

I think I ask Dave to check some things on the engine and get back with me. When it comes to engines and customers there is not anything that is normal or we would never have any problems. Without inspecting the engine myself I have no way to know what may be going on.
It sounds lke this is the second owner of the car and I do not know the history of the engine or how it was treated before Dave purchased the car. There is something cauing it to use that much oil and it might be a easy fix. I would have to have the car or the engine to help with the problem.
When you do as many engines as we do you see a lot of unusual stuff. Check the things that I suggested and get back with me in a private message or call me.

Thanks, Keith

[767Jockey]

Sounds reasonable to me....Keith built the engine for someone else, yet he's willing to help diagnose the problem for the current owner. Let Keith do his thing, I'd be interested to see what the problem turns out to be. It's nice to see someone who understands what customer service is all about.

[iwantacobra427]

Check the PCV hose for oil. I was burning 2 qts of oil every 300 - 400 miles until I discovered oil was being sucked out of the engine via the PCV valve. I replaced it with a breather..

[David Biele]

Thank you for all of your input. I actually think, thanks to everybody that it may be other issues rather then rings. I have decided to take the car to a excellent mechanic that i have used, complements of a recommendation from CC and have him check it out. I will let Keith know and CC what the outcome is.

Thanks again,

David

[tuska]

so what was going on in the end?

[David Biele]

tuska,

We are still working on the problems. We have identfied a couple of areas that needed replacing. Although the oil consumpion has gotten better it still may require to pull the engine and dig further. When all results are in I will contact KCR and get his take on it.

David

[Keithc8]

We had a few problems with some of the Fel-Pro gaskets early on and got away from them. You may want to check the intake gaskets to see if they are leaking. I would remove the carburetor and look into the intake for oil. I would also run a compression check and leak down on the engine to see if all seems ok there. Let me know what you find out and try these few things before you pull the engine.
If you find something wrong with the engine I will be happy to work with you on fixing the problem. Call me at 870-246-7460 if you would like.

Thanks, Keith Craft