Oil in intake port

It will have to be the valve stem seals, if the engine is able to suck up that amount of oil through the inlet gasket every cycle the sump will be empty in minutes.
There is no way that the oil in the picture got sucked up and all got stopped there when the engine was shut down and the valve accidentally ended up fully closed.

Dripping down from a leaking valve stem makes much more sense to me.

I had a similar problem on my Hemi but it was because I put in much thicker head gaskets. The intake sat to low and was sucking mostly air. Had to run thicker intake gaskets. My problem was opposite of yours. This isn't to say it the valve seals aren't problem. Miss aligned bolt holes made me think manifold sealing issue.

Are guide cut down enough so retainers don't bash them at max lift?

62 Dart Convertible said:

Do seal sets not always come with thin installation sleeve to protect seal from sharp edges on grooves (like every fel-pro umbrella set I ever used?)

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I didn't get a installation sleeve with my seals but they are available. I just used a thin piece of plastic.


Used a piece of 1/2" pvc pipe for a installer.


The rest of the procedure is in "My Garage" just in case you go this route.
http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopar...-452-heads-for-new-valve-springs-part-2.4657/

Poorly sealed valley pan sure can cause oiling issues. I've had a valley pan leak oil bad enough to run down towards the back of the engine, follow the crease between the head and block and drip off the ear on the block. It was also slowly seeping under the intake on top of the pan. When I pulled the intake there sure was oil in the intake ports of the heads and all over the valves. Don't rule it out until you pull the intake, if anything it'll give you piece of mine.
What about the pcv ? Have you checked to make sure the oil isn't being sucked in through there ?

65-440 said:

Have you checked to make sure the oil isn't being sucked in through there ?

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You know I had that thought when I first read this thread.

Which valves were affected? If they share the port with the pcv could it be the problem?

Wietse said:

It will have to be the valve stem seals, if the engine is able to suck up that amount of oil through the inlet gasket every cycle the sump will be empty in minutes.
There is no way that the oil in the picture got sucked up and all got stopped there when the engine was shut down and the valve accidentally ended up fully closed.

Dripping down from a leaking valve stem makes much more sense to me.

Click to expand...

Same here.

Fran Blacker said:

I had a similar problem on my Hemi but it was because I put in much thicker head gaskets. The intake sat to low and was sucking mostly air. Had to run thicker intake gaskets. My problem was opposite of yours. This isn't to say it the valve seals aren't problem. Miss aligned bolt holes made me think manifold sealing issue.

Click to expand...

Before long I'll be in the same position with thicker head gaskets - this time I will be sure intake gasket thicknesses will be right and alignment perfect!

khryslerkid said:

I didn't get a installation sleeve with my seals but they are available. I just used a thin piece of plastic.
Used a piece of 1/2" pvc pipe for a installer.
The rest of the procedure is in "My Garage" just in case you go this route.
http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopar...-452-heads-for-new-valve-springs-part-2.4657/

Click to expand...

Good ideas, thanks!

65-440 said:

Poorly sealed valley pan sure can cause oiling issues. I've had a valley pan leak oil bad enough to run down towards the back of the engine, follow the crease between the head and block and drip off the ear on the block. It was also slowly seeping under the intake on top of the pan. When I pulled the intake there sure was oil in the intake ports of the heads and all over the valves. Don't rule it out until you pull the intake, if anything it'll give you piece of mine.
What about the pcv ? Have you checked to make sure the oil isn't being sucked in through there ?

Click to expand...

Engine had no PCV, so we can rule that out. (I am fitting one when I put it back together though!) Engine did not leak a drop of oil from valley.

Thanks heaps for your thoughts fellas!

I pulled springs and retainers off both heads today, inspected and measured.
Spring retainers have 0.875" clearance to top of guide thus no impact damage to seals.
All seals have a definite feeling of drag on the valve stems, so the seals are not loose or sloppy. When a valve stem is pushed through guide and seal, I could see the tensioner spring on seal open slightly, confirming there is seal tension.
The valve guides are all nice and tight and all the valve stems show very little wear (incredible considering they are 55 years old!)

I really don't feel like I've found the leaky valve seal smoking gun I was hoping for ... in fact I've gone full circle back to believing maybe it was only a leaky valley pan after all...

Another option if you have access, heat up some engine oil and drip it over the valve stem seals and see if this is able to sink in.
It's not depending on pressure, just free flowing oil so you could be able to simulate it?

Had a good friend almost lose a motor due to oil getting sucked into the intake ports

He had just installed a USED Holley Streetmaster Intake along with a new valley pan , no gaskets

He had mentioned that he kept on having to add oil every so often after cruises and car shows and on one long trip he was losing oil pressure

Never was an issue before he said

I happened to bee following him one day and noticed blue smoke out of his tailpipe on the passenger side only (MOSTLY ON DE-ACCELERATION)

So that week I asked him to pull the spark plugs on that one side , compression test was fine , plugs looked ugly

That's when he mentioned the different intake manifold . I helped him pull it and there was oil pooled under the intake on top of the valley pan and the head ports looked terrible only on the passenger side

Oil gets sucked into the ports on high vacuum and mostly from de-acceleration only

He said he didn't use the paper intake gaskets because the factory never did

I mentioned to him that was fine when everything was BRAND NEW , you just put a used intake on that you have no idea on its condition

New valley pan and 4 paper gaskets later , problem solved , honestly I think his used intake was cut



I let the intake manifold especially any aftermarket aluminum dictate if and how many paper gaskets get used if any
Sometimes none , sometimes two , sometimes four and they make different thicknesses of these paper gaskets

One more thing , don't use silicone around the intake ports of the heads
The original Blue Hylomar is the best for the head intake ports or a permatex spray adhesive to secure the thin paper gaskets to the valley tin pan

Silicone for tin pan and block hold down bar areas only

make sure to put rtv on the intake bolt threads oil will go up them mine did it and sucked oil in the ports

again to all that contributed to this thread. Yesterday I dropped the heads off to be cleaned and checked by another builder. If all good, when I'm back from a 2 week holiday I will then re-assemble them with the viton seals and start putting Humpty back together again.

Ask anyone who has blown an intake plenum gasket on a 92 up magnum engine how much oil can be sucked into the cylinders.