Exhaust smoke

[Cornpatch MO]

Just got my 440 engine on the road for the first time. Runs much harder than I expected. Got the dwell, timing , and a spark plug end corrected. 750 double pump works very well, but may be a little rich The tailpipes have a little excessive black soot in them. No smoke at normal driving . Engine was a low mileage, low compression that bottom end looked very good in. I put overhauled closed chamber heads on, shim steel head gaskets for a combo of about 9.5 to 1 comp. ratio --.approx .475 lift unknown cam which looks like it has plenty of duration. Eddy RPM performer intake. I figger about 375 Horses.
Problem: on hard acceleration, The exhaust smokes, noticeable in the rear view mirror. Not sure if it is blue from burning oil, or black from over rich gas . Runs too good for being rich.
Open valve cover breathers. If it is oil, could it be anything other than worn piston rings?
Am I going to damage the engine by running it hard ever so often?

 

[miller]

Just run a compression test on it. That will give you a better picture of what shape the motor is in. If good, might need carb adjusting, or jetting changes.

 

[Auggie56]

Take a plug out, and see what deposits if any are on them. If sooty black then to rich. If any brown deposits, your burning oil. From what you say about the tail pipes being blacked, it sounds over rich. This richness will damage your pistons and cylinder wall, as the excess gas is washing the oil off them.

 

[Dennis H]

Take a plug out, and see what deposits if any are on them. If sooty black then to rich. If any brown deposits, your burning oil. From what you say about the tail pipes being blacked, it sounds over rich. This richness will damage your pistons and cylinder wall, as the excess gas is washing the oil off them.

Along with above, change the oil if found to be fuel rich.

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

Agree with above, Smell the end of your oil dip stick.If it smells like gas,,,,,change your oil and take some jet out of the secondaries

 

[moper]

1. You need to do a compression test on it. Gage is cheap, get the engine warm, pull all the plugs, block the throttle open, and get readings from each cylinder. That will tell you if the rings might be a problem.
2. If you know it's rich, fix that. Chances are the power valve is wrong if the cam is unknown but "has some duration". That creates an over-rich condition a lot of the time. My guess is that's your rich problem. Over-rich creates probelems by contaminating the oil, and reducing the ability for the rings to seal, ultimately runing any chance of them sealing. So you need to fix the rich, and see where the engine sits in terms of condition.

 

[Cornpatch MO]

Just got my 440 engine on the road for the first time. Runs much harder than I expected. Got the dwell, timing , and a spark plug end corrected. 750 double pump works very well, but may be a little rich The tailpipes have a little excessive black soot in them. No smoke at normal driving . Engine was a low mileage, low compression that bottom end looked very good in. I put overhauled closed chamber heads on, shim steel head gaskets for a combo of about 9.5 to 1 comp. ratio --.approx .475 lift unknown cam which looks like it has plenty of duration. Eddy RPM performer intake. I figger about 375 Horses.
Problem: on hard acceleration, The exhaust smokes, noticeable in the rear view mirror. Not sure if it is blue from burning oil, or black from over rich gas . Runs too good for being rich.
Open valve cover breathers. If it is oil, could it be anything other than worn piston rings?
Am I going to damage the engine by running it hard ever so often?

 

[Cornpatch MO]

I think I have found the problem. I also had an oil leak near the rear main seal. I have a 6 qt. stock appearing oil pan. Between the leak and " burning oil" , It got about 1 qt. low on the stock oil-dipstick, and I did not add oil. The smokeing and oil leak have gone away. A friend told me that with two of his engines with larger oil pans, he had the same problems.
My conclusion is : if an oil pan is made bigger by means other than a deeper sump, the stock oil dipstick will not be correct, and I put to much oil in. ?? That could be done by making the pan "deeper" above the steering link area. and probably the reason my link was touching the pan. Make sense?......................MO

 

[Dennis H]

So you are saying it was overfull by 1 qt in addition to the seal?

 

[Cornpatch MO]

So you are saying it was overfull by 1 qt in addition to the seal?

Apparently, it was overfilled. I don't think the seal is still leaking. I would say that over fill could cause oil past the rings and pushed past the seal too. ................................MO

 

[Bigal75]

The pan is deeper so the full level should be close to the same.

 

[Cornpatch MO]

The pan is deeper so the full level should be close to the same.

That was my thought too, however, that would be just if the sump is deeper. Mine is also deeper at the back of the pan, just above the steering link. More room for oil there would lessen the amount at the dipstick...I think????..........................MO

 

[69Runner]

if an oil pan is made bigger by means other than a deeper sump, the stock oil dipstick will not be correct, and I put to much oil in. ??

Maybe the oil pan baffle was altered or removed? Also, a windage tray can help to prevent oil from sloshing around.

 

[Cornpatch MO]

That was my thought too, however, that would be just if the sump is deeper. Mine is also deeper at the back of the pan, just above the steering link. More room for oil there would lessen the amount at the dipstick...I think????..........................MO

Another adventure---Went to a car show about 60 miles away this past Saturday. Brutus has been runnig GREAT ! I noticed a faint "clicking" when I arrived. When I left, the clicking progressivley got worse along with a "miss" Then it got much worse noise. I had good oil pressure--I bet a cam lobe wipeing out. Stopped to get a fresh ZDDP additive. Started up,---no oil pressure. Called a friend to come get me with his trailer. Pulled a valve cover off, and here is what we found.........................................MO