Y Block Question

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GAR64

Senior Member
I have a 56 with a 292 that sat for about 15 years. Has original 4bbl. Siphoned out as much gas as I could, added fresh with some seafoam and it is running pretty good. Smokes pretty good though. Some say I probably need to rebuild (rings) others say valve seals and another thought maybe clogged oil passages on top could cause it to smoke. Any thoughts from you guys would be appreciated. Having fun with this car...
 

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Blue smoke? Blue usually means oil. White is water. If it's blue, could be either rings or seals. Do a compression test to check the rings.

As far as the clogged oil passages at the top (assuming you mean the rocker arm shaft or the oil passageway right at the stand) would not cause it to smoke. Ditto on clogged passages down further down in the block.

If the overflow at the end of the rocker arm shaft is plugged, extra oil would be coming out the shaft at the rockers so more oil in the valve areas, so poor seals would allow oil into the combustion chamber.
 
Thanks Paul. I will do a compression test and go from there. I am also going to pull the valve covers and see how it looks. I have no idea when the engine was last rebuilt or how many miles since.
 

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Y's will run nicely with the valve covers off - and not make big mess. Should be able to see some oil coming out of the tube on one end of each shaft. If you've got a tick, test with a gloved finger which will dampen the noise and tell you which rockers might need adjustment.
 
if the smoke is caused by worn guides or guide seals the smoke should stop in a minute or two after starting motor, bad rings the motor will smoke all the time
 
Drive it several hundred miles with some Marvel Mystery Oil in the tank and the oil and see if it improves.
 
Best of all…just keep driving it. Nice thing is, if you keep the oil changed it won't self destruct. Y's will run great smokey and dirty with bad bearings rings not enough pushrods and all kinds of problems. Most engines won't.
That looks like a beautiful car. And as you said if you are hving fun with , keep doing it.
Build another complete engine, how you like on the side, and switch them out if you want.
 
another thing, oil smoke will linger quiet a while in the air, steam or white smoke coming from the tail pipe because of a water leak in the combustion chamber will disappear very very quickly
 
ford3 said:
if the smoke is caused by worn guides or guide seals the smoke should stop in a minute or two after starting motor, bad rings the motor will smoke all the time
Click to expand...

I agree with ford3. Good way to determine if guide seals or oil rings.

One other thing, a compression test may not indicate bad or stuck oil rings. A compression test checks compression rings...
 
Re: Y Block Question - Valves

I am guessing it is a ring problem since it continues to smoke. I took the valve covers off to take a look anyhow as I have heard these engines tend to "sludge up" on top. It's soft stuff and seems like I can wipe it right up. What is the best way to clean this up and does this look pretty typical??
 

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Pictures cam be deceiving, but it looks like also a little rust from condensation and sitting. I've seen worse brought back. The MMoil is a good suggestion, and your going to have to run the car along enough to boil all the water vapor out. Not overheated, just normal temperature for maybe an hour. Change the oil and filter, and start over with all fresh, including the MMO. Make sure you use an oil suitable for flat tappet cams (just search zddp here, there's plenty of opinions). You might even want to pull and clean the rocker assembly, and wipe out the head. Follow Greenbird's suggestion, and look for fresh oil up top. The older iron rings took a lot longer to seat, but will sometimes free up and run back in just fine. I assume you've got an oil pressure gauge, and you're showing ok pressure. If not, that should go on the list. If worst comes to worst, these are all things that will be needed anyway, so all you've got invested is a little time and oil.
 
Use Motorcraft Diesel 15W40 it has 1335 ppm of ZDDP with The Marvel MO about $16-$18 for a 5 Qt jug at Autozone or Wal-Mart.
 
nice car, wish I could find one in that condition for a reasonable price. not much left up here in Alaska, just a few rust buckets. I really like 56's
 
So how much Marvel should I add?? I have been spending my time tinkering on other stuff and haven't gotten to working on the engine. Any suggestions on cleaning the sludge on the rockers other than simply wiping etc?
 

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does the car have a double acting fuel pump if it does buy pass the vacuum section & see if the smoke stops. also if the car was put to bed right there may be a lot of oil in the exhaust system by pass the wiper pump section & drive the car for a while & see if the smoke stops. also to check the valve seals just poke one with a small screw driver if they crumble there shot they can be replaced with out taking the heads off
 
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