EXESIVE BLOW BY

Sounds bad, i would be getting ready too, for a big job.
But for the fun of it, have you done the basic compression test on the cylinders? Do you get blue smoke when accelerating/startup? I assume loss of pick-up/power too, huh? Everything?

 

Just curious--what will this repair entail? Parts/procedures?
What is the cause of excessive blow-by? Worn piston rings?

The symptoms are oil in the aircleaner box, smoke out of the tailpipe, loss of power?

Thanks,
Greg
77 GTB USA

 

While the symtoms most likely point to a tired engine, there are other issues that could create these problems that have nothing to do with failed rings. Have you checked over the oil breather hoses and seperator? Are you certain both cam cover oil breather openings are clear? Is the o-ring on the dipstick tube fresh? My dipstick was pushing out too, but it was only from an old o-ring. I stuck a new one on and problem solved.

I have owned several cars over the years that used large amounts of oil but otherwise ran good. I flushed them out with a product called motor flush made by gunk. Although its probably just plain old kerosene. I run them at idle for 5 minutes or so on a warm (not hot or cold) engine, and immediatly drain. From that point I do not add oil when it drops to the add mark, but drain and refill with new oil and filter. So far I have had 100% positive results. No more oil use. No guarantees it will work in your case, but certainly worth a try.

 

I had an issue with my dip stick popping up too. I finally diagnosed the problem when I changed the shift shaft seals. The problem was that the dip stick tube, extending into the sump, was bent. I suspect this was the result of a PO trying to remove the sump without retracting the tube. It was not only bent but broke in two while extracting it. I had to retrieve the bottom half of it after removal of the sump pan. The bent tube caused an upward force on the tip of the dip stick and under vibration would pop out of the top of the upper tube. No issues since I replaced the lower portion of the tube.

Bill

 

Of course, you'd get similar symptoms if the car was simply overfilled with too much oil...

 

As long as you have decided the engine has to come apart, next time it is a qt. low on oil top it with a qt of ATF.
ATF is a light, very high detergent oil and will in some instances loosen up stuck rings.
I would only do this after you have followed Paul's advise, checking the entire breather system. Check the screens in the cam cover outlets, look at the oil seperator and verify it is mounted vertically and pull the drain back hose off and blow air through the entire system.

If the engine is indeed in need of an overhaul the ATF with do a good deal of parts cleaning for you before it comes apart. The risk here is if the engine is filthy inside the ATF could loosen debris that could plug oil passages albeit highly unlikely. I have seen passages plugged when this was tried on a 180K mile Chrysler 6 cylinder but have also seen it free up rings on the same.

Dave