Hey guys,

My 223 seems to have a problem with engine blow-out. its puffing out smoke from the pcv valve.. Does anyone know of a way to fix this or at least remedy it in some way to either stop it or slow it down. i understand that this is a problem with old engines but want to try to fix this..

 

Blow-by is mostly worn-out rings and cylinder walls, but the ring grooves in the piston will not be tightly supporting the rings, and the pistons will no longer be tight in the cylinder bores, rocking & slapping around.

The only real cure is to re-bore the cylinder and replace the pistons & rings. Re-ringing only is a big gamble. If worn rings are the majority of the problem, you can pull the engine all the way apart and replace the rings only. This requires ridge-reaming to remove the unworn area of the cylinder above the ring travel and honing to break the glaze on the cylinder walls so that the new rings can seat. This process is a gamble - more than half the time the problem will not be solved or even be worse.

If you only want to spend a few $$$ you can try a "chemical overhaul", using one of the "magic liquids" that can be found in the chemicals department of a large auto supply store. Most of the time this will not work, but if your problem is stuck rings due to the engine sitting up for a long time, the right chemical might help free them up. Many mechanics have their own special tricks, such as putting some diesel fuel in all the spark-plug holes, which only occasionally work. Maybe some will share their tricks in this thread.

I'll give you one trick that was printed right in Caterpillar diesel tractor shop manuals in the 1950's. (I DO NOT RECOMMEND DOING THIS - it is just an example of what some people do, "do not try this at home . . .") CAT diesel cylinders are hardened steel and sometimes even new rings do not seat properly. As a last resort before giving up, CAT suggested using Bon Ami cleanser (available from CAT in those days). Slowly pour the powder into the intake (no carb on a diesel) while the engine is running at moderate rpm. If not successful, try AGAIN. Do not forget to change out the oil and filter a few times. DO NOT DO THIS TO YOUR ENGINE!

 

thanks, i appreciate the help. 62Cole

 

Cole,
I agree 100% with the 1st part of Archie's 2nd paragraph. Rebuild the engine right or leave it alone IMHO. Although he gave you a bunch of options on how to deal with your suspected Blow By problem, the correct repair procedure is the best.

Many companies exist & profit from folks looking for a mechanic in a can or bottle, but I have yet to see one. If qwik fix formulas worked on problems like wear or being out of round, conditions, I doubt there would be any repair shops. Snake Oil is much more profitable than a repair shop but far less effective unless your working on a "snake".

I would tell you either do a correct repair on what you have, get a rebuilt version of what you have or consider changing to another engine or engine upgrade, and put your time, hope & $$ where it will do you some good.

FBp

 

I am the last person to ever use snake-oil and I usually go the full rebuild route. As a teenager I did a re-ring job on a 292 Y-block that the pros said would not hold. The engine ran well, but I upgraded to a 312 and sold the 292 to a gas-station mechanic neighbor for $50. He ran it for years and always thanked me for selling him such a good engine for such a cheap price. Sometimes a re-ring job will hold - most of the time, not.

On the other hand, almost all snake-oil that is on the market has its roots in a savvy mechanic who trouble-shot the system until he knew the problem and then found a "creative" way to work around it. I think that IF 62Cole's engine sat up a long time and its rings are "stuck", especially if it did not have heavy blow-by before hand, there might be a (small chance) of success with a chemical treatment to free up the rings. If the engine had a long history of being abused and progressively having more blow-by, then only a mechanical intervention will help.

I was (& still am) curious about what experiences others have had with using chemicals. The parts stores sell a lot of this stuff, but I'd bet that the great majority of the time it does nothing, a small part of the time it only helps temporarily (used car lot tricks), and about 1% of the time it is solves a problem long-term.

BY THE WAY, 62Cole, if your engine is making one large puff of blow-by every two turns of the crank at idle, you probably have a burned piston and NO amount of snake-oil is gonna fix that! Time to do a compression check.