[goatman65]

Fresh rebuild,bearings,rings,etc. Fired up took it to 2500 rpm, oil press was 65. After barely ten minutes started getting smoke from exhaust and oil press slowly went to 55. Temp gauge was showing 180.

I decided to shut it off so I lowered the rpms to 1200 and oil press went to 25, I then shut it off. I can only run it about 10 minutes at a time because it gets too hot.

So am I jumping ahead by thinking I might have major problems with the smoke and oil press? Do the rings [Total Seal classic] need more run time? The smoking seems to get worse the longer it runs.

Could the oil pressure dropping be the filter clogged already or maybe dirt in the pump check ball?

I Don't want to pull this engine again. Oh, is it okay to move the car around or does it need more break-in time?

[68 Firebird]

Well if you have a flat tappet cam then you need more breakin time.
As for the heat, 180 seems just fine for the motor.(that's what mine runs)
When I broke my new motor in a actually used no thermostat and had a
Large fan in front of the car blowing hard. So oil that burns off exhaust blew out
of garage and cools exhaust at same time.
Oil pressure seems ok. Mine will drop to 25 at HOT idle in gear.
Let it cool and finish breakin.
As for smoke out of exhaust that is odd. Did any oil get in exhaust?

Gerry

[JSPONT]

A lot of info missing, but as the car and oil heat up oil pressure will drop. Did you use break in oil? Did you use a lot of break in lube? What type of cam? Roller of flat tappet?
Pull your oil filter and cut it open and look for metal. Drop the oil and check it for metal. If you have (which you should) a magnetic drain plug look at it close. If there is no major metal shavings, check valve could be stuck from cam lube... Drain and check the oil first.
How hot did it get?

[JSPONT]

Make sure you PCV valve is good and hooked up right.
As I was typing 68 bird was too!!

[goatman65]

Engine is cooling now, think I will change filter and fresh break-oil before I restart it. It was good for about 5 minutes, no smoke, solid 65 psi press. I checked oil press every few minutes and it kept going down with the rpms at 2500.

I don't know which is worse, the pressure dropping or the smoking from exhaust.

It is a SFT cam so I need more break-in time for that. 90 degrees today so I'm afraid of it overheating if I run it too long.

[goatman65]

Brad Penn break-in oil,magnetic plug. SFT cam w/ Comp lube. New pcv valve but maybe i'll put the old one back since I know it was good. Clevite lube on bearings, light coat of ATF on cylinder walls. Will change oil,filter after it cools enough to get to filter.

[JSPONT]

If something real bad is wrong the magnetic plug will let you know.

[goatman65]

I just noticed that on the right side was a drip of oil right below the head gasket. I ran my finger along the edge where the head,gasket and block meet and it is wet with oil, not a lot but it shouldn't be there. I thought it might be from the valve cover but it's not.

Would a leaking head gasket cause oil burning,exhaust smoke. That seems to be the side that is smoking more. KRE alum heads, Cometic .036 gaskets and ARP bolts.

Bolts torqued 30-60-95. Should I retorque after engine is cold?

[mgarblik]

Could be wrong but it sounds like you are worrying too much at this short run interval. 65 PSI start up and 55 PSI @ 180 degrees is fine. Oil pressure around 20 PSI hot idle is fine. Lots of possibility for the blue smoke. Do you have a new exhaust system on the car or an old one that had oil residue from the previous engine in the pipes? New pipes will smoke blue when they get hot for awhile as well as old residue in the exhaust system. It may take 1/2 hour of running time to quit. It's likely the rings aren't close to breaking in yet and possibly valve seals are an issue. If the car is safe to drive and the timing is set close, I like getting the car on the road as soon as possible. The rings will seat and break-in much faster under varying load, not sitting at a set RPM like 2500. That's a good speed for initial cam break-in but try to get it on the road for some moderate driving. When I break-in an engine like yours on the dyno, I like to run it at 2500 RPM's like you did, then I load the dyno to about 150 ft. lbs and just let the engine work, varying the rpm's between 2000, 3500 for about 1/2 hour. I have no problem letting water temp run 185-200. Then I shut it down, change oil, adjust valves. Restart, check timing, idle mixture and begin making some pulls. Don't panic yet.

[74Grandville]

everything sounds normal to me so far. I think you are letting your nerves get to you. you may get a lot of smoke from the exhaust. give it time to burn out.

one example, I just redid my top end. starting the engine and had smoke from one side for almost 20-30 mins. I thought i had an issue with the head gasket. I did not need to break in as the cam was already set from before. in the end it cleaned up and was just fine.

another time I redid the top end and had lots of smoke, I was also breaking in a cam. I thought the neighbors would call the cops as it was a pretty big cloud. low and behold 15-20 mins in, it all cleared up.

I wouldn't bother changing the oil until you are done breaking in your cam.

[goatman65]

Thanks for all the help. This isn't my first time doing a break-in but the first time to have one smoke or lose press. Now, if I could only find one of my oil filter wrenches,lol,....

[JSPONT]

Originally Posted by goatman65

I just noticed that on the right side was a drip of oil right below the head gasket. I ran my finger along the edge where the head,gasket and block meet and it is wet with oil, not a lot but it shouldn't be there. I thought it might be from the valve cover but it's not.

Would a leaking head gasket cause oil burning,exhaust smoke. That seems to be the side that is smoking more. KRE alum heads, Cometic .036 gaskets and ARP bolts.

Bolts torqued 30-60-95. Should I retorque after engine is cold?

What head bolt? ARP bolts need 110 especially with the cometics!! And yes re torque after a few heat cycles.

[Probird]

All seems normal to me. If you are worried about it burning oil pull the plugs on that side and take a look at them.

[goatman65]

The paper with the head bolts said 95 with ARP lube, but if you say 110 then i'll go with that. I did cut the filter open and found nothing but oil and a small fleck of engine paint.

I'll fire it up again tomorrow. And I am glad to see that the BOP 1 piece rear seal isn't leaking,so far.

[TCSGTO]

If you pulled the heads in the car some coolant may have gotten in the exhaust. It takes quite a while to burn off. I had so much smoke after a head swap once someone called the fire dept. Engine or header paint makes a smoke screen too.

I think your probably ok.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Originally Posted by JSPONT

Make sure you PCV valve is good and hooked up right.
As I was typing 68 bird was too!!

Key function for Total Seal ring break-in. You know to use dinasaur oil, not synthetic for run-in.


Re-check oil level,
ign timing (32 deg total at 3000), no vac hose, and low teens at idle.
Coolant level, mechanical cooling fan. thermostat opening?

Known-goid carb, like a Q-JET


Establish temp, levels, stability, then take it to a highway for loaded breakin.

[Tim Corcoran]

I always re-torque my head bolts after the first heat cycle. Let it cool overnight and do a re-torque. Following the proper pattern loosen each bolt one at a time and re-torque to spec. It is normal for oil pressure to drop from cold to running temperature. If oil is oozing out of the parting line between the head and the block that is not normal. Since there is nothing scary in your oil filter I would do a re-torque and run it some more and keep an eye on the oil leaking around the head gasket.

[JSPONT]

Originally Posted by goatman65

The paper with the head bolts said 95 with ARP lube, but if you say 110 then i'll go with that. I did cut the filter open and found nothing but oil and a small fleck of engine paint.

I'll fire it up again tomorrow. And I am glad to see that the BOP 1 piece rear seal isn't leaking,so far.

Studs are 110, bolts I think are 95. Not sure if you have studs or bolts.

[geeteeohguy]

Didn't read all the posts. If you are using ARP bolts, there have been some instances of ARP bolts being TOO LONG and they bottom out in the block, leaving the heads loose. Something to verify.

[gtofreek]

Originally Posted by JSPONT

What head bolt? ARP bolts need 110 especially with the cometics!! And yes re torque after a few heat cycles.

That's actually the torque for ARP head studs. The bolts are 95-100 lbs.