Excess blow by after 6 year storage

[maproy99]

I have a 1974 ford 302-v8. It sat in storage for 6 years, after a summer of work I finally got to ski behind it, problem was the boat smoked up multiple times from excess blow by just running for about an hour on the lake. It did not have the blow by problem 6 years ago so my neighbor who is a retired car mechanic believes soaking the cylinders in pb blaster over winter will help with this by lubricating the seals. I was looking online and the longest I have seen someone with this in their cylinders is a few days. Does anyone see a problem with trying this, or have a better idea?

Maybe I should just cover the vent hole with duck tape, lol.

 

[vfrkent]

Re: Excess blow by after 6 year storage

It should be fine, what the PB blaster will do is desolve the carbon that could be preventing the rings from sealing well.

Regards,
Kent

 

[Failproof]

Re: Excess blow by after 6 year storage

If it sat for 6 years without turning over, you could have a few weak valve springs, valve seals deformed/dry, rust ridges in the cyl, or sticking rings. Its a good thing to turn the crank over by hand 1/4 rotation every now and then!

 

[Bondo]

Re: Excess blow by after 6 year storage

I have a 1974 ford 302-v8. It sat in storage for 6 years, after a summer of work I finally got to ski behind it, problem was the boat smoked up multiple times from excess blow by just running for about an hour on the lake. It did not have the blow by problem 6 years ago so my neighbor who is a retired car mechanic believes soaking the cylinders in pb blaster over winter will help with this by lubricating the seals. I was looking online and the longest I have seen someone with this in their cylinders is a few days. Does anyone see a problem with trying this, or have a better idea?

Maybe I should just cover the vent hole with duck tape, lol.

Ayuh,... Try whatever you'd like,...
I think yer Problems are probably bigger that a little oil, or duct tape is gonna fix...

 

[cr2k]

Re: Excess blow by after 6 year storage

Bought a used boat several years ago, it smoked a little too the whole first year, thought it was probably tired. Second year and after we ran it it was fine. Probably just stuck rings etc. Run it and see where it goes.

 

[joewithaboat]

Re: Excess blow by after 6 year storage

What did your "summer of work" include?

You didn't by chance try to add a pcv valve to it did you?

How much have you run it on the water after its long storage period?

 

[maproy99]

Re: Excess blow by after 6 year storage

I had it on the water for about an hour, been on muffs for about 8 hours while fixing little issues, like the fact the engine sits so the water doesn't drain out of the pump when it is winterized, all I had was a rust bucket trying to move water. As for my summer of work, it was spent getting the engine running and working on the cooling system. I did have to drop the oil pan due to a lock nut i dropped down the distributor hole. Pcv is working fine.

 

[maproy99]

Re: Excess blow by after 6 year storage

If the pb buster doesn't work, going to try to duck tape the breather hole to see if i can encourage the blow by to all go through pcv valve and just see if it gets any better with more hours. But my neighbor does thing it is that the valve seals might be dried out a bit, since by running a bit of transmission fluid through the carburetor and all the blow by stopped.

 

[thumpar]

Re: Excess blow by after 6 year storage

Have you done a compression check? Do one and then put some oil down the spark plug holes and do it again. If the numbers are close then it is most likely head issues. If they jump up with oil then rings or piston type issues. This is just a general test to get an idea of where to start.

 

[joewithaboat]

Re: Excess blow by after 6 year storage

I mentioned the pcv valve because i have seen folks mistakenly add one where it doesn't belong and get all kinds of blow-by smoke. Anyway.... i don't remember far enough back but my Dad had a merc. of that vintage and I'm 99.9% sure it just has breather lines to the flame arrester no valve.

Compression test is a good idea!

I'm not sure how well the engine other wise runs, and how much blowby you are actually talking about. If it had a stuck ring, rusted seat or a rusted up cylinder wall. You have not run it long enough for the parts to seal again. I have had this very same issue in a boat, and a car for that matter, and it will get better. That is of course if the p/o is being truthful about the condition of the engine prior to long term storage.

When storing an engine for a long time it should be "fogged" to prevent surface rust on valves, seats, and cylinder walls of the cylinders whose valves are left open. Some folks even go to the trouble of rotating them every so often. Sorry if you already knew all this.

Give it a tune up... plugs, wires, cap,rotor,fuel filter etc

Change the oil and filter, I would run Mobil 1 15w50 full synthetic as it is the only flat tappet compatible Mobil 1

Take it out and run the crap out of it at different rpm's.
It took prob 6 trips to the lake for the one we had to quit smoking.

It could also be the valve guide seals, they might get softer and seal a little better but maybe not.
Good luck!

 

[maproy99]

Re: Excess blow by after 6 year storage

Just an update, Blow by is still here. Got 2 times out on the lake in so far this year. 2nd time I had it out the gimbal ring stripped out leaving me with no steering and have spent most of the summer fixing it. Hopefully I will get it out next week and get the engine re-broken the rest of the way in. But I have had times of heavier and lighter blow by, so it seems to be improving!

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Excess blow by after 6 year storage

Why don't you add a can of Sea Foam to the fuel. I used to swear by Marvel Mystery Oil but when it started becomming scarce around my area I swichted to Sea Foam. It seems to work pretty well at freeing up stuck rings and breaking down the grunge that forms over time.

Just a thought.

 

[maproy99]

Re: Excess blow by after 6 year storage

I thought I would throw this in too, had to pull the engine this summer to free up room where I needed to work. Dropped the oil pan off to look at the cylinder walls and they look fine, wish I took a picture. And I will try Sea Foam next year if the rings don't fix themselves this season.

 

[maproy99]

Re: Excess blow by after 6 year storage

Quick update for anyone referencing this for their own use, I'm still having blowby but it has slowly decreased from the level it was. I believe it is just the rings needed to break back in. Now it is a minor problem, I can hide it from company by using the blower hose moved up to the breather cap.