Longrange4u

I have heard this as well... the motor hardly has an hour on it yet... should I let it run longer?

MORE INFO PLEASE!!

I am going to do a leakdown test this weekend and see what it shows...

GOODT

dont run it anymore till you do a leak down and know whats up with it, all you can do is more harm at this point

Excalibur Dude

Do you know for sure if the ring gaps were staggered, or not lined up. I guess you could be concerned, if you were to try running it easy for a while, there is a problem with a broke ring and its in there scratching up a cylinder. You'd have to pull the head off and see if there signs on the cylinder wall. What is the tolerenace your going to use for go, no go, on a leak down test?

ActiveFun

Its blowby... I had that problem and did a re-fresh without pistons.. It wasn't major as long as you trust your rebuilder.. Where are you located???

Longrange4u

Ok... so run it or dont run it? It runs and idles great... hell it acts great, untill you get it in the water and under load. Sitting still, idle, revs up to 3-4k never a problem. Then when we get it to the lake... under load or even if I take he slowly up to speed at about 2500RPM's it starts to push oil out the dipstick.

Here is a vid of her the morning we took her out to the lake..


Now after talking to the engine builder he believes that we havent let the rings seat... with cold water intake and a 160deg thermostat it has never really warmed up. He said that you need to let it get to 180-200 to seat the rings correctly. (Is this right?) Hell at the lake the motor never even got hot enough to get above 110Deg.

We are still going to do a leak down, but what are the good / bad results?

Is there a way I can see if there is a major problem vs: just needing to let the rings seat?

paradigm shift

Best way to tell is a leak down test. Even if rings are not seated it will confirm or not if you have leakage by the rings causing problem. Do you know what kind of rings were installed?

If you are going to run it how well do you get along with your engine builder? Will he stand behind it if you have a broken ring or trouble?

Couple of other thoughts I will throw out. I noticed in your video you are running after market valve covers. Maybe a dumb question but are you sure you have crankcase vented properly? I would also double check your oil pans capacity. If you have room run it a quart low long enough just to see if that helps.

If you are going to run as is and you have access to a bore scope you could check the top end - cylinder walls for any damge or scuffing (broken ring?) by looking down through the spark plug holes. Maybe your builder has one? Neat little tool. Good luck.

Longrange4u

Ok stupid question... what is the correct Breather/PCV setup for a 502?

paradigm shift

Sorry man I went off for a while. No dumb questions right?

Anyway main thing is to have enough breather so you do not build crank case pressure. If you have excessive leakage by the rings this is next to impossible besides performance loss you would have.

Stock 502 has a PCV valve and a small hose breather to flame arrestor. Works well up to 5 - 5500 RPM from my expierence.

Unless your rings are really leaking bad which you could tell with a leakdown test my guess is you have a pan - oil level or a breather problem. I have known some to tie dipstick so it can not be pushed up while running because of crankcase pressure. Short term fix but it could hold for a while while you test more.

Longrange4u

I have heard the "one less quart" suggestion... and may try that. If its truly a presure problem that wont fit it right? What results should I look for in the leakdown test?

The Vlave covers i have only have one spot for a breather.... we have it routed up to the inside of the flame arrestor. Thinking about drilling another hole for breather in the other cover.

paradigm shift

You need one open breather or a hose routed to flame arrester. The other should be a PCV valve with hose to base of carb.

Some just run open breathers on both valve covers. Personally I like to run a PCV with closed engine compartments. Helps with fumes.

Oh yea the shorting it one quart will not fix it if it has excessive pressure. You are correct.