Dumb question removed......

Your problem may NOT be fuel related BUT,......The fuel quality here in Michiigan is a real mess........ ethenol content in our town ranged from 14 % to 28 % ethenol .......once it seperates from the gas it will absorb 50 % of its volumn in water............. PLus actual octane readings are all over the board when tested........ I had soot issues also and it improved dramattically once I switched to rv 90 non ethenol fuel plus some startron additive which is suppose to bump octane 1 -2 points I also Tried adding 3 gals 110 race fuel to 10 gals of rv 90 and had virtually NO soot. That is not a long term scenario I want to do though....... Just something to consider

I had the same soot problem. I ended up sending the ecm's back to whipple and had them tweak it. Since then I have not had any problems. My engines are not stock and have supperchargers but you may want to consider the ecm as a possibility.

I put new plugs in and ran it at idle with a few half throttle revs (after warm) then shut it off and did a plug check. My issue is 100% OIL RELATED. The plugs are already wet with oil here is a picture of the first plug I pulled (all plugs look very similar). I am going to do a compression check for the hell of it, but with this amount of oil in such a short time, if it were rings or valves, there is no way this boat would run as good as it does. Like I said previously it runs very strong (hit 65 on GPS with 3 guys, 3/4 tank of fuel against wind the other day)....

I included a small pic here. Click on this link for the full sized picture, you can really see the oil burn on the ceramic... http://www.bradzgarage.com/velocity/IMG_0399.JPG

http://www.bradzgarage.com/velocity/IMG_0399.JPG

I don't know the Cylinder numbers and their order on the 496 so I listed them from front to back port & starbord

Compression Test Results:

Port #1: 175lbs Starbord #1: 170lbs
Port #2: 175lbs Starbord #2: 175lbs
Port #3: 175lbs Starbord #3: 170lbs
Port #4: 175lbs Starbord #4: 175lbs

Given these numbers I'd say I have an extremly strong 496 (given Raylar suggested it be 160-150lbs). Is there any reason to do a leak down at this point? Or should I just move on to the intake gasket? All plugs looked like the one pictured in the previous post. One side of the ceramic was brown (burnt oil) and the other side was still white. Also each plug had a strong odor of oil, the smell of gas wasn't present.

Leak down test results show 20-15% loss in each cylinder and the sound of air can be heard by opening the oil cap.... Does this sound like bad valve seals or possible a really bad intake gasket. Again, very consistant compression numbers and leak down numbers across the board.... Each plug is wet with oil with about the same amount....

Those compression numbers indicate excellent compression and and it does not indicate the rings are passing oil.
If the plugs are getting wet with oil that quickly, my guess is the intake gasket leaking at the bottom of the intake ports and sucking oiul into the cylinders. Change the intake gaskets and that should stop the oil burn.

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

Raylar, that's kind of what I thought. The fact that each cylinder is loosing 20-25% during leak down and the fact that i can hear air in the crank case( by opening oil filler tube) defiantly leads me to believe intake gasket is the right path. Even if it isnt, it is the easiest and cheapest to start with, because next would be a valve job..... So intake it is. I greatly appreciate all of help. Without your suggestion, I would still be chasing the fuel.....

Great post guys, please follow up with results after replacing those gaskets.

Here is one last picture of the transom (before the repair). This was after our trip to Cedar Point and Back Tuesday (about 3/4 tank of fuel). I will be happy to be done with this mess....

http://www.bradzgarage.com/velocity/IMG_0408.JPG