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Your New or Recon Engine is Using Oil

You have just had your engine reconditioned or being that handyman you are, you have a grin from ear to ear, as you have just rebuilt your engine yourself. Well done šŸ‘šŸ½ Now the engine or motor is installed, you started it up (primed it with oil first) and it blows smoke! Noooooooo. You go for a test drive and it lacks power! Nooooo what is wrong? A few days later it starts blowing blue smoke and is using oil (1 Litre per 100kms) Where do we start??

There are a number of reasons why a new diesel motor, petrol motor, a newly reconditioned engine or a newly machined engine block uses a lot of oil…

TheseĀ are theĀ  most common reasons for oil usage:

There will be 5 different reasonsĀ  for engine oil usage

  1. The owner – the run-in or process
  2. The oil used – correct type not a friction modifier, or high in detergents
  3. The parts supplier – Product quality
  4. The engine assembler – there cleanliness and skill
  5. The Machine shop – Machining quality

1. Glazing (running in the procedure)

Read our Ā blog on ‘Running in your engine’ Ā Click here

2. Using the incorrect oil to running an engine

Engine rebuilders use basic engine oil to Run in – new engines or reconditioned engines with a conventional non-detergent SAE 30W or 10W-30. Once the piston rings have beaded in (a process that can take 45 minutes to an hour, or up to 500 Kms of normal driving), the run-in oil is drained and the engine is refilled with whatever oil you will be used for normal driving (conventional or synthetic, friction modifiers, detergents, additives, etc . the stuff an engine running in does not need.)

3. Rings

  • – Poor ring tension ā€“ quality and brand of rings
  • – Incorrect ring size supplied! did you check your ring gaps?
  • – Rings being fitted upside down
  • – Fitted in the wrong ring land
  • – Ring sticking in-ring lands
  • – Broken rings
  • – Oil ring not being installed correctly
  • – Rings gaps not offset
  • – Quality of the product

4. Bores not being cleaned correctly after honing

After honing thoroughly wash cylinder walls with soapy water and a scrub brush and oil immediately thereafter. Repeat until all evidence of foreign matter is removed. In either method that is used, a white cloth wiped on the surface should remain clean. there are specific bore wipes available for this purpose.

Do not use .. this is a common problem in our industry

The rebuilder uses petrol, diesel or kerosene to clean the cylinder walls after honing. Solvents of this nature will not remove the grit from the cylinder wall and often carry particles of abrasives into the pores of the metal. Failure to properly clean the cylinder walls will leave abrasives that will cause rapid wear and ring failure and will result in elevated oil consumption. Hot or warm soapy water is the best way to clean the cylinder bores after honing and yes oil the bore straight afterward, we don`t want surface rust bedding in those rings now…

5. Glazed cylinder bores issues

  • – Lack of power
  • – Engine using oil
  • – Excessive oil leaks from engine blowby causing excessive crankcaseĀ pressure
  • – Engine blowing blue smoke
  • – The 2 closer bore has a crosshatch pattern they have been honed.
  • – The other 2 bores are yet to be honed.

 

 

 

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