Oil consumption in original engines

[daveboy]

I am running the original 216 in my '52 half-ton. I am certain that it has been rebuilt at sometime in its long past, but not absolutely positive. My question is what type of oil consumption was considered "normal" for these old beasts? Mine seems to have all the power I would expect from an all-original. She smokes for just a second on start-up, but that is all. But, I was surprised to discover that she is using about 1 quart every 300+ miles. And, it is not leakage cause she is pretty tight...at least my garage floor thinks so.

So, what would be considered "normal?"

daveboy

[_Ogre]

a quart every 300 miles is a little extreme, every 1000-1500 miles would be acceptable.
smoke on start up indicates your valve guides are worn, oil pools on top of your valves when the motor is off.
when you start the motor all this pooled oil burns off, while your running the oil continues to drip.
if your running 10w-30 oil, an easy fix is to run 20w-50 or straight 50 weight oil, especially in hot alabama.
see if that works for you

[daveboy]

Ogre, you confirmed pretty much what I was thinking. It has been years and years since I did any real work on engines (when I was a teenager and that was long ago). But, I was thinking that smoke on start-up was caused by valve seals. I am running 10W-40 in her right now, but I will change to 20W-50 next change. Heck, at this rate I may as well add the heavier oil each time she needs it. It will all be replaced long before oil change is due!

I know the real fix would be to rebuild the head. But, I want to do a compression test first to make sure the lower end is okay. Hopefully, the head is the only problem. I can deal with that. I have only had this truck a short while and definitely want to keep the original 216. But, I know that if she needs a full-rebuild it would probably be cheaper and better to put in a 235. But, that wouldn't be original.

Thanks,
daveboy

[_Ogre]

straight 50 weight if you can find it
they didn't have that pansy mutigrade back then

don't think the 216 had valve seals
but if they do, you can change them without pulling the head
don't know enough about 216 to say if the do or don't

[mr48chev]

Straight 30 weight rather than the 10-40 might help some but Ogre is right in that 1000 to 1500 miles on a quart of oil was considered really decent mileage for using a quart of oil back in the 50's with those engines. You have to remember though that the oil was changed every 1000 miles in those days too.

You said the "O" word in post #3 and that alone means you will never feel right changing engines. I'm a hard core hot rodder and change everything I can change but I don't advocate telling a guy who really wants his truck "original" to start changing things. The little 216 has done ok for the past 60 years of it's life and it can do a lot more after a good complete rebuild as long as you don't ask more of it than it is willing to give. It will never be a road burner that you can put on the freeway and run 700 mile days but It can be really happy with the secondary roads with 55 mph speed limits as long as you take care of it properly.

Hook up a vacuum gauge to see what it says about the valve guides and what not. Then run a compression test and maybe a leak down test to see what the condition is. Then sit down and figure out what the best plan is.