Oil in Cylinder #7?! - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

Russell · 10-02-2003, 07:27 PM

Ok, as many of you know, my truck hasn't been running at all the past little while, anyways, I have a noisy lifter on the driver's side, and I am thinking that it is #7, so I pulled the plugs to do a compression test to make sure that my valve in there is still closing, All the plugs I pulled were the usual carbon covered, but this one had liquid all over it, when I wiped some on my finger, and it smelt and looked like engine oil... The truck has always had some weird smell to it when I first started it, and the exhaust has always been a bluish color, do you guys think that maybe a seal in there is damaged causing the oil to seep in, as well as causing the lifter to be noisy? I didn't want to stick my compression tester on there becuase I don't want to get it full of oil, but when I tested it beforehand it was at 120 PSI like all the rest of the cylinders...

**MJN** · 10-02-2003, 07:47 PM

Could be a valve stem seal, or both went. I have the #6 cylinder in my Blazer that misses until it gets warm enough. I'm pretty sure it's the valve stem seal cause none of the other cylinders are acting up except that one, it's not a bad job to fix just a bummer to do it. Hope thats all it is.

*Zilverado* · 10-02-2003, 07:50 PM

I'm not sure about the noisy lifter (I'm sure someone else will comment), but the oily spark plug and smoke on start-up sounds like leaky valve seals to me. IMHO

I replaced my intake and exhaust valve seals last summer with new Felpro seals. Not too difficult - except for temporarily loosing a rocker nut down through one of the holes in the head

- COVER ALL HOLES!!!. Best thing of all - no more "big puff" when she first starts up.

Russell · 10-02-2003, 07:51 PM

Same symptoms here, doesn't fire till it is nice and warm...

Does anyone have a haynes manual that they could pull all the bolt torque specifications out of for me?

I am gonna take everything off and fix that valve seal issue, then replace all the gaskets up top, the thing leaks oil too, and hopefully new valve cover gaskets will help me out a bit, last time I took off a valve cover, it was sealed with some gasket gunk - a sort of plastic stuff that forms a gasket when you squish it between two peices of metal...

**old Rusty C10** · 10-03-2003, 07:03 PM

russell nexttime youre in chat with me let me know and ill pull out the books and give ya all the specs ya want

Russell · 10-03-2003, 08:14 PM

sweet deal, I will be needing and tips they have for the intake gasket, and also bolt torques...

crackajacka · 10-04-2003, 02:25 PM

increase the gap a little see if that burns the oil off

86SILVERADO · 10-04-2003, 11:49 PM

My guess is that the valve cover gasket is leaking. The back side of the heads is where the oil runs to and the leaks back there can be bad enough that the oil can run down into the spark plug recess and foul the plugs from the outside especially if you do not tighten them enough.

Russell · 10-05-2003, 02:29 AM

86 - I know for a fact that the gasket on the valve cover is bad, I took it off a while ago just to look at the lifter and saw that my gasket is made out of some sort of red goop, I bought new gaskets for both of them, and some paint to make them shine

Hopefully I will be able to find myself some time to rip into the truck sometime tommorow... If anyone can post some bolt torque specifications and some tips on how to get the intake gaskets in and out, as well as how to get valve seals out to replace one I would totally appreciate it

The distributer, carburator, intake, and valve covers are coming off, then I am digging into Cylinder #7 to fix that noisy lifter, so bolt specifications and tips for all would be awesome =)

apstguy · 10-05-2003, 04:31 AM

How do you replace the vavle seals? Mine need to be replaced.

Russell · 10-05-2003, 12:58 PM

Tyler, when I figure it out this afternoon, I'll give you a PM with a full pictoral tutorial of mine...

76HighSierra · 10-05-2003, 01:37 PM

Yeah, I had the same symptoms with my 454. Bluish exhaust at start-up, it would kill a new spark plug in under 1 week(a lot of low speed driving). Compression came up fine (135-140 on all), so I went through the horrible job of valve seals on an A/C equipped big block. I gotta say, it was well worth it. Raised my gas mileage ever so slightly, burns no more oil and kills no more plugs. The most noticable symptoms of bad seals are blue smoke upon start-up and after letting up on the throttle. Good luck.

apstguy · 10-05-2003, 02:20 PM

I'll be waiting! Thanks!

Russell · 10-05-2003, 08:32 PM

Tyler, I didn't get the chance to tear into the truck today, tommorow night I'll finally be free from all the work that always seems to come up right when I get new parts for the truck, lol

86SILVERADO · 10-07-2003, 10:43 PM

If you have never done it before it will take you sometime. You need to remove the valve springs from each valve WITHOUT the valve dissapearing into the engine. You can do this any number of ways. you can feed rope into the spark plug hole until the cylinder is filled and prevents the valve from faling in. You can bring the engine to top dead center and make darn sure it stays there, you can use compressed air and a fitting that screws into the spark plug hole or a rubber band around the valve stem before you slide the valve stem seal on. One thing you must do is use the cellophane sleeve that should come in the seal kit to slide over the keeper grooves in the valve stem and slide the seal over this. If you do not do this the burrs on the keeper grooves will ream out the seal as you install it and your new seals will work just as good as your old ones. My advice would be to start early this columbus day weekend and plan on spending it all on the job. You need a screw down type valve spring compressor, 16 valve stem seals clevite are the best I think, new valve cover gaskets, the tool for screwing into the spark plug hole if using compressed air ( I made mine out of a junk compression gage so I don't know what they call the fitting/adapter) you can also buy an installation tool for the valve seals but you can also just sock them down with a 1/2 in deep socket. your best bet is to do one at a time and re-adjust the valves at the same time per the directions on Swervin Ervins website except in between adjusting each valve you will be replacing each seal. Make sure you puff blue smoke on cold startup before doing this though to make sure it is worth the job because it is a job. Good luck,

Norris

Norris

Russell · 10-08-2003, 12:27 AM

Thanks for the information Norris!

I've gotten down to the lifters to fix that annoying ticking, I haven't discovered which one it is yet, thats tommorrow's job...

I will be renting a compression tool, an air compressor fitting and buying seals sometime soon, hopefully I can get all that stuff done sometime soon. I'll be doing some extensive photo documentation for apstguy, so I can setup a tutorial on my site for him. Right now I haven't been touching the valves, so I haven't been taking tutorial style pictures, just pictures so I can find out where everything goes...

This truck puffs massive blue smoke, and misfires becuase of a stuck valve, I gotta fix it before I can drive it, so I have some motivation

TOMMAY · 10-08-2003, 07:38 PM

Russell,you've probably already checked this,but I was wondering if you've got a bad plug wire on that one cylinder.

Good Luck

Tom

Russell · 10-08-2003, 08:07 PM

I changed the plug wires out earlier, I went over all that stuff earlier... I gotta find out what to do with my lifters, then I gotta get into the valve stuff...

Destructo · 10-08-2003, 08:39 PM

You should try doing all this on a 87 camaro with a 350 in it and headers on top of that. I have a compression tool I just took the shrader valve out of and hooked up air to it, made things pretty easy. Except on a few cylinder it wasn't possible to get it on there and was a pain to feed the rope in. But we got it done over about 2 days hehe, we had to change the valve springs for his new cam, so we did the seals anyway whether they were bad or not since the springs were coming off anywayz. I recommend the screw down compressor as we used a cheap 10 dollar bar from advance auto that worked like ****. A good compressor is only about 50 bucks from summit. I think i'm gonna get one of those for the next job.

10-02-2003, 07:27 PM	#1
Russell Professional Grade Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort McMurray, Alberta Posts: 7,915	Oil in Cylinder #7?! Ok, as many of you know, my truck hasn't been running at all the past little while, anyways, I have a noisy lifter on the driver's side, and I am thinking that it is #7, so I pulled the plugs to do a compression test to make sure that my valve in there is still closing, All the plugs I pulled were the usual carbon covered, but this one had liquid all over it, when I wiped some on my finger, and it smelt and looked like engine oil... The truck has always had some weird smell to it when I first started it, and the exhaust has always been a bluish color, do you guys think that maybe a seal in there is damaged causing the oil to seep in, as well as causing the lifter to be noisy? I didn't want to stick my compression tester on there becuase I don't want to get it full of oil, but when I tested it beforehand it was at 120 PSI like all the rest of the cylinders... __________________ 1995 Chevrolet 2 Door Tahoe (6.6L LBZ Duramax / ZF6 / NP241 with 1 ton solid axle swap)

10-02-2003, 07:47 PM	#2
MJN Registered User Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Maquoketa, Ia/ Orr, Mn Posts: 3,051	Could be a valve stem seal, or both went. I have the #6 cylinder in my Blazer that misses until it gets warm enough. I'm pretty sure it's the valve stem seal cause none of the other cylinders are acting up except that one, it's not a bad job to fix just a bummer to do it. Hope thats all it is. __________________ '51 South Bend Model "9A" '56 Chevy 3600 NAPCO '74 Chevy Cheyenne Super K20-restored on 37's '72 GMC Sierra Custom K2500- in progress '08 GMC Envoy Denali '12 GMC Sierra 2500HD Denali '17 GMC Yukon XL VCCA member #58596 http://www.nohrco.com

10-02-2003, 07:51 PM	#4
Russell Professional Grade Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort McMurray, Alberta Posts: 7,915	Same symptoms here, doesn't fire till it is nice and warm... Does anyone have a haynes manual that they could pull all the bolt torque specifications out of for me? I am gonna take everything off and fix that valve seal issue, then replace all the gaskets up top, the thing leaks oil too, and hopefully new valve cover gaskets will help me out a bit, last time I took off a valve cover, it was sealed with some gasket gunk - a sort of plastic stuff that forms a gasket when you squish it between two peices of metal... __________________ 1995 Chevrolet 2 Door Tahoe (6.6L LBZ Duramax / ZF6 / NP241 with 1 ton solid axle swap) Last edited by Russell; 10-02-2003 at 08:53 PM.

10-03-2003, 07:03 PM	#5
old Rusty C10 Robert Olson Transport Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: recent transplant to NC USA Posts: 20,310	russell nexttime youre in chat with me let me know and ill pull out the books and give ya all the specs ya want __________________ Bob 1951 International running on a squarebody chassis "If a man's worth is judged by the people he associates himself with, then i am the richest man in the world knowing some of the fine people of this board" http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...t.php?f=25&a=9 (you can review the site rules here!) PM Me for your vehicle/parts hauling needs in the North East US or see my Facebook page Robert Olson Transport Live each day to the fullest.. you never know when fate is going to pull the rug out from under you... I hate cancer!!

10-04-2003, 11:49 PM	#8
86SILVERADO Registered User Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Hills of Western Mass Posts: 626	My guess is that the valve cover gasket is leaking. The back side of the heads is where the oil runs to and the leaks back there can be bad enough that the oil can run down into the spark plug recess and foul the plugs from the outside especially if you do not tighten them enough. __________________ 86 Silverado C10 back to 305 power! 67 C30 Dually Dump, with 350 transplant, Rockhauler 05 Duramax 3500 "If at first you don't succeed, try a bigger hammer" Member of the 1-Ton club!

10-02-2003, 07:50 PM	#3
Zilverado Account Suspended Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Posts: 798	I'm not sure about the noisy lifter (I'm sure someone else will comment), but the oily spark plug and smoke on start-up sounds like leaky valve seals to me. IMHO I replaced my intake and exhaust valve seals last summer with new Felpro seals. Not too difficult - except for temporarily loosing a rocker nut down through one of the holes in the head - COVER ALL HOLES!!!. Best thing of all - no more "big puff" when she first starts up.

10-03-2003, 08:14 PM	#6
Russell Professional Grade Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort McMurray, Alberta Posts: 7,915	sweet deal, I will be needing and tips they have for the intake gasket, and also bolt torques... __________________ 1995 Chevrolet 2 Door Tahoe (6.6L LBZ Duramax / ZF6 / NP241 with 1 ton solid axle swap)

10-04-2003, 02:25 PM	#7
crackajacka Stylin Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Tuttle, OK Posts: 620	increase the gap a little see if that burns the oil off __________________ Ive been traveling for some time, with my fishin pole and my bottle of shyne. Most Girls like finished products and just dont understand what a good addiction does for you http://www.paulwall.us/

10-05-2003, 02:29 AM	#9
Russell Professional Grade Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort McMurray, Alberta Posts: 7,915	86 - I know for a fact that the gasket on the valve cover is bad, I took it off a while ago just to look at the lifter and saw that my gasket is made out of some sort of red goop, I bought new gaskets for both of them, and some paint to make them shine Hopefully I will be able to find myself some time to rip into the truck sometime tommorow... If anyone can post some bolt torque specifications and some tips on how to get the intake gaskets in and out, as well as how to get valve seals out to replace one I would totally appreciate it The distributer, carburator, intake, and valve covers are coming off, then I am digging into Cylinder #7 to fix that noisy lifter, so bolt specifications and tips for all would be awesome =) __________________ 1995 Chevrolet 2 Door Tahoe (6.6L LBZ Duramax / ZF6 / NP241 with 1 ton solid axle swap)

10-05-2003, 04:31 AM	#10
apstguy LED King Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,087	How do you replace the vavle seals? Mine need to be replaced. __________________ Tyler 1985 C10 305 w/ Bowtie OD TH700R4 3.42 LSD 202,000 miles 2006 Ford Focus ZX3 5-speed Stick 2016 Chevy Spark EV Gone: 2002.5 VW GTI 24v VR6 Gone: 2008 VW R32

10-05-2003, 12:58 PM	#11
Russell Professional Grade Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort McMurray, Alberta Posts: 7,915	Tyler, when I figure it out this afternoon, I'll give you a PM with a full pictoral tutorial of mine... __________________ 1995 Chevrolet 2 Door Tahoe (6.6L LBZ Duramax / ZF6 / NP241 with 1 ton solid axle swap)

10-05-2003, 01:37 PM	#12
76HighSierra DAMN, I love Big Blocks! Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: New Mexico, USA Posts: 619	Yeah, I had the same symptoms with my 454. Bluish exhaust at start-up, it would kill a new spark plug in under 1 week(a lot of low speed driving). Compression came up fine (135-140 on all), so I went through the horrible job of valve seals on an A/C equipped big block. I gotta say, it was well worth it. Raised my gas mileage ever so slightly, burns no more oil and kills no more plugs. The most noticable symptoms of bad seals are blue smoke upon start-up and after letting up on the throttle. Good luck. __________________ Marc Bona Hobbs, New Mexico 1976 1/2 ton GMC High Sierra. 454 c.i.d./ TH400. *Soon to get a mild warming over.* 3.40 rear.

10-05-2003, 02:20 PM	#13
apstguy LED King Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,087	I'll be waiting! Thanks! __________________ Tyler 1985 C10 305 w/ Bowtie OD TH700R4 3.42 LSD 202,000 miles 2006 Ford Focus ZX3 5-speed Stick 2016 Chevy Spark EV Gone: 2002.5 VW GTI 24v VR6 Gone: 2008 VW R32

10-05-2003, 08:32 PM	#14
Russell Professional Grade Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort McMurray, Alberta Posts: 7,915	Tyler, I didn't get the chance to tear into the truck today, tommorow night I'll finally be free from all the work that always seems to come up right when I get new parts for the truck, lol __________________ 1995 Chevrolet 2 Door Tahoe (6.6L LBZ Duramax / ZF6 / NP241 with 1 ton solid axle swap)

10-07-2003, 10:43 PM	#15
86SILVERADO Registered User Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Hills of Western Mass Posts: 626	If you have never done it before it will take you sometime. You need to remove the valve springs from each valve WITHOUT the valve dissapearing into the engine. You can do this any number of ways. you can feed rope into the spark plug hole until the cylinder is filled and prevents the valve from faling in. You can bring the engine to top dead center and make darn sure it stays there, you can use compressed air and a fitting that screws into the spark plug hole or a rubber band around the valve stem before you slide the valve stem seal on. One thing you must do is use the cellophane sleeve that should come in the seal kit to slide over the keeper grooves in the valve stem and slide the seal over this. If you do not do this the burrs on the keeper grooves will ream out the seal as you install it and your new seals will work just as good as your old ones. My advice would be to start early this columbus day weekend and plan on spending it all on the job. You need a screw down type valve spring compressor, 16 valve stem seals clevite are the best I think, new valve cover gaskets, the tool for screwing into the spark plug hole if using compressed air ( I made mine out of a junk compression gage so I don't know what they call the fitting/adapter) you can also buy an installation tool for the valve seals but you can also just sock them down with a 1/2 in deep socket. your best bet is to do one at a time and re-adjust the valves at the same time per the directions on Swervin Ervins website except in between adjusting each valve you will be replacing each seal. Make sure you puff blue smoke on cold startup before doing this though to make sure it is worth the job because it is a job. Good luck, Norris Norris __________________ 86 Silverado C10 back to 305 power! 67 C30 Dually Dump, with 350 transplant, Rockhauler 05 Duramax 3500 "If at first you don't succeed, try a bigger hammer" Member of the 1-Ton club!



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10-08-2003, 12:27 AM	#16
Russell Professional Grade Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort McMurray, Alberta Posts: 7,915	Thanks for the information Norris! I've gotten down to the lifters to fix that annoying ticking, I haven't discovered which one it is yet, thats tommorrow's job... I will be renting a compression tool, an air compressor fitting and buying seals sometime soon, hopefully I can get all that stuff done sometime soon. I'll be doing some extensive photo documentation for apstguy, so I can setup a tutorial on my site for him. Right now I haven't been touching the valves, so I haven't been taking tutorial style pictures, just pictures so I can find out where everything goes... This truck puffs massive blue smoke, and misfires becuase of a stuck valve, I gotta fix it before I can drive it, so I have some motivation __________________ 1995 Chevrolet 2 Door Tahoe (6.6L LBZ Duramax / ZF6 / NP241 with 1 ton solid axle swap)

10-08-2003, 07:38 PM	#17
TOMMAY Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Mobile,Al Posts: 163	Russell,you've probably already checked this,but I was wondering if you've got a bad plug wire on that one cylinder. Good Luck Tom __________________ 76 Silverado 74 Vette

10-08-2003, 08:07 PM	#18
Russell Professional Grade Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort McMurray, Alberta Posts: 7,915	I changed the plug wires out earlier, I went over all that stuff earlier... I gotta find out what to do with my lifters, then I gotta get into the valve stuff... __________________ 1995 Chevrolet 2 Door Tahoe (6.6L LBZ Duramax / ZF6 / NP241 with 1 ton solid axle swap)

10-08-2003, 08:39 PM	#19
Destructo Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Lewisville, NC Posts: 1,836	You should try doing all this on a 87 camaro with a 350 in it and headers on top of that. I have a compression tool I just took the shrader valve out of and hooked up air to it, made things pretty easy. Except on a few cylinder it wasn't possible to get it on there and was a pain to feed the rope in. But we got it done over about 2 days hehe, we had to change the valve springs for his new cam, so we did the seals anyway whether they were bad or not since the springs were coming off anywayz. I recommend the screw down compressor as we used a cheap 10 dollar bar from advance auto that worked like ****. A good compressor is only about 50 bucks from summit. I think i'm gonna get one of those for the next job.

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