fresh rebuilt ca18det blowing dip stick(pic)

[unrealskill239]

hello all i know there are a few topics on this but i think mine is a little diffrent. my story:

motor was fully rebuilt about 7month ago but only driven about 500miles since then. when i get into high rpm's i get a big puff of smoke and pop the hood and see the dipstick is blown off and oil every where. i am running a catch can i have it hooked up from the exahust side vavle cover to the catch can and a breather. i know it cant be my rings there brand new. whats my next step, where exactly is the pcv located?

ps motor was rebuilt to stock specs only mod is t25g and manual boost controler @10psi pic:

[D_Stirls]

What was your run-in procedure?

[TheMAN]

PCV valve is installed on the intake manifold, next to the firewall... follow the hose from the valve cover and it's obvious
it's the same part as the KA

you should not be getting into boost at 500 miles, the engine isn't even considered broken in!

[unrealskill239]

i have been vary light on the motor ive only gone high in the revs a few times in the bast month i just changed the breakin oil. i was vary easy on the motor. and still am

[TheMAN]

getting into boost is NOT being "easy" on the motor
no matter what you do, going into high rpms is getting into boost, which is something your motor shouldn't be in right now
your dip stick is blowing out because all of your boost is going past the piston rings and into the crank case, which then has to go somewhere... which is out through the dipstick tube in this case

granny shift this for the next 2500 miles before you do this... and I hope you're still using dino oil and not synthetic... your rings will NEVER seat otherwise
it won't hurt to check/change the PCV valve of course

[unrealskill239]

damn i was under the assumption that 500 to 600 miles would be plenty of time for breakin. fyi i just put on the manual boost controller about month ago never going over 10psi i guess i put it back to stock.

so what your telling me is that why my dipstick is blowing off because my rings have not seated yet? i got a brand new oil pump and water pump as well. and i also honed the cylinders. still factory pistons. im hoping its just the pcv.

[TheMAN]

that's right, 500 miles is nowhere near broken in yet!
if you have mobil1 or any other synthetic in there, drain it out NOW!

[D_Stirls]

Sorry but the bedding in of the rings happens in the first 20 minutes, and you need to load the engine in this period otherwise the ring won't bed in. Here in Australia a lot of performance engine are run in on the dyno, they are loaded up with varying load and rpm for the first 20 or until they stop breathing and then they are tuned for full power.

The 1000km run in period I'd for new cars where you are running in the whole drive train not just the engine. With a rebuilt engine you are only bedding in the rings.

[1200ute]

Did you use new hoses when you did the rebuild? If not, it is worth checking that none of them are blocked, especially the third one which runs from above the oil filter area to the back of the inlet side cam cover.

It looks like your catch can is venting to atmosphere, is this correct? The exhaust side is meant to be left to vent. If it is venting, does the catch tank fill with oil or over flow?

It is worth checking the PVC value which as said before is on the inlet manifold and the inlet side hose connects to it. If you have a copy of the manual it is on page MA - 19 (Maintenance section). It is basically - remove inlet side ventilation hose at the PVC, with the engine idling, if the valve is working properly, a hissing noise will be heard as air passes pass through it and a strong vacuum should be felt immediately when a finger is placed over the valve inlet. (almost work for word from the manual).

[unrealskill239]

Did you use new hoses when you did the rebuild? If not, it is worth checking that none of them are blocked, especially the third one which runs from above the oil filter area to the back of the inlet side cam cover.

It looks like your catch can is venting to atmosphere, is this correct? The exhaust side is meant to be left to vent. If it is venting, does the catch tank fill with oil or over flow?

It is worth checking the PVC value which as said before is on the inlet manifold and the inlet side hose connects to it. If you have a copy of the manual it is on page MA - 19 (Maintenance section). It is basically - remove inlet side ventilation hose at the PVC, with the engine idling, if the valve is working properly, a hissing noise will be heard as air passes pass through it and a strong vacuum should be felt immediately when a finger is placed over the valve inlet. (almost work for word from the manual).

i replaced the hoses that where hard and roting. i was getting oil in my inter cooler piping befor the rebuild so i got the catch can. it was even spitting out of the bov! once i installed the catch can that all stoped. and i dont even get a drop of oil in the catch can ever since i got the damn thing not a drop....

i found the pcv today i will test it tomrrow. thanks for the info so far.

[1200ute]

So is the catch can able to vent off then air that goes into it? It looks like it has two fittings on the top of it and only one hose connected. Is the other fitting blocked off?

[boost_boy]

I don't know who built your motor, but if your engine is spitting-up oil and dipsticks, you more than likely got a bad build. Usually when the rings are installed improperly, your engine will create a lot windage in the sump which means your rings have not seated properly, have not broken in as of yet or may never properly seat. I've built over 50 of these motors and my break-in process is crank it, drive it, boost it, check it, boost it, drive it, downshift (Engine brake)the crap out of it, drain it after 50 miles and 15psi or whatever you boost at with no issues (but that's just me). Seriously though, check your compression and let us know where it stands currently.

[unrealskill239]

just checked the pcv valve and its working fine. and the catch can is venting througe one of the pipes on the catch can. mybe its know i hac the can set up? me and my friend did the rebuild, but i dont remaber if we used ca18de piston rings or ca18det rings. but im telling you the car drive awsome until you go high into the revs and it pulls hard but i just get that dipstick proplem high in the rpms

[boost_boy]

It doesn't matter if it was the DE or DET pistons as they both are the same. The question is if they were installed correctly which means they were installed right side up and the proper spacing techniques were used?

[unrealskill239]

yes they where installed the right way i know that for sure they where checked by a 30 year vet with engine building.

i just tested my car again same thing around 6k rpm smoke every where oil all over the engine bay. im at a loss...

[TheMAN]

dude, put more miles on that engine! it'll take much more than 500 miles for the rings to fully seat!

[boost_boy]

It's okay to be optimistic and by all means, I say put some more miles on this engine. But I'm also a realist in the fact that even though it's a turbo motor, it's still a mechanical engine and freshly built mechanical engines should not be spitting-up oil regardless of mileage. And though I may not be a 30 year vet, this engine is my specialty and have been as such for nearly 15 years and this experience has proven to me that once the CA starts spitting oil, it doesn't stop. Something is wrong with the rings and it's not because they are not seated, but I can afford to be wrong, so let's hope that I am.

[boost_boy]

Lastly and again "Check your compression" and share the readings with us.

[unrealskill239]

yes i am going to grab a compression tester tomorrow if i can

and i hope your worng man, but i trust your words over most since you have been building ca's for so long

[float_6969]

I know you don't want to hear it, but it sounds like improperly installed/gapped rings. Test the compression and let us know how it comes out.

Also, all of you saying you need an easy break in are full of it, IMHO. My break in procedure consists of warming the motor up to NOT, then full throttle in 4th to 3K rpm, then engine break back down to 2K, full throttle to 4K, engine break to 2K, etc until I reach redline. After that, I drain the oil, replace the filter, and the motor is broken in.

My motor was reading about 190psi across the board when I took it apart with 40K+miles on it. (failed oil filter ruined the head, main, and rod bearings) I have every intention of doing the exact same thing to this build once it's done.

The engine breaking in gear is important! It helps pull any metal off the cylinder walls to keep galling and over-wearing down.

[unrealskill239]

still have to get a damn compression tester but i had a old one made for v8's and i took off two coil packs and looked down into the spark plug hole and i see oil where the spark plugs are not alot but still it must of came from the spark plug holes. and the compression tester i had would not fit lol. also i think i used synthetic oil for the 1st start up! i changed it like a month after that. but only drove the car like 3 times in that month for like 5mins a peace. mybe that was the killing factor? plus cheap rings?

[TheMAN]

you just answered your own question... you used synthetic oil, which prevents any break in from happening (and is supposedly common knowledge)!
so it's likely you assembled your engine right, but your engine is just not broken in at all

as I said already... get rid of that synthetic oil and put the cheap crap in there then drive it for 3000 miles... if I were you, I'd change it twice within a few minutes just to flush out whatever synthetic is left in it.... even just a little bit of synthetic mixed in with dino oil can prevent piston rings from seating... I've seen this before with semi-synthetic oils being used!

[D_Stirls]

It's too late now, you need course hone marks to bed the rings in and they will now be gone, you need to re-hone the bores as those ring will never bed in now.

[unrealskill239]

it was honed the 1st time around, i just changed my oil last week and it looked like black and the magnetic oil plug had metal sluge on it.

[TheMAN]

we know that and he's telling you that you need to hone the cylinders again because the coarse cross hatches will be smoothed down and won't allow the rings to seat properly
you *could* try just driving with dino oil for the next 3000 miles to see if there's a chance of the rings seating... it won't hurt anything but your own time

either way, you made a serious mistake using synthetic oil with a new engine and you should've known this

[boost_boy]

Actually, the engine builder should've instructed you on what to do, what not to do, what type of oil is recommended and what type of oil was a no-no. I believe as stated you have missed the proper break-in window and what you now have is a set of rings that never seated and probably never will. It might be wise to tear-down the engine and re-hone the cylinders. At that time, re-ring the pistons with new rings and properly space the rings as well because you don't want the ring gaps to line-up (catastrophic). you may be able to save your bearings, but I highly doubt it and I wouldn't personally save them unless they were pristine condition.

[TheMAN]

"the engine builder" is him and his friend

[boost_boy]

"the engine builder" is him and his friend

You are asking for a keyboard fight with that comment

[unrealskill239]

yes we did the build at school auto tech school, the main bearings should be fine there all new and the crank was microploished.

[TheMAN]

so I guess the fault lies in your instructors failing to tell you about engine break in (needing to use dino juice)