Lovely cylinder crud DFZ

[flock]

Well I need some excuse to put my other engine and gearbox in this car. Engine right now has about 290k and definitely burns oil.

Upon putting an inspection camera down the guts I can see what looks like metal shavings inside every cylinder except number 4.

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Spark plugs from 4 to 1 below:

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Sorry for the quality. Just wondering what you guys think, it has been struggling to start lately. Should I condemn this and focus on the other engine sooner rather than later?


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[JohnW]

Have you measured the compressions?

Looks like carbon pieces falling off the combustion chamber after the engine was switched off.

Oil is cheap unless it is using ridiculous amounts but a car does need to start easily and reliably......

[dee see]

Hang the expense put some new spark plugs in for a start they look older than me.

[schlitzaugen]

Isn't it strange though that cylinder 4 doesn't show the symptoms?I would be inclined to go with John and do a compression test and see what's goin' on. Or take the car on a long uphill in a tall gear and when the engine is about to die downshift and watch the cloud of smoke following you. That's oil coming past the valve seals. Doing valve seals is possible without the head off, but it ain't for the faint hearted. If the head comes off, you might find other problems. Which, if you have a spare engine is not a big deal. How good is the spare engine? Can you plonk that in and rebuild this one? Or is it an unknown? If so, I would rebuild that one first and replace current engine when it's done. Then again, when you open the spare engine you might find bad problems (say corrosion in the liner seats). Difficult one but you might have more info than you gave out.Personally, if the car is not a main transport device I would try water injection to clean the cylinders of crud (assuming John is right and it is carbon buildup - you can have a closer look to check). Or maybe try one of those wonder snake oils that clean your combustion chamber and your house, shine your shoes, help you lose 50kg and make your wife 20 years younger and see what happens, then try to change the valve seals in situ (just for the heck of it) and maybe win the lottery as well. What's there to lose?Failing all of that, I would plonk in the spare (let's assume unknown) engine and see how that goes, with the intention of rebuilding the original. If the spare goes well, you're a winner. If not, you were going to rebuild your original engine anyway.I went through the same exercise some time back with the difference that my original engine was cracked all the way around so I knew very well where that one was going. I plonked in an unknown engine bought sight unseen shipped across the country and that worked well for about 20k km until the oil pressure dropped, but meanwhile I had bought another two engines, one of which turned out to have the best block I have seen with no corrosion at all whatsoever. That one was rebuilt to stock spec with all new OEM everything and 20k km later is still as new.

[flock]

The plugs were a right mess, and they only have maybe 5k on them. The rust is from sitting on my garage floor for 2 years. After cleaning and chucking them straight in the thing fired straight up with barely a revolution. I can handle the expense of spark plugs and oil topups until I get this other engine sorted as its only my weekender. Glad to know the crap in the chamber is just carbon, I did put a magnet down there and didn't pull anything back up.

Can confirm schlitz: blows big clouds when loaded up on a hill. I dont have a compression tester anymore, but my other engine had about 185PSI which is textbook.

[schlitzaugen]

Yeap, seals gone.Have a look on the interwebs to see what's involved in changing the seals in situ and take it from there. From my own experience of rebuilding engines like this one, I would avoid opening one up if I had a choice.How's the oil pressure?

[schlitzaugen]

WTF?!?! We still can't edit posts and shit?Wanted to mention, if smoke is black , it is unburnt fuel. if it's blue it's oil past the guides (or rings).

[flock]

WTF?!?! We still can't edit posts and shit?Wanted to mention, if smoke is black , it is unburnt fuel. if it's blue it's oil past the guides (or rings).

Try uploading a photo from any phone with more than a 2MP camera...

Definitely blue, Matthew always gets a show when I exit his driveway. The other engine was blowing white smoke although I never had a chance to drive it long enough for it to subside, as this one blew white smoke @ cold for the first few drives and was fine after. I will be throwing Jetronic in the bin and going Si Head/DFZ combo so it would make sense to work on the engine with the healthiest bottom end. Please convince me to keep the DFZ head!

[schlitzaugen]

The white smoke is just water condensed in the exhaust system and vaporised on startup when the exhaust is warms up. Drive it long enough and it goe away. Happens when you take short drives.