Oil that produces the least amount of exhaust smoke?

[Threeofnine]

I have a 1984 Ford LTD former police car with the 5.0. There is a little puff of oil smoke upon acceleration and occasionally upon start up. I had a leak down and compression test done and discovered that the rings are worn and there is some blowby. I will be rebuilding this engine shortly. In the meantime, which brand of oil generally produces the least amount of smoke? From my understanding certain additives can increase smoke. I am currently using valvoline Maxlife 10w40.

 

[Chris142]

20w 50

 

[OVERKILL]

Might as well see if the oil burning can be reduced with VRP, if the issue is indeed the rings. Does that car have TBI or the 4-barrel?

 

[FreedomOne]

Neat.

 

[Threeofnine]

Does that car have TBI

Its TBI

 

[Threeofnine]

Might as well see if the oil burning can be reduced with VRP

What is VRP, is it racing oil? I googled it and racing oil came up.

 

[ripcord]

VRP is Valvoline Restore and Protect. It has superior by cleaning properties. It may help if your oil control rings are carboned up, but if the engine has a lot of wear, it may not do much if anything. It also takes several oil changes to work.

 

[Threeofnine]

VRP is Valvoline Restore and Protect. It has superior by cleaning properties. It may help if your oil control rings are carboned up, but if the engine has a lot of wear, it may not do much if anything. It also takes several oil changes to work.

Thanks, I’ll look into it. I’m pretty sure the engine is just worn out, this car was a highway patrol cruiser in the 80s so it was probably beat on. Here are the leakdown results. Ironically, the car runs great and only seems to smoke when you accelerate from a stop. It blows out a puff, but there’s no smoke during cruising, wide open throttle, downshifting etc

 

[OVERKILL]

Thanks, I’ll look into it. I’m pretty sure the engine is just worn out, this car was a highway patrol cruiser in the 80s so it was probably beat on. Here are the leakdown results. Ironically, the car runs great and only seems to smoke when you accelerate from a stop. It blows out a puff, but there’s no smoke during cruising, wide open throttle, downshifting etc

View attachment 273467

That COULD be stuck rings, the 302's aren't known for bore wear, though my experience is almost exclusively with the later EFI ones. The bores are typically mint upon teardown, but I've seen ones with completely stuck rings from crappy old oil (GTX for example), and that was more than just the oil control rings, I'm talking the whole stack, varnished solid in the lands.

 

[MolaKule]

@Threeofnine It could also be worn valve stem seals.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Motor Honey

 

[Threeofnine]

@Threeofnine It could also be worn valve stem seals.

That was actually my first thought. However, my mechanic said they determine that most of the loss was via the rings.

 

[Hohn]

That was actually my first thought. However, my mechanic said they determine that most of the loss was via the rings.

Yeah, stem seals will pull oil into the intake (or dribble into exhaust port) but won’t show up on compression test like rings will.

I’d be inclined toward swapping in some VRP and see if it makes a dent in it in the first 5k miles or so. But I suspect a car like this gets not a ton of miles, and you might be waiting a LONG time for VRP to do its thing.

I’m guessing you want something closer to instant gratification. If so, I think I’d try several consecutive LiquiMoly flushes and using Maxlife 20w50 I think would be fairly cost effective. Leave the last change of ML 20w50 in place and see how it goes for a couple thousands of miles.

If that doesn’t do much, there’s no point in spending the $$ on premium oils and the time to test them when the engine just needs a rebuild.

 

[Threeofnine]

I’d be inclined toward swapping in some VRP and see if it makes a dent in it in the first 5k miles or so. But I suspect a car like this gets not a ton of miles, and you might be waiting a LONG time for VRP to do its thing.

I actually am going to try VRP next week. I ordered some. I actually do drive this car quite a bit. I probably put over 500 miles on it this weekend alone.

 

[Lawnman23]

You mentioned you will be rebuilding the engine shortly, realistically how soon is that?

If in the very near future, just keep on with the MaxLife.

If a ways out yet, try the Valvoline Restore and Protect out to start working on the rings. 5w-30 flavor is the heaviest offered so far, available at Wally World.

 

[JavierH19]

Valve seals are probably bad and something thicker could help with that and the wear. Maybe try 20w-50 but I wouldn't get my hopes up. She really needs a rebuild.

Walmart sells Maxlife in 20w-50 but not in store only online.but shipping is free with a $35 minimum order and it's quick. They have super tech 20w-50 in store as well

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Valvoline-High-Mileage-20W50-5Qt/10587159449

 

[OVERKILL]

I actually am going to try VRP next week. I ordered some. I actually do drive this car quite a bit. I probably put over 500 miles on it this weekend alone.

Good plan. The 302's are tough little engines (though the HO's are tougher than the LoPo's). The short stroke and large bore really do work to minimize bore wear, I've torn down several high mileage HO's with the crosshatching still visible in the bores.

 

[Threeofnine]

You mentioned you will be rebuilding the engine shortly, realistically how soon is that?

If I can get it to stop smoking I probably won’t rebuild it. I’m quite satisfied with the power it produces, it’s definitely no slouch

 

[Threeofnine]

Good plan. The 302's are tough little engines (though the HO's are tougher than the LoPo's). The short stroke and large bore really do work to minimize bore wear, I've torn down several high mileage HO's with the crosshatching still visible in the bores.

I’m not sure the true mileage of the engine as the car only has a 5 figure odometer but I do know it sit for years and years, being rarely driven, in a collectors garage before I obtained it. There is visible sludge that can be seen through the oil fill hole. I’m hoping the VRP will help.

 

[Mainia]

Might as well see if the oil burning can be reduced with VRP, if the issue is indeed the rings. Does that car have TBI or the 4-barrel?

I’m not sure the true mileage of the engine as the car only has a 5 figure odometer but I do know it sit for years and years, being rarely driven, in a collectors garage before I obtained it. There is visible sludge that can be seen through the oil fill hole. I’m hoping the VRP will help.

So, since you will need to put at least 12,000 miles on it 3,000 x4 OCI. Can we expect you to be giving tickets out regularly in your area? Maybe if you can’t put those kind of miles on it as it is a squad car, running the Valvoline (Cummins) Restore oil that has faster cleaning and just switch out filters every 800 miles at first and buy a $29 filter cutter on Amazon to verify if it needs more or less mileage filter changes? And start out with a couple of piston soaks to beat it down preemptively.