Stuck ring?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Apr 29, 2012
Messages
205
Location
East Tennessee
Sorry, I haven't been on here for awhile. Last subject was experimenting with different
types of oils in an attempt to get the freewheel device to engage in my Trabant 601.
I ended up having to pull the engine and transmission and replace it. But it has been OK ever since.

The latest project: Putting my Yugo 1500 turbo back on the road. Back before I was
married, I had allot of time on my hand. Too much time you might say to hot rod a Yugo.

The car is a 1987 Yugo. I removed the 55hp 1100cc engine and installed a 75 hp 1500 Fiat engine.
It's like removing a Chevy 305 and going with a 350. Bigger displacement but bolts right in.
I then added a T25 turbo from a Saab 9000. I'm blowing through a Weber DFTA. Fuel pump is
a diesel pusher pump (20 PSI max). I'm using a Malpassi 1:1 fuel pressure regulator from a carbed
Maserati bi-turbo. The ignition is a GM HEI 5 pin control module which retards the timing 5
degrees under boost.

Here's some pics:

Untitled.jpg


Yugo3.jpg


Yugo5.jpg


2012-05-08_17-18-39_224.jpg


Yugo2-1.jpg


Yugo8.jpg


Yugo9.jpg


Carbcoolingfan.jpg


Carbcoolingfan3.jpg


Carbcoolingfan2.jpg


yugoswaybar-1.jpg


yugoswaybar4.jpg


100_1190.jpg


Due to family obligations, more pressing projects, lack of time, etc. The Yugo's
wheel bearing, tie rod, and inner CV joint replacement project have been put on
the back burner. I have not driven this car on the road in almost two years. It's
been sitting in the corner of my garage. But did start it briefly last summer.

I think I pressed the wheel bearings in wrong and that's why they
failed. But the car has so much torque steer it's hard to keep them tightened up.

I had to get Dad's tractor going so I had the battery from the tractor in my Yugo
hooked to a trickle charger since last fall. The engine fired right up.

The goal was to get the car out and let it idle for about 3o minutes before
transferring the battery back to the tractor. And parking it in my garage with
the nose end facing the opposite direction so I put it the front end on
jackstands and start pulling the hubs and axles off.

I also took it for a spin up the driveway kicking in the turbo. What a blast.

But here is my question. What worried me was even after 30 minutes of idling the
engine tends to smoke. Just a little bit. But nowhere near as bad as when it did
when the seals went out in the turbo.

I wedged a screwdriver between the throttle and carb to speed the engine up to
around 2000 rpms and expected to see more smoke but no more and somewhat less if
that is hard to believe.

So if an engine has sat for about a year is that expected?

The thing is I could not tell if the smoke was actually blue from burning oil.
Could have been black but the engine was idling and running as smooth as ever.
Could it be burning off carbon or oil that had leaked down into the cylinders
from sitting for so long?

Stuck ring? I've heard you can spray the cylinders full of PB Blaster to loosen
a stuck ring.

My Explorer with 120K miles will smoke for about 30 seconds if it sits for any
length of time but stops.

I know this sounds crazy coming from a guy with a 2 cycle Trabant that will lay
a trail of smoke for 1/4" mile until it warms up but a smoking Yugo is
embarrassing. These cars had a bad reputation for being a piece of [censored] to begin
with, I just don't want to give anyone more power for the course.

I'm hoping once I get the car back on the road and put some miles on the car,
everything will be OK.

Actually I don't mind adding a quart of oil every now and then. My 98 Chevy van
has 140,000 miles on it and oddly enough did not use any oil on the 400 mile
trip to the beach but burned almost 1/2 a quart in 300 miles from just driving in
stop and go traffic. Then once again did not use any oil on the 400 miles trip
home. That's weird.

If my Yugo engine does have a stuck ring are there any tricks to freeing it up?

I've heard pouring Marvel's Mystery oil or PB Blaster down the carburater and letting it sit for a few days.
But if the intake valves are closed on that particular cylinder, will it eventually leak past the valve seats and
into the combustion chamber?

I've heard of people mixing 50/50 automatic transmission fluid with motor oil, driving
100 miles then dumping it then repeat until the problem goes away. Because automatic transmission fluid
contains allot of detergents.

I've heard of putting some many ounces of Seafoam in the oil. I tried using Seafoam in the
fuel on my Trabant to see if it would "de-carbonize" the head and piston. I took the plugs
out and did not notice any difference.

Anybody got any other tricks?
 
A Yugo moving under its own power is amazing enough that a little smoke won't even be noticed.
grin2.gif
Couldn't resist being an idjit. If a little Fiat motor is a drop in wabbout the trans axle? Nice mods and FI install.
 
Last edited:
Don't put anything in the oil. Just get it back on the road and start driving it, the smoke will probably clear up.

Maybe a mouse built a nest in the tailpipe and the nest is burning?
 
You hot rod a Yugo and you're embarrassed of a little smoke???Haha

Heck, I'm embarrassed for you. Lol

It's all good.
 
Last edited:
This is the best thing Ive seen in quite awhile on here. Im grinning.

It might be valve stem seals? If they leak on the exhaust side, it might smoke at an idle and give a puff upon acceleration but then clear up.
 
If you do use penetrating oil to free a stuck ring, don't pour it down the carburetor. Remove all spark plugs and pour a measured amount into each cylinder. That way you know it has reached the rings of each cylinder. Let is sit overnight or a few weeks. Make sure to crank the engine without spark plugs for 30 seconds or so before you put the plugs back in. This will eject most of the oil that may have pooled up and prevent hydro-locking.
 
Seems to me a compression test is in order. That will not tell you about the oil control ring. But if the compression rings are stuck the oil control ring probably is also, but not vice versa.
 
Don't put PB down spark plug holes. Sea foam or MMO.

I would just drive it when you drive it.

There's a chance the catalytic converter started eating the smoke after it warmed up after a minute.

Great engine shots. But what's with the cowl? Looks like a blower motor blowing towards the intake. Electric supercharger?
laugh.gif
There is also an odd lack of use of space for such a small car.
 
Awesome job on the car! Nice to see something out of the ordinary rebuilt and improved with attention to detail!
 
You know why they put a rear window defroster on Yugo's?
To keep your hands warm while pushing them
I do admire the work done by you
 
Originally Posted By: andyd
A Yugo moving under its own power is amazing enough that a little smoke won't even be noticed.
grin2.gif
Couldn't resist being an idjit. If a little Fiat motor is a drop in wabbout the trans axle? Nice mods and FI install.


The engine bolts directly to the transmission as well. I did have to swap ring rings on the flywheel. The 1500 clutch is considerable larger diameter than the 1100/1300 clutch. 1500 Fiat engines came with 5 speeds. The 1100 Yugos came with 4 speeds so the starters are different.

I used the 1500 flywheel and had the 1100 ring gear pressed onto it. That allowed me to use a larger clutch but keep my 4 speed starter. I'm not sure if simply using a 5 speed starter would have worked. That was what a buddy told me to do.

There were some 1300 Yugos built with 5 speeds and Bosch Motronic fuel injection system but those are somewhat rare because those were introduced around 1990 about the same time the civil war broke out.

Oddly enough most people think Yugo went bankrupt. They were actually built up until 2009. But due to the civil war going on, parts were getting scarce, embargoes were placed on Serbia.

In 2009 Zastava stopped building copies of old Fiats and Fiat bought the plant and retooled it to build the new 500X crossover.

6404.jpg


http://www.fiatusa.com/en/500x/?sid=1037...nnel=paidsearch

So you could say this is the *new* Yugo...
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Don't put PB down spark plug holes. Sea foam or MMO.

I would just drive it when you drive it.

There's a chance the catalytic converter started eating the smoke after it warmed up after a minute.

Great engine shots. But what's with the cowl? Looks like a blower motor blowing towards the intake. Electric supercharger?
laugh.gif
There is also an odd lack of use of space for such a small car.


There's no converter or any emissions on the car. There was enough vacuum tubing on this car to wrap around it three times!

Here is the deal with the A/C blower motor. The box is the ventilation intake box. On the hood above it is a small scoop so there are not vents in the cowl panel. The blower fan I mounted on the side blows outside air at the carburetor when I shut the engine off. The reason I added it was to help the engine start in hot weather. It seems like this problem really got worse when the oil companies started selling E10. But I run non ethanol in my Trabant and have the same problem. It may just be reformulated gas which has a higher boiling point.

The fan actually came off the car and was what was left of the air conditioning system. Some cars (e.g Fiat X 1/9. Nissan 280Z fuel injected) had a blower fan pointed at either the carburator or injectors. The fan was triggered by a temperature switch mounted on the intake manifold. The lowest fan switch I could find was 180F which I mounted in the intake manifold where the EGR valve was located.

Carbcoolingfan1.jpg


On fuel injected Nissan 280Zs and Fiat X 1/9s the fan was to prevent the injectors from heat soaking. On carburated engines it was designed to keep the fuel from boiling in the fuel bowl. Typically the fan was designed only to kick on after the engine was shut off using the oil pressure switch.

With mine, it's just wired to the battery. I've never heard it kick on while going down the road (although would be hard to tell) but outside air is being blown at it while moving. it usually kicks on about 30 seconds after I shut the engine off and cycles on and off for about 30 minutes.

I think it helps.

Actually all of my carburated engines are hard to start when it get's into the mid 90s. Trabant, Yugo, 68 Ford, I don't know why. I think it has something to do with reformulated gasoline.

One time I was running winter gas in my 68 Ford in May and made it several miles. I stopped at an ATM and the engine started idling rough then just died. Somehow the fuel line vapor locked between the tank and the pump. Yet the car has a vented fuel cap! I had to have the car towed home. Once it cooled off, I never had anymore problems with it.
 
Ha! had a red Yugo back in the eighties and that little car was a blast to drive, loved racing those Toyota/Nissan econo cars at the stoplights, she could take them up thru third but after that she would drop off
crackmeup2.gif
driving around in the Yugo was like driving around in a tin can, would love to have another
grin.gif
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top