Rebuilt heads burn oil

JOHNNY91TERCEL

MEMBER
1991 TOYOTA TERCEL
1.5L
4 CYL
2WD
MANUAL
240,000 MILES

I was hoping to get clarification on the oil burning issue the expert said would happen on a rebuilt head, because my car is the same make model engine type drive type as the post. It smokes, I know it's rebuilt, that's why i'm looking to see if need to do work or if it's just going to happen (clarification).I'm including a picture of the post because I was asked to make a separate post for it. Just want to know what they meant by that.

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8 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
108,262 POSTS

Hi,

It was me that asked you to repost. Sorry about that. I hope you understand.

As far as what you attached, a leak down is to help determine if there is a compression (piston ring or cylinder wear) issue or if the oil burning is via the cylinder head. Burning oil can be caused if the rings are worn or if there is excessive wear on the cylinder walls.

As far as your concerns, can you tell me what specifically is happening? For example, do you see blue smoke from the exhaust at all times when running, is it part of the time and how much oil is being used?

Take a look through this link. You may find it of interest.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/blue-smoke-from-engines-exhaust

Let me know.
Joe

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Friday, August 28th, 2020 AT 3:28 PM

JOHNNY91TERCEL

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My main concern is why rebuilding the head would potentially cause smoking, but since it's hard figuring it out I will describe the issue. Probably unrelated but it happens and makes no sense but it runs best if gas tank is full, loses power slowly under � tank, as I said that's probably not related but I don't know cars super good only basically. It smokes when I start it up, every time, only exception is if it is still at operating temperatures. Most times smoke is mostly white, tinged blue, but if it is really cold (no start for 1 day) it smokes more blue than white, and that generally in both cases lasts about 10-20 seconds. It also does same smoke thing about 20% of the time when in higher rpm's as I go to shift, wish this car had a tachometer so I knew the rpm's. It was using about a quart every roughly 100 miles( time wise that's 1, possibly 2 days), but recently that has slowed, engine is running barely hotter than it used to, and oil consumption now is about 1 quart every 500 miles (again, about 5-10 days, depends on work). Not really much else I notice other than what I assume is loose lifter/rocker arms or whatever the cam pushes on sounds loose (only a guess I honestly do not know, the sound is fast, kinda like a spring that can move a little, (tick/tink and not too loud but corresponds directly to rpm's.) Oil is clean-ish, meaning is dark but doesn't smell burnt, mainly kinda smells of stale gas and oil, and coolant doesn't leak at all. Doesn't leave spots of oil on the ground, so it can't be leaking that way. I put paper under car for a month because I thought it might be.

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Friday, August 28th, 2020 AT 4:00 PM

JOHNNY91TERCEL

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6 POSTS

Spark plugs are also brand new, I checked them after about 1 hour of idling and they were dry, and coated white kinda, not sure if that info is relevant.

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Friday, August 28th, 2020 AT 4:05 PM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
108,262 POSTS

Hi,

Based on your description, it sounds like the blue smoke is the result of faulty valve guide seals. These seals are designed to prevent oil from draining down the valve guide and then burning in the engine. When you turn the engine off, that gives it time to drain and cause this to happen. When it's cold, steel contracts and it could allow more to drain. Also, it is common to see the smoke when the engine is under a heavy load.

I went back to the manuals. I found a technical service bulletin related to this problem from Toyota dated 3/22/1991. Here is the bulletin. You will see that they changed the design of the seal. Take a look.

_______________________

1991 Toyota Tercel Sedan 4-Door L4-1456cc 1.5L SOHC (3E-E)
Engine - Oil Leaks Reduced By New Valve Stem Seal
Vehicle Engine, Cooling and Exhaust Engine - Oil Leaks Reduced By New Valve Stem Seal
ENGINE - OIL LEAKS REDUCED BY NEW VALVE STEM SEAL
9225toyota01

REF: ENGINE

NO: EN91-003

DATE: MARCH 22, 1991

MODEL: EL

VALVE STEM OIL SEAL MODIFICATION FOR 3E TERCEL ENGINE

see pic 1

To reduce oil leakage the design of the valve stem oil seal has been changed. New valve stem seals can be identified by their color as shown.

PRODUCTION EFFECTIVE (Reference Only):

From DATE From VIN

April 1990 JT2EL3**L0550207

PART NUMBER INFORMATION:

PREV P/N NEW P/N APPLICATION PART NAME

90913-02071 90913-02089 Intake (Gray-Blue) Seal, Valve Stem Oil

90913-02071 90913-02081 Exhaust (Brown) Seal, Valve Stem Oil

NOTE:
Previous and new parts are interchangeable.

__________________________

If you look at pic 2, it shows where this seal is located.

Is it possible for you to record the ticking you hear and upload it for me to hear? Chances are the valves need adjustment. Here are the directions for that. The remaining pics correlate with these directions.

____________________________________

1991 Toyota Tercel Sedan 4-Door L4-1456cc 1.5L SOHC (3E-E)
Adjustments
Vehicle Powertrain Management Tune-up and Engine Performance Checks Valve Clearance Adjustments
ADJUSTMENTS
1. Warm engine to normal operating temperature.
2. Stop engine. Remove spark plugs and valve cover.

Pic 3

3. Turn the crank pulley and line up it's groove with the "0" mark on the No.1 timing belt cover as shown.
4. Check that the No.1 cylinder rocker arms are loose and No.4 cylinder rocker arms are tight. If not, turn the crank one complete revolution and line up the marks again as above.

Pic 4

5. Measure only the valves shown above.

Pic 5

6. Using a feeler gauge, measure the gap between the cam and rocker arm.
7. Loosen the lock nut and turn the adjusting screw to set clearance.

Clearance:
Hot: 0.20 mm (0.008 in.)
Cold: 0.18 mm (0.007 in.)

Hold the adjusting screw in position and tighten the lock nut.
8. Recheck clearance, feeler gauge should move with a very slight drag.

Pic 6

9. Turn crank one full revolution and adjust remaining valves.
10. Install spark plugs. Torque to 18 Nm (13 ft. Lbs).

Pic 7

11. Apply seal packing No. 08826-00080 or equivalent to the cylinder head as shown above and install valve cover as soon as possible.

Pic 8

12. Install the 2 nuts with new seal washers and torque to 6.9 Nm (61 in. Lbs).

_____________________________

As far as the oil usage, what you described is certainly excessive. It's likely that it is a combination of the leak and burning.

If possible, try this. Start the engine and allow it to idle. Open the oil fill cap and see if there is a lot of pressure coming out. Let me know what you find.

Let me know.
Joe

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Friday, August 28th, 2020 AT 9:05 PM

JOHNNY91TERCEL

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Okay. Got the valve cover replaced, dude who did before didn't use silicone like those helpful images y'all sent. The oil fill cap does not have pressure behind it.