Rep Power: 519

Bunch of thoughts.....

Compression rings are usually cast iron. They are extremely brittle, they don't flex much at all before they break.
They are easy to break during install too. There is some technique for stuffing them into the block.
Stock bore sized rings? No binding?
Did you check end gaps with the rings in the holes before installing them on the pistons?

Your first time, I'm wondering if something could have gone wrong and you didn't notice it....


On the oil questions and break-in, there are tons of different theories. Pick what you want to hear, someone will say it.
Your dads friend saying smoking is normal? Not to me. 200 miles for a quart sure seems excessive at this point no matter what and would make a bit of smoke. Something is outta whack. Yeah it should get a lot better after the rings seat, but they should be a lot closer than they are now.

Doesn't the oil cap say 5w20? Use it if it does. There are different theories on the oil too, related to the consumption. "Thicker" isn't always better.

My opinion, if I had done it, I would run what the engine is going to use--5w20. From the start. You aren't breaking in a SBC cam with flat tappets, you're only trying to seat a set of low-tension rings in a 4 banger.


Now we leave in the factory break-in oil for a minimum of 5000 miles on new cars, and there is no procedures spelled out to break it in. Just drive it normally. Consumption is normally nearly zero to a quart for that 5k.

I wouldn't use any synthetic for break in, you WANT the rings to wear in right now.


What about the metallic stuff in the oil? Is it still doing that? That should have been gone after the first oil change.


Cylinder wall deformities would act a lot like ring problems.

 
Rep Power: 175

Thought i should update this, lol. Im not sure why, but the car developed a very bad habit for using oil. i have been working alot lately and between a buying my first house and working, the car is low on the importance scale. I had to drive a hour each way for a side job to westchester ny a few weeks back, checked oil level before i left and somewhere in the 200 mile ride the car ran through basically all its oil. when i got home it was ticking loud and had no oil on the stick. eventually within about 1,500 miles that tick turned into a clunk that turned into full out loss of power and rock knock failure. bottom line, should have just gotten a low miles junkyard engine! was a fun experience though, rebuilding the motor, and i got about a year use out of it, for minimal amount of money. this time though, im going to replace the motor with a warrantied junkyard unit

 
Rep Power: 519

Hi, welcome back. One year to the day since you started the thread LOL.

And you put up with my smartass comments.
FYI I had quit smoking 2 months prior to the start of that exchange, and was still going through "the change". It seriously took 10 months for me to stop being that way (so much). Ok maybe I haven't got over it completely yet, but it is better.Did it EVER get any better than 200 miles per quart?

Maybe you can tear it apart at your leisure, and see what went wrong. I wonder if it was like a broken ring or something.