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Oil smoke out breather


MadMax_636

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Georgia
Vehicle Year
1984
Make / Model
Ford Ranger
Engine Type
2.8 V6
Engine Size
2.8L
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Total Lift
However much it goes up when I get my fat ass out.
Total Drop
How much it goes down when my fat ass gets in.
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Dry rot and old
So, I changed my oil since I made the mistake in putting 20w50 into my engine in the dead of winter (Southern GA. We do get some cold ish winters) and my engine wasnt running right. Oil Light kept flickering....

I changed it over to 10w30 conventional oil and once it gets up to operating temp oil smoke/steam starts coming out of the oil cap breather. Which its never done. Its not a Puff puff puff type of flow its like smoke/steam from high temps.

Im wondering if I should switch to a somewhat thicker oil and full synthetic for the time being until Ive saved up the cash for a rebuild or remanned engine.

Im tempted to just see about getting a loan to get a motor. Like safe half get a loan for half.
 


franklin2

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Virginia
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Bronco II
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Manual
With the engine running, go to the other valve cover and pull the PCV valve out of the grommet. Stick your finger over the end. Is it sucking on your finger? If it's not, it may be damaged or the line may be clogged. That is what sucks all that smoke/steam out of the engine when it's running.

When the engine is brand new, and when the PCV valve is installed in the one valve cover, if you pulled the oil fill breather out and held your hand over the oil fill hole, after a little bit you would actually feel it sucking on your hand. But as the engine gets older, it has more blow by going around the piston rings. The PCV system can handle this up to a certain point. When the engine starts getting a lot of wear and blow by, it will start overwhelming the PCV system and it will start coming out of the oil fill pipe.

No worries if it still runs good and is not fouling the plugs. I have run engines a long time like this, just keeping track of the oil level. After awhile it will start getting so bad it will start overwhelming the aircleaner area, making it idle rough. What I do then is take the hose off the aircleaner, and get a longer piece of hose and run it down along the frame and into a catch can hanging down there. All that junk goes into the can. You can run them a long time like this, till you get money saved up for another engine.

The 2.8 I have now is so-so. It uses a quart about every 600 miles. I get wiffs of the oil smoke when I get down on the engine hard, I don't have mine going to the air cleaner.
 

Dirtman

Former Middleweight Moss Fighting Champion
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It's up there.
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It's down there.
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Round.
My credo
I poop in the furnace.
20w50 should not have hurt a 2.8. They were not precise motors with intricate oiling systems.
 

Paulos

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1987 STX
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Ranger
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I'm in N. Carolina and my 2.9 doesn't like the 20W-50 when the temps get down below freezing. And my 2.9 is not exactly "tight" (320K). I got some 10W-40 to change for winter, but it's warmed up a bit the last week or so, and I never got around to changing it.
 

Dirtman

Former Middleweight Moss Fighting Champion
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2WD
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It's up there.
Total Drop
It's down there.
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Round.
My credo
I poop in the furnace.
Your an American and use kilometers?
 

alwaysFlOoReD

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An enlightened American perhaps...or Canadian
 

Dirtman

Former Middleweight Moss Fighting Champion
Joined
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Messages
19,304
Reaction score
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Location
41N 75W
Vehicle Year
2009
Engine Type
2.3 (4 Cylinder)
Transmission
Automatic
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Total Lift
It's up there.
Total Drop
It's down there.
Tire Size
Round.
My credo
I poop in the furnace.
Uvhvhvixxigixvhhix 7yc9rghoudidg
 

alwaysFlOoReD

Forum Staff Member
TRS Forum Moderator
TRS Banner 2012-2015
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Location
Calgary, Canada
Vehicle Year
'91, '80, '06
Make / Model
Ford, GMC,Dodge
Engine Size
4.0,4.0,5.7
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
4WD

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