As some know I just bought my 80 SA22C. My car's engine is old. 28 years and never cracked open for anything. At first the car smoked a LOT. Now that I have been driving it, the smoke has slowed way down. Only smoking upon startup and sometimes when taking off from a stoplight...especially when it is hot outside. Other than that, very little smoking.

With that being said, I really use a lot of oil. I don't have a quantitative value yet but consumption seems high. Prolly 1 quart every 300-400 miles. The exhaust tail pipes are very oily also. The plugs really seem OK though.

The car runs very strong and smooth. I don't really want to overhaul just yet. Could the OMP be injecting too much oil? I know there is a test in the factory manual to measure usage. I will do that test this weekend. The factory manual also shows an adjustment screw to adjust the amount injected along with making sure you have clearance on the OMP rod. My pump does NOT have the adjustment screw as the manual describes. How would you adjust this if it was too much?

Any ideas?? The car just runs too good to tear down now.

 

bulls eye!! the problem you describe is probably the OMP.

Usually there are washers or spacers for adjustment where the contoller rod attaches to the OMP. I've always ended up having to remove the air pump to get to them.

 

Try bending the rod to adjust it if there's really no adjust on it. Maybe its setup to inject the max amount or the rod isn't really functioning thru it whole range, like it stays on full all the time. Check the rod for full travel to see.

 

I would disconnect the rod, then go for a short drive to see if the symptoms persist before making any changes. This will identify whether or not the OMP is actually at fault.

If you continue to smoke with the OMP disconnected, then you probably have worn oil control rings. The only way to actually fix this is with a full rebuild of the motor. However, I got by for a couple of years (mine was an extremely bad case) by using a quart of Lucas heavy duty oil stabilizer with every oil change. That motor made it to 213,000 miles before losing an apex seal, and this is on my weekend racer.


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Well I checked my OMP rod before.....easy to see since my air pump is gone. Anyhow seems like I have full range of motion on the rod and there seems to be ample clearance like the factory service manual says. I will check to see what the actual flow is.

Along with what Kentetsu said, I read his post before about the Lucas oil stabilizer. I changed my oil to Royal Purple and added the Lucas oil stabilizer. This change REALLY made a difference in the smoking. Just oil consumption is still high and it does smoke a little at start up (ok with me) but sometimes smokes if sitting in traffic for a long time and then leave from a stoplight.

I would not doubt the oil control rings are getting shot, it's just that the engine runs so strong!!!

 

I've had good results with Valvoline High Mileage oil. The red bottle. Sounds like oil control rings are worn out.

 

I will check the OMP rate tonight to see how much it is actually putting in.
I have a feeling the oil control seal is shot!

 

FWIW, IIRC the original owner's manual says that oil useage can range from 1qt/1000 miles down to 1qt/500 miles depending on driving style & conditions.

 

don't bend the rod unless you feel that the OMP isn't pumping enough oil into the carb

 

Checked the oil flow last night from the OMP. Exactly 2cc/2000rpm/6minutes. So no problem there. I will continue to monitor it. Seems the more I drive the better overall the usage gets. Went for a "very" spirited drive last evening and she did not smoke at all during that event. Determined yesterday that a 5 speed would be nice. I was on a long stretch of deserted road and 7000 rpm = 120 mph!!! She kept pulling but 7000 rpm was enough!!!

 

You might want to try switching back to a thicker oil. I typically use Castrol GTX 20/50. Royal Purple is a good product (I use it in my Bimmer), but seems to be a bit thinner, which may contribute to overall consumption....

 

I may continue to use the Royal Purple. I work at a chemical plant and we have a Royal Purple rep here who sells me a 5 gallon pail for $90.... or $4.50 a quart.

 

Could just be that your oil rings are a bit gummy, and need some exercize. Before your next changeout, try using an oil system cleaner like Sea Foam. Might help some, probably can't hurt.

Did the car sit long before you got it?

 

I would not recommend using any type of oil system cleaner. In a lot of cases, there's nothing but old oil residue completing the seal. Clean it out, and you find all the gaps and leaks in those seals and start smoking like crazy...

 

I feel the car sat for a while before I bought it. The guy had not started it in like 4-5 months and then before that he would only start it every 2 months or so and just drive it around the block. He did that for like 2 years. It seems to be getting better. The other night I went driving and no smoke. I guess time will tell.

Now I did do the seafoam treatment at first soon as I bought it. I put seafoam in the gas tank and in the engine oil. Ran the car at idle for about 5 minutes and then drained the old oil out. Changed the oil to Valvoline 20w50 racing oil. She smoked badly, every time you took off she smoked like James Bond!! Then I read Kentetsu's post about using Lucas oil stabilizer. I used the stabilizer and 20w50 royal purple. This cured 90-95% of the smoking. Thanks for the info by the way!! Anyhow, time will tell. She is running real strong so it is hard for me to feel the engine is really hurt!!