slow be Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 (edited) Hey there, I'm a newbie to having an old subie and really want to take care of the jewel that I found. I just bought an '82 GL with a newly rebuilt engine (about 2K mi ago). I've put about 1000 of those miles on it and have noticed some changes that are making me nervous. It's started burning oil very rapidly (about 1 qt for every 200-300 mi) and I found an oil spatter on my garage door after warming it up in the morning. I put a piece of cardboard under the engine and couldn't find any big drips after 10 mins of idling. It also seems to be idling more roughly than when I bought it, especially after I'd been driving it for a few minutes. I'd really like to get some thoughts on what could cause the garage door "Jackson Pollock" and, other than gettng the valves adjusted asap( I just found that out yesterday), what I need to do in the care and feeding of this rebuilt engine. I'm going to cross my fingers and change the PCV valve to try to remedy the oil leak. Cheap and easy. After that, any ideas? Thanks for any and all help! Edited February 21, 2011 by slow be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skishop69 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 A few things come to mind, but none that can be verified without teardown. Broken or improperly installed rings. A compression test may or may not show anything. Valve guides that were improperly knurled (sized) or improperly installed valve seals that have popped off. Improperly routed breather lines and as you mentioned, PCV. Are you sure it's oil spatter? Older Subies run pretty rich on cold start and produce a lot of moisture in the exhaust. The carbon comes out wit the water in a spatter pattern. As for the oil loss, you need to physically examine the underside of the engine. I've seen oil pumps that have no leaks at idle, but start dumping once they build some pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slow be Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 You were right about the spatter being carbon and not oil, skishop69. I pulled the pcv valve off this morning and it rattled, so I guess that's out. There was a lot of oil build-up in the pcv hose, especially at the top. I also noticed an oily area on the under carriage behind teh oil pan. I'm going to get it up on stands and try to pinpoint the origin. Thanks for the input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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