Burning oil? Hot hot engine, post-Seafoam in 84 GSL
05-22-12, 09:20 AM
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Burning oil? Hot hot engine, post-Seafoam in 84 GSL
All this started with a can of Seafoam into my tank last week.
If you read my other thread you know I was having carb issues (OER 45mm) and I worked all those out to a point where my car was performing the way I wanted it to at the expense of a rich mix and poor mileage. I didn't much care at the time because it was starting better and sounding nicer.
I threw the Seafoam into the gas tank because I thought it'd be a nice way to clean out my carb after my plugs/flood incident. No big deal.
Within a few days, I noticed I was running a little sluggish and a little louder. Rough idles. I thought maybe the Seafoam had unclogged something, and the adjustments on my carb were actually overcompensated for what buildup I had. So I tweaked it a little more but never got it perfect. Whatever.
This morning, I noticed a severe lack of power. The engine revs just fine, but not with ANY sort of force. Getting up to 45 mph was a chore, and a loud one at that. I drove it 4.5 miles to work and this is what I saw/felt:
-Condensation on the carb's body
-Hot engine, hot coolant hoses leading to the engine
-Normal temp radiator, normal temp reservoir
-Smoke coming from the oil inlet
-Took out the dipstick and in addition to some immediate condensation, there was this yellow/green, almost snot-looking texture. I didn't touch it for fear of heat but it looked like someone sneezed all over it.
-Almost no oil whatsoever
I didn't find a leak, and I've never left any spots in my driveway. I went directly into work so I haven't had time to go buy oil, much less change it.
Any help would be appreciated. I don't know what the Seafoam could have done, but it WAS running alright before I poured the can in.
If you read my other thread you know I was having carb issues (OER 45mm) and I worked all those out to a point where my car was performing the way I wanted it to at the expense of a rich mix and poor mileage. I didn't much care at the time because it was starting better and sounding nicer.
I threw the Seafoam into the gas tank because I thought it'd be a nice way to clean out my carb after my plugs/flood incident. No big deal.
Within a few days, I noticed I was running a little sluggish and a little louder. Rough idles. I thought maybe the Seafoam had unclogged something, and the adjustments on my carb were actually overcompensated for what buildup I had. So I tweaked it a little more but never got it perfect. Whatever.
This morning, I noticed a severe lack of power. The engine revs just fine, but not with ANY sort of force. Getting up to 45 mph was a chore, and a loud one at that. I drove it 4.5 miles to work and this is what I saw/felt:
-Condensation on the carb's body
-Hot engine, hot coolant hoses leading to the engine
-Normal temp radiator, normal temp reservoir
-Smoke coming from the oil inlet
-Took out the dipstick and in addition to some immediate condensation, there was this yellow/green, almost snot-looking texture. I didn't touch it for fear of heat but it looked like someone sneezed all over it.
-Almost no oil whatsoever
I didn't find a leak, and I've never left any spots in my driveway. I went directly into work so I haven't had time to go buy oil, much less change it.
Any help would be appreciated. I don't know what the Seafoam could have done, but it WAS running alright before I poured the can in.
05-22-12, 12:35 PM
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I put oil in and topped off the coolant. Drove it back home. Changes:
-No more condensation
-No smoke from oil filler
-Very hot oil filter
-Still hot hoses and engine
-This is now coming up my filler:
-No more condensation
-No smoke from oil filler
-Very hot oil filter
-Still hot hoses and engine
-This is now coming up my filler:
05-23-12, 09:18 AM
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Well I attacked the coolant system today. I found this sitting at the top of the radiator grate when I took the cap off:
It's a rubbery substance. Is this part of my coolant seal that worked its way back through the system or is my problem likely not the seal? I filled up the radiator and checked my thermostat. It was almost welded in... A small pulse of coolant leaked out of the pinhole but there was no movement on the thermostat itself. I didn't tug very hard but usually they just come right out. I'll definitely need some sort of tool to safely get it out.
Is it safe to say the thermostat is causing the overheat or is that little piece of rubber from my seal and I'm fucked?
Seriously, any help is welcome.
It's a rubbery substance. Is this part of my coolant seal that worked its way back through the system or is my problem likely not the seal? I filled up the radiator and checked my thermostat. It was almost welded in... A small pulse of coolant leaked out of the pinhole but there was no movement on the thermostat itself. I didn't tug very hard but usually they just come right out. I'll definitely need some sort of tool to safely get it out.
Is it safe to say the thermostat is causing the overheat or is that little piece of rubber from my seal and I'm fucked?
Seriously, any help is welcome.
05-24-12, 03:11 PM
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Whelp per all numerous replies to my thread I went ahead and did the thermostat. Drove it about three blocks and while the temp gauge never moved I felt the engine and it was definitely hot. No smoke from the oil neck though. I burped it the best I could, now I'm just hoping that jiggle pin does the rest of the job.
05-24-12, 06:03 PM
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05-24-12, 09:40 PM
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patience dude, it's been only 2 days.
in no particular order:
1. the creamy stuff in the filler neck and on the dipstick is basically condensation mixing with your vaporized oil. i vent mine with a little breather filter. search "lung mustard" in the Gen I section.
2. i can't think of any correlation between your adding Seafoam to your tank and your almost running the oil dry. how often do you check your oil?
3. as for the debris in your radiator, my advice would be to remove the radiator and have it cleaned and checked. it's not a piece of a coolant seal. take that time to flush the engine coolant passages as well. change your thermostat, check your radiator cap and when you have it all back together check if your lower hose is collapsing.
4. it's not unreasonable to expect to change your plugs and fuel filter after doing what you did with the Seafoam, so try that first. it's simple and that may be all there is to your idle issues and power loss.
5. finally, when you say that car is louder, what do you mean? are you hearing an increase in intake or exhaust noises?
in no particular order:
1. the creamy stuff in the filler neck and on the dipstick is basically condensation mixing with your vaporized oil. i vent mine with a little breather filter. search "lung mustard" in the Gen I section.
2. i can't think of any correlation between your adding Seafoam to your tank and your almost running the oil dry. how often do you check your oil?
3. as for the debris in your radiator, my advice would be to remove the radiator and have it cleaned and checked. it's not a piece of a coolant seal. take that time to flush the engine coolant passages as well. change your thermostat, check your radiator cap and when you have it all back together check if your lower hose is collapsing.
4. it's not unreasonable to expect to change your plugs and fuel filter after doing what you did with the Seafoam, so try that first. it's simple and that may be all there is to your idle issues and power loss.
5. finally, when you say that car is louder, what do you mean? are you hearing an increase in intake or exhaust noises?
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05-24-12, 10:34 PM
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patience dude, it's been only 2 days.
in no particular order:
1. the creamy stuff in the filler neck and on the dipstick is basically condensation mixing with your vaporized oil. i vent mine with a little breather filter. search "lung mustard" in the Gen I section.
2. i can't think of any correlation between your adding Seafoam to your tank and your almost running the oil dry. how often do you check your oil?
3. as for the debris in your radiator, my advice would be to remove the radiator and have it cleaned and checked. it's not a piece of a coolant seal. take that time to flush the engine coolant passages as well. change your thermostat, check your radiator cap and when you have it all back together check if your lower hose is collapsing.
4. it's not unreasonable to expect to change your plugs and fuel filter after doing what you did with the Seafoam, so try that first. it's simple and that may be all there is to your idle issues and power loss.
5. finally, when you say that car is louder, what do you mean? are you hearing an increase in intake or exhaust noises?
in no particular order:
1. the creamy stuff in the filler neck and on the dipstick is basically condensation mixing with your vaporized oil. i vent mine with a little breather filter. search "lung mustard" in the Gen I section.
2. i can't think of any correlation between your adding Seafoam to your tank and your almost running the oil dry. how often do you check your oil?
3. as for the debris in your radiator, my advice would be to remove the radiator and have it cleaned and checked. it's not a piece of a coolant seal. take that time to flush the engine coolant passages as well. change your thermostat, check your radiator cap and when you have it all back together check if your lower hose is collapsing.
4. it's not unreasonable to expect to change your plugs and fuel filter after doing what you did with the Seafoam, so try that first. it's simple and that may be all there is to your idle issues and power loss.
5. finally, when you say that car is louder, what do you mean? are you hearing an increase in intake or exhaust noises?
2. There's no correlation between the Sea Foam and oil, I know - but there is a correlation between Sea Foam and overheating, then overheating and burning oil. I check it once a week or so. I've had the car only three weeks.
3. I'll pull the radiator, thanks. I was really truly worried that bits and pieces of my seal were going to start floating back up at me. Like I said I changed the t-stat today and when I drove it home, it all seemed to be in order - but I know I've still got air in the system to burp out.
4. I juuuuust did plugs but I suppose I can do them again, hah. I tuned it up as soon as I bought it (new battery, plugs and wires, etc)
5. It's mainly the exhaust. I haven't had time to dig around that part of the car yet (I work 11 hours a day) but it has a louder aftermarket exhaust on it. I've spent most of my time trying to learn under the hood and I just haven't gotten around to it. Anyway, the sounds from the exhaust just make me feel like the engine is trying harder at 2,000 RPM than it was before this mess.
^ A lot of that probably has to do with my carb, which I'm still trying to figure out how to tweak - again, I'm new, so I haven't gotten the hang of truly tuning it. But I do have an OER with the adjustables on top. I've been playing with those and I know they're not optimal (but you knew that from the OP).
Knowing that it's not my seal is a sigh of relief, thanks. I was thrown into these projects sooner than anticipated and I'm sorta learning on the fly here.
05-28-12, 03:08 PM
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I've got the temperature under control now - I can't even get it to think about going past 1/2 on my temp gauge. So I guess the thermostat was just tanked. I'm still running extremely sluggish though, my engine revs and I simply don't accelerate - especially in 1st/2nd. It seems -okay- in third and fourth; unless I push it to 5-6000RPM, then I sputter out. I think that may be what you guys call a fuel starve but I don't know. Again, I'm learning on the go here. I really want to believe it's just a matter of tweaking my float/accelerator on the OER. A lot of that is a trial and error battle that I've been hopelessly losing.
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