Re: Big smoke cloud and hood removal

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

The aliens commander decided Scott Machalk <smachalk@domain.elided> would
make a perfect specimen for dissection, and he yelled...

>Oh, I forgot to mention that I had run a compression check last fall and
>cylinders were running 120-140 so my guess is something related to valves.
>I was thinking probably most likely valve seals then stem seals. Would bad
>valve seals cause a vehicle to burn lots of oil?

Well I'm not sure what you mean by valve seals... valve guides???  If the
valve stems and valve guide are worn considerably, then oil has an easier
time squeezing between the two and higher oil consumption will be the
result... usually on the intake valves.  The *stock* stem seals, a.k.a.
valve guide seals, are nothing more than an o-ring around the valve stem
just underneath the valve spring retainer.  The concept here is that this
o-ring prevents the oil from being able to simply run straight down the
valve stem when it pools in the cup shape of the valve spring retainer.  In
time, the o-ring hardens and shrinks due to the heat and exposure to oil.
It looses it's effectively and oil has a better chance at running straight
down the valve stem and into the valve guide.  If the valve guides are worn
(as usual in a high milage engine) then the situation is just made that
much worse.

If the valve guides and valve stems were in otherwise acceptable condition,
you can install new stock style valve stem seals *or* better yet... one of
the newer aftermarket combination teflon / rubber valve *guide* seals.  But
if the parts are worn, that situation really needs correcting too.

>Thanks, I'll definitely pull the hood then. Is it too heavy to get off by
>myself?

It's not too heavy... I've done it myself, but it's just very difficult
trying to remove the bolts and hold it open at the same time.  It probably
weighs less than 75 pounds.  It's best to loosen and remove all but two
bolts (one on each side) and either have a helper hold the hood while you
take the last two bolts off or hold the hood up with an engine hoist or
rope to a rafter / tree, etc.  You don't want to risk loosing control of
the hood and twisting a hinge or support rod... not to mention physical
damage to yourself!

Regards,

John L.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
jlandry AT halcyon DOT com      | 
Conservative Libertarian        |  "The road to  tyranny, we must never
Life Member of the NRA          |   forget, begins with the destruction
WA Arms Collectors              |   of the truth."
Commercial Helicopter - Inst.   |                     William J. Clinton
http://www.halcyon.com/jlandry/ |    10-15-95, speech at the Univ. of CT