FE high oil consumption problem

[Wayne Maybury]

I talked to the engine builder yesterday and brought up the points that have been listed here.

He thought of doing a leakdown test but he said that it would be useless since oil is all over the place. Remember doing a compression test and finding it low. You want to know if it is the rings or the valves so you put some oil in the cylinders, compression goes up, the problem is the rings. He said the leak down test would have shown everything was fine because of the oil.

He said the engine does have good ventilation, breather, etc.

Yes, it does leak oil, as he said it is an FE. It has leaked oil since it was new.

He checked and double checked the intake for leaks. Absolutely no sign of any oil leak anywhere. There was very good contact on all surfaces, no sign of anything not perfect.

The cylinders are all in good condition, no sign of any scratches, dimples, or any other signs of wear. The pistons are perfect. Since the engine was using so much oil, the pistons are quite clean.

Here is what he thinks. Since the heads have been done, there was no sign of a problem with the intake, and all eight cylinders had oil in them, he believes that the rings are no good. The rings were installed by Dove when they rebuilt/replaced??? the engine. He said the rings are Total-Seal?? rings. No gap since the ends of the rings overlap. He really doesn't like these rings. He is going to hone the cylinders with a relatively course honer and put in new rings.

The owner has spent a fortune on this engine and has never put much mileage on it. It has spun bearings on 2 or 3 occasions, leaked oil since it was new, leaked antifreeze to the point where several sleaves had to be replaced, had to be rebuilt or replaced (I don't know which) by Dove, and now it uses oil at an unbelievable rate.

Thanks for the replies and I will let you know how it runs once it has been rebuilt.

Wayne