FE high oil consumption problem

[Wayne Maybury]

I would like to thank everyone for trying to help out on this one. I visited the engine builder yeaterday and got answers to many of the questions as well as some additional information about the history of this engine.

First off, more on the history. I have indicated a couple of times that I wasn't sure if Dove rebuilt or replaced the engine, well they replaced it. The original engine was cast iron. On 2 separate occasions, cylinders had to be resleeved because of leaking antifreeze. After that the block began to disintegrate or crumble with bits of the casting falling off, then being picked up by the oil pump. Dove couldn't repair it so they replaced it, this time with an aluminum engine.

The new engine was installed in the Cobra. First time out it burned a rocker shaft after a half hour or so. It was assumed that the shaft was faulty so it was replced. Next time out it burned the rocker shaft again. This problem was obviously more serious than just a bad rocker shaft, it wasn't getting any oil. The problem was traced to a poorly aligned cam bearing which wasn't allowing any oil to get to one head. That was fixed and as soon as the car was driven, it became apparant that it was taking a lot of oil.

Last winter the heads were removed and checked. Everything appeared fine the valve seals were changed and the heads reinstalled. No improvement. It is winter up here so the engine is now out of the car and disassembled which brings us to the present time.

Now to answer some questions.

Tom Lucas, FE Specialties.
He didn't measure the rod side clearance or the bearing clearance yet but he will as soon as he gets some other engines out of his shop. The oil pressure was 60 psi hot at driving speeds.

George Anderson, Guessford.
Yes, it has a Dove 2X4s Tunnel Wedge Intake and Dove heads. The intake has been powder coated pale grey.

He has not done a pressure test on the intake or the heads since he doesn't build all that many FEs so he would have to make plates etc to do the pressure test. He doesn't know of anyone that has the parts necessary to do a pressure test on FE parts. If you feel that a pressure test is absolutely necessary, he will look at fabricating the necessary hardware.

The intake gaskets are by Mr. Gasket and are made of dark fiborous material with no sheet metal involved, approximately 1/16" thick. He described them as being very similar to Felpro high performance gaskets. I peeled a piece off the intake and it is either black or very dark blue.

Some one inquired about the oil pan and I said it was aluminium. It is a large capacity oil pan with baffles, etc. It is made of metal not aluminum. I was mixed up since it is powder coated and looks like aluminium.

Thanks again for the help,
Wayne