Help! Newbie 430 build/repair

Hi all.

I am very new to this forum, but BOY am I glad i found it!!!

I just acquired a 69 Riviera from California. The body is rust free and a great start for restoration. The motor runs, but I admit I didn't pay too much attention when I bought the car. I don't know tons about motors (yet) but I knew something wasn't quite right. Perhaps some of you more experienced could help me trouble-shoot and plan the fix. The motor starts fairly easy, and idles OK, but there is a heavy lifter-type noise. When I remove the oil-cap I get a white smoke that seems to pulsate out of the hole with the engine tick. I am thinking that means a dead piston, but I am just guessing. When I drive the car - if I accellerate past half throttle, the power really surges. It is almost like it is being repeatedly starved of fuel, then given a boost, then starved of fuel.....you get the picture. There also seems to be an exhaust leek coming from the engine compartment. If I pull the hose that goes between the PCV valve and the air cleaner assembly the is a steady stream of white smoke that comes out of it. I have also noticed that the passenger-side tailpipe seems to spew a fairly consistent stream of white smoke.

Well - howz that sound for starters? Also, consider this car has been sitting for several years without running, so I am sure things are fairly gummed up too. I have added seafoam to the fuel (there was half a tank in it & who knows how long or what type of fuel it is), and I poured 1/3 can of seafoam into the carb to clean it out. It seems to run a bit better, but still suffers from all the above mentioned problems.

Any ideas of what is probably wrong, or how I can better test to see what is wrong? Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

 

Old fuel will cause white smoke but it's probably a blown head gasket,the tick is dirty lifters or very low oil pressure from a worn oil pump.The blowby could be from worn rings,if it was a busted piston it would really really smoke,I'm a newbie to buick's too but i've been building chevy's for sometime.

 

So do you think I shoudl try something like seafoam in the crankcase (to see if it helps the ticking noise)?

I still plan to rebuild it, but it would be nice if I knew I could drive it a bit before having to tear it down. I'm just afraid to run it now cause I don't wanna really ruin the engine.

Thanks for your thoughts!!!

 

The only thing in the crankcase should be oil...

The ticking sound most likely excessive clearances in the valvetrain. Possible causes are badly worn rocker arm shafts, stuck plunger inside lifter(s), flat cam lobe(s), very low oil pressure for one reason or another. Check in that order..o No:

Sounds like you have a blown headgasket..also:ball:

Ck for water in oil, drain crankcase if you have to. Have you changed oil lately?

Check for bubbles in radiator or low coolant??o No:

Does any of this help?

 

Question: Does it crank and idle OK? Did the person that you purchased it from tell you the engine had problems or did he blame the poor performance on the fact that it had been sitting for a while? Did he say it was running OK before parking it?

If you are wanting to try to drive it for a while before tearing it down I would start by draining and disposing of the old fuel in the tank. Old fuel can make your car run very poorly and could also have water in it from sitting for a long time (condensation). It could also cause some of the surging that you described. The surging could also be caused by carburetor problems associated with the lack of use. Gaskets dry out and crack and you get gum buildup in the carb. as the old gas evaporates. The fuel filter could be partially clogged or the float could be stuck. Try to reset the mixture. It may have to be rebuilt. Check your vacuum hoses for cracks or leaks.

Check your points, distributor cap, and wires.

If you have a compression gauge, check compression before doing the following so that you can have a comparison: Put Seafoam, Marvel Mystery Oil, or some other oil treatment in the motor oil and run it for a while (if you can) and then drain it and start fresh. There are oil system flushes available if you want to use one of those. I have actually heard of draining the oil and replacing it with kerosene and running it for 5 to 10 minutes to clean things up. I have never tried it myself and cannot recommend it. Check to see if you have water in the old oil or oil in the coolant. You could pull and look at the oil on your dipstick, it can give you a quick indication of the bad head gasket problem. If there is a whitish / greyish goo toward the top of the oil level then you probably have a head gasket problem.

This may give you a chance to drive it for a while before tearing it down. Good Luck! :beer

 

Thanks for your comments!

The guy I bought the car from had never driven it. He purchased it at an auction with the intention of driving it, but never really did. he stated he remembered it running much better (no lifter noise) when he first purchased it a year or two ago (that is the only time he ran the car).

I have run it for a while since picking it up last week. The radiator sprung a leak, so I drained it all out and replaced the radiator (it looked as though it had been patched before. I didn't want to mess with a re-core). I didn't notice any oil in the system at that time (though I must admit I wasn't really looking for any at the time - I was too bust cursing the leaky radiator). The oil is still the same oil that was in it (has been sitting for who knows how long). The oil actually looks pretty good & I havent noticed any signs of "goo" on the stick.

I can tell that many of the gasets are leaky. The valve covers leak like they done even have gaskets, I can hear some sucking coming from either the manifold or header gaskets. i guess it would only make sense that if they were shot that the head gaskets would be shot too.

Could a bad head gasket (or any of the gaskets) account for the blow-by that seems to puff out of the oil filler hole?

 

If you are getting only a small amount of smoke then it may just be normal if the engine is burning a little oil. Do you get smoke out of the exhaust? Leakey valve cover gaskets are not a sign of bad head gaskets. If there is not oil in the water or water in the oil then the head gaskets could be OK. They generally do not go bad from sitting unless there has been a lot of moisture in the engine while it was sitting. A good check would be a compression check of all cylinders and a leak down check of all cylinders. Don't pull the heads unless you are prepared to do a lot of work and spend money. I suspect that you are burning oil but that is not the end of the world.

Even though the oil may look good it could still be bad. It will oxidize and go bad over time even in an engine that is not run. When oil oxidizes over time is becomes acidic, loose its lubricating properties and contribute to engine damage. A good motor flush would not be bad.

If you have abnormal sucking noises with the air cleaner on then you definately want to check everything in the vacuum circuit. Being a California car do not overlook the A.I.R. system, it can cause problems if it is not working properly as well.

Are you still experiencing the surging?

Work with it if you have the patience and you could save a lot of money. Most of all have fun and enjoy being a Buick owner!



:beer

 

OK. I added a bit of de-gunker tot he oil and ran it a bit. Seems to sound a bit better. I took it for a quick spin though and it really bogged down (almost killed) at anything more than 1/4 throttle. Could be bad gas. I'm going to try to drain the tank this weekend. I am also going to run it again for a few minutes to be sure the crankcase cleaner does it's job, then I'll drain the oil. I'll check for signs of contaminents in the oil.

After my drive last night, I can see now that there is a slow but constant drip of coolant coming somewhere from the engine. :gt: I can't determine from where, but it was still dripping this morning after sitting for 8 hours. It looks very clean (no oil or nothin in it). Soooo..... I definately have something leaking. Hopefully it is just a gasket. Does that drip help to determine what it could be?

o No: