Fouling Plugs and smoking

On my free Jeep (which I have now spent about $500 on...) I changed the oil and it started smoking pretty bad (I changed to cheap 10W-30) and it fouled all four plugs pretty bad also.

So I drained the oil and put in High Mileage Castrol 20W-50 and an engine restorer additive. I also put in new plugs (AC Delco's). Well after that, the Jeep (F-Head) ran like a new machine - - - for a little while at least, and then it started smoking also and started skipping, so I checked the plugs and sure enough they were fouled again.

The plugs were not wet with oil, but are just sooted up and blackened.

Am I going to have to put new rings in??? I really don't want to for a while if I can help it... I'm having too much fun.

Do ya'll think this is rings? If so, why now - - why not when I had the old crappy oil in there? Could it be carbeurator adjustment or something else? BTW, when I took the cheap oil out it looked pretty dirty. What do you think I need to do? Oh yeah, I don't have a compression tester...

Thank ya'll for the help.

 

Always ask your self: What changed?

I'm assuming it did not smoke before the oil change right?

If true, then nice detergent oil is cleaning up and you either have bad rings or valve seals (or both)

I'll let jpflat2a discuss straight 30 oil. That is all I use in my L-134. The previous owner of my Jeep stated that Putt Putt didn't like "W" oils so I have stuck with it.

 

Is the smoke black (carburetor) or white (oil)
Sounds like rings. If it sat for a long time, it's possible the oil control rings are stuck, or it's just plain worn out.

Black powdery soot is usually carburetion. Could be a combo of both.

 

if it does not get real cold where you, try straight 30 wt, Pennzoil, Chevron whatever.
these old engines, IMO, don't like muti-grades much. others disagree.
change the plugs again, and in Billys words, "drive it like you stole it"

 

When I do what your doing I always replace the oil thats in it with 30w to get it running, it just symplifies things because its a safe bet that whats been used in it and if it needs additive or something I add it to the 30w.

 

Sounds like fuel fouling to me, if it's black smoke. Check the cap, rotor, wires, replace if there not new, maybe it's not getting a good spark which will cause it to foul plugs. I agree that the ol' carter is prolly the culprit. I swapped mine to a Solex for $99 after I got tired of jacking with the YF.

Oh yeah, Marvels mystery oil will unstick rings, back jeep up to mosquito area and warm up the jeep and pour a little down the carb, then you can say it's smokin'.
If that doesn't help anyone of us would gladly come by and take that heap off your hands for what ya got in 'er. Heck, it's old did you really think it wouldn't smoke?

 

I think you have a carb problem If the plugs arent wet then it probally isnt oil. it is more than likely fuel fouled. Check the carb. If the motor is that old, the carb probally is as well. If it only does it after driving fro a while, check the choke. Make sure it is ,and stays wide open. Are you doing any off camber (ie Hills) driving when it goes to smoking, or jolting it around alot? I really would like to help more, but I need more info. I really dont think this is oil fouling unless it is white smoke.Just trying to help. The origional "drive it like you stole it" guy

 

It is not white smoke, and yes it was smoking a little before I changed the oil, but not nearly as bad. I'll try changing the oil to straight 30W. I'm not sure how to adjust out the carb. It basically runs perfect until the plugs foul, so it seems hard to me to know which way to adjust the carb.

Any help would be appreciated. I do have a FSM now and will be flipping through it trying to find the answers.

 

Look in the FSM and try to adjust the carb to run leaner at idle that is where most of the fouling is taking place. Do it on a warmed up engine though. What brand plugs are you running? I tried the rebuild kit didn't help for me. Good luck, let us know what you figure out.

 

have a compression check..

you will know if your ring are shot...
my xj 4.0 with 242000 miles has the ring dead , but till plug fouling...but my air filter is very oily ...
open the valve cover (oil filler) when engine turning and see if it smoke a bit..
give you indication ,if it came from the carb setting ....;must be really rich.
to foul plug you must find dome fuel back in the air filter.

hope it help.

 

I vote fuel also. Change the plugs again and run the he11 out of it. MMO helps a great deal in free-ing things up too. A little in the crank case, a little in the fuel tank and you will have some added help.

I agree with Rapha that it has to be running rich. Keep trying and let us know...

HTH

 

Minor point - oil smoke is more blue than white. Water (steam) is white. Excess fuel makes black smoke. Yes, oil fouling would leave the plugs wet with oil. Usually you can clean them with some solvent, put them back and you're ok. Anti-foulers work for a while. You can run much heavier oil - we used to stock straight 50wt when I worked auto parts. As long as it's warm enough that the starter can turn against the thick oil, you're ok.

 

while it is running, remove one wire at a time and alow it to spark againest the distrubitor. also be sure to use insulated pilers.

 

I'm running AC Delco plugs (I took Champions out of it), and the choke is not stuck.

I have some lines on the engine that are not hooked up and I don't know what to do with them. One line (obviously a vacuum line, because it really sucks air) is plugged with a bolt on top of the crankcase right next to the carbeurator. Another line comes off of the carbeurator (I think it is an overflow) and is hanging freely. Another line is coming off of the pipe that you pour oil in and is hanging freely.

The PCV valve is not stuck and is clean. According to what I read in the manual it appears to be working properly.

Where should all of these lines go? I have a feeling that the air filter that is on the Jeep is different than the one that came on it. The one on it is about 6" in diameter, round, about 2 inches tall - - a very simple filter with no place for any line to plug into it like the manual talks about. I can take a picture of it if ya'll need it.

In regards to fixing the carbeurator (and I do hope this is the problem), should I get a rebuild kit or should I just buy a new carb? I'd rather do the cheapest thing of course, but I want the thing to be dependable. Being that the plugs are only a few days old, can I just clean them up and re-use them or should I buy new ones.

Again the Jeep ran like a new machine when I first changed the oil and the plugs. Another question: It is just a touch overfull of oil (according to the stick), but has less than the 5 quarts the manual said it would take.

I'm just trying to pinpoint and fix the problem without having to bite the bullet and put in new piston rings. Do ya'll think the new oil has just cleaned out all of the junk that was making it run so well??

Thanks again for all the help.

 

If you do get to the point where you think the rings are the problem, buy a compression checker. They're cheap - something like $20 at Pep Boys.

IIRC the stock carb is the Carter YF and it's really simple. I'd suggest you buy the carb kit and rebuild it. Pretty much normal maintenance for a vehicle this old, especially whan you don't know it's history.

There's an early CJ service manual somewhere on line ... if you don't already have the manual, I'd suggest you download that or buy a reprint. Fairly cheap from www.thejeep.net http://www.thejeep.net/catalog/prod...76&PHPSESSID=b2ad63e63625c88a80b402381ffd8fce

hth

 

The current plugs I am running (fouled badly) are AC Delco R45.

Can someone tell me about where the disconnected lines go or if they are important?

Thank ya'll