Xs Burning Oil

[Guest shiftyshuffle]

Engine's only covered 104k, my last XS showed 140k before I scrapped it and didn't burn any oil.

Is it known to occur in TU3S engines, like the stem seals in a 1.6XU? Hope it isn't the bores

[Mark205 1]

Does the engine produce blue smoke on start up or all the time, if it is blowing blue smoke all the time its the piston rings which have worn/failed.

 

An engine can burn oil if its the stem seals, but the above method is the way to diagnose the problem.

 

As far as fixing the problem, stem seals are relativly easy to fix if your mechanically minded, i would strip the block to repair the piston rings if that is the fault, but thats me.

[one-lady-owner 1]

Stem seals on the TU3S are a fairly common fault on high mileages as well, as Mark205 has said, an easy thing to if you're mechanically minded!

 

If it smokes on start-up and if left idling for a while then it'll be the stem seals. If it smokes all the time then the rings will also need some attention!

[Guest shiftyshuffle]

I've got a compression-tester. if I used this without dropping oil into the chamber, could this acertain worn rings through lack of compression?

[AdamP 0]

The valve stem seals are on the way out on all 3 of my TU3S engines. The RG spits out loads of blue smoke if you leave it idling for a while and then rev it and the GT is showing similar signs.

 

Probably time for a top end refresh!

[Guest shiftyshuffle]

The previous owner said his son had used the car, who then moved to Bankok leaving it stored in a barn. Said it was left here for 8 months before he started using it again. Maybe the seals perished through lack of use in this period, then come to use it again and they don't seal properly.

 

Anyway it's using a litre of oil every 40 miles now, which is a similar rate to my old 1.6.

[AndyJ 1]

The stem seals went on one of mine too, would smokescreen anyone behind me at the lights but be perfectly fine the rest of the time! never got round to fixing that before the dreaded "garage door" incident which wrote the car off...

[Guest shiftyshuffle]

Did your car lose oil as quickly as mine seems to? Yer there's lots of smoke & smelly fumes when I pump the gas from idle. Is it easier to replace the stem seals on these engines than a 1.6XU?

 

Not a 'smokescreen' though!

[swordfish210 20]

Take the head off, strip the valves, remove old stem seals, clean and replace new stem seals, lap in vlaves, re assemble vlave gear, replace head.

[AndyJ 1]

Think i was doing about 500 miles a week at the time and it was using maybe a litre or so a week, so not as much as yours, no. Ive not done the seals on either engine but i'd have thought its a little easier cos you dont have to pull the cam out, although if you end up lifting the head off anyway its much of a muchness.

[Mark205 1]

My dad uses a little 1.4 gr as a run about, (cheaper than running a range rover) , that burns a bit of oil to the point where their is no oil in it, but that is just a stem seal problem as it only smokes on start up.

 

I would try to sort the problem soon, because if it happens to be worn piston rings it could start damaging the bores which could mean game over for the block without putting time and money into it.

[Guest shiftyshuffle]

I've read through the haynes manual and searched the forum for replacing stem seals, but I'm unclear about whether i'll need to remove the valvetrain? Is it just a question of removing rocker-cover & oil-pan, and getting to work with a spring compressor?

A quick step-by-step on how to do this would be sweet