Losing oil in ti 350 - risks to continue driving it?

[kmehr]

Damn, that's some bad news. Well hopefully they'll last a while till I at least get the other problems sorted out.

 

[kmehr]

Did some more stuff today. Most notably, set the base timing. with the advance unhooked it was at about 12* !!! I set it back to zero, and man it really seems to have woken the truck up, it idles much better and sounds a lot stronger/healthier when driving down the road, definitely seems to have more power. Replaced the EGR valve, and vacuum lines, thermostat, ordered a new fan clutch, but it was even easier to turn than my old one so I'm sending it back, and finally put in new plug wires (my number 8 plug wire was arcing on the heat shield and causing it to idle really rough, finally setting the check engine light on- went off as soon as i replaced the wires).

I'm very happy with how it's running now, though I still have some concerns- the rattle?/spark knock? is still there. I'm about to conclude its made my catalytic converter clogged up from the roughly 2 gallons of oil that have gone through it. A picture of it, as well as the sooty/oil seeping out of the exhaust joints is below. Cat has about 2300 miles on it. It was a $65 Walker from the local Advance Auto.

Additionally, after sitting for a week, I let it idle for about ten mins before I set the timing. All sorts of came out the exhaust, below are some pictures and a video (hopefully it works). Hoping to finally get to the bottom of this.

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Before setting timing:

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After setting the timing:

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[kmehr]

any opinions on this crud coming from my tail pipe?

 

[Keepinitoldskool]

Did it stop? If so I wouldnt worry about it. Maybe stuff it blew out while adjusting ignition ttiming, carbon buildup perhaps. At least its on the ground now and not in your motor.

 

[kmehr]

It did stop eventually, but happened again to a lesser degree last time i started it up. Maybe it's just the seafoam in the fuel and marvel mystery oil in th oil cleaning things out.

Would it be insane for a Catalytic converter to get clogged up in 2500 miles if I've burned about a gallon of oil in that time period?

 

[98_k1500]

It shouldn have hurt it.

 

[kmehr]

So I waived the white flag on trying to get all this stuff done myself before I really need the truck this weekend. Took it to my mechanic for new shocks, new distributor, new ignition coil, and trying to get to the bottom of the rough idle problem. I also had him do a compression test. I don't have the truck yet, but I just called to see how it was going. He said compression was 240-260 on all the cylinders! This seemed crazy high to me, and he was pretty surprised, and was expecting around 180 psi. It's only got 115K on it, and my grandfather took great care of it, but does this seem right?!

 

[Keepinitoldskool]

So I waived the white flag on trying to get all this stuff done myself before I really need the truck this weekend. Took it to my mechanic for new shocks, new distributor, new ignition coil, and trying to get to the bottom of the rough idle problem. I also had him do a compression test. I don't have the truck yet, but I just called to see how it was going. He said compression was 240-260 on all the cylinders! This seemed crazy high to me, and he was pretty surprised, and was expecting around 180 psi. It's only got 115K on it, and my grandfather took great care of it, but does this seem right?!

That does seem kinda high. But then again I was shocked to find out that my 300k 5.7 had between 190-210psi on all 8, deepest anyone has ever been into it was a headgasket replacement, so that means factory rings in those cylinders still.

 

[kmehr]

I'm thinking I've got really good rings and tons of carbon build up which is causing the spark knock. Need to run some sea foam through.

 

[Keepinitoldskool]

Seafoam would be a good thing to do in any case. I do mine about once a year. Induce it via the brake booster hose. If your not sure exactly how to do that then look up videos on youtube there are tons. As far as the rough idle it may just be that the tbi needs a good cleaning, and when I say that I mean remove it and give it a thorough cleaning. You will need several cans of carb cleaner and a gasket set. Make sure you remove all the sensors first. If this doesnt cure it and your positive its not a misfire then you need to break out a ohm meter and start testing sensors.