440 Rebuild Question???????

[ironyetty]

My 440 IC is burning a lot of oil through the motor. When it gets warmed up and I start putting it under a strain it blows smoke out the oil breather and sometimes out the oil dipstick.

What would be my best bet?

Do you think that if I just redo the top end of the motor and replace the seals around the valves it would prevent the problem?

Thanks in advance,
cliff

[jdemaris]

My 440 IC is burning a lot of oil through the motor. When it gets warmed up and I start putting it under a strain it blows smoke out the oil breather and sometimes out the oil dipstick.

What would be my best bet?

Do you think that if I just redo the top end of the motor and replace the seals around the valves it would prevent the problem?

Thanks in advance,
cliff

Installing valve seals won't solve blowby problems, nor will it fix a constant (under load) oil burning problem. Loose valve guides and/or unsealed stems will cause smoke under condtions that draw oil down the valve-stems. Coming down a steep hill with the transmission holding you back in one example. The engine turns more RPM and calls for more air than the semi-closed carburetor butterly valve wants to let past, so a suction is created that draws oil in (i.e. vacuum). It's also the reason why most older diesels have no valves seals at all since most diesels never created vacuum since most diesels don't have throttle butterfly valves (but a few do).

You probably have worn rings and worn grooves in the pistons. Even if the cylinders are somewhat worn and out of round - you can often get by by shimming the piston grooves, installing new rings, and honing the cylinders. It's far from perfect, but for a part-time use machine, often works fine. Gas engine is low compression and very forgiving. A diesel is a different story. Hastings sells the repair shims to tighten up the piston-ring grooves.