left the engine running for a while (maybe 20 minutes or so) to test the aux-air valve (which seems to be broken, doesn't close completely) and once the engine was hot, it started to spit oil out of the exhaust.
little spreckles on the floor. quite a few.

what's wrong ???
i know the valves need adjustement badly. could that be it?

Andy

My car spits condensation out the tail pipe if I let it just sit & idle. That is probably what is going on with yours.

nope, it is OIL.
smells like oil, tastes like oil, looks like oil.

it's way too much for just condensation ....

Andy

Oil is into the combustion chamber and not burning off, thus being forced by the exhaust valve. Or, it is seeping through the guide. I dont know if a valve adjust will fix that, I would think it would definitly improve things though. How many miles are on your heads?

Oil is guuud...that means your Xchangers wont get rusty inside .

Hey Andy,

Great news! This means you'll be installing a 3.6 before you know it

cheers,

Jeroen

Take a valve cover off, with a screwdriver apply some force sideways on the exhaust valve retainer. If you can see it move your guides are toast, time for a head job.

i have the stainless steel heat exchangers from a vendor i'm not allowed to mention here (hint, hint)

Andy

i wish. the good old 1.8 has to last at least through the winter before i have enough money to tackle the 3.6 conversion ...

Andy

no idea. bought the car in 2001 from a dealer who had no idea either.
the engine serial# says it's a 74, and judging from the condition the engine was in, that's probably the last time it was worked on ...

Andy

alright, i will start with the usual then.
compression and leak-down test, check the guides, adjust the valves ...

and then see if that improves the situation.

Andy

Andy,

It isn't possible for raw oil to be coming out of your tail pipe w/out a $$it load of blue smoke. It might feel oily & probably has some black soot in it but it but it is not raw oil.

that's what i thought too, but i have 2 oil-puddles on each side (manta exhaust),
enough to make you slip and brake your neck (about a coffe cup full of oil on each side), just from running (idle) for 15 minutes or so.

that seems way too much for anything condensation i have ever seen before. and it does smell and feel like oil

could a bad piston ring let that much oil pass by?
any other way the oil could make it into the exhaust?

and again, it only starts after the engine has warmed up.

ahhhhhh, so close and now that!
Andy

no smoke at all, by the way. cylinder not firing plus worn ring ????

gotta get some beer now and relax ...

I agree with Mark...I get a big black sooty oily puddle on the garage floor when my engine warms up and if the door is shut I can see it spitting black droplets on to it's white surface.
This particularly happens on engines that are run infrequently, like mine.

I was concerned about it until I realised it was condensation....which is where the "only happens when the engines warmed up" part comes in as the 'zorst pipes act like a big condenser.
If there's no blue smoke like it was burning oil I reckon mikes on to something there.

The oil could've wept out of the barrels/valve stems while the engine was stationary and collect in the Xchangers, mix with the condensation and get blown out the tail pipes.

If you have a temp gauge you could try running the engine until the oil gets to 90/100 deg, which seems to take ages with these type4's, unless you go out and really drive it hard -then see if the exhaust is still spitting.

Just went out and ran it until warm...this is what I'm getting all over my jack and the floor-

Yaaagh, what a mess. Looks like the inside of bathroom porcelain after a Mexican dinner left the building...

Anyway, I agree that the valve stem guides might be to blame. This is probably why the valve clearance is out of range. This will repeat until any excessive play in the guides is solved.

A problem with the exhaust valve guides is compatible with unburned oil; the combustion has already been and as fumes are driven out of the combustion chamber oil gets sipped through the guides leaving the engine. (Venturi effect; anyone care to comment on that? )

If it are the piston rings you would have a very bad compression as well. So, is the engine running badly?

Strange that it happens on both sides of the engine as the Monza has two mufflers (as my memory serves me correctly).

Good luck with establishing the diagnosis.

If your engine was spitting so much oil out of the tailpipe, you would surely see the oil level in the crankcase go down, right? I would check that.

Your pic of the "stuff" on the floor puddles up more like water
than oil. I suspect it's a mixture of crud from the muffler & water (condensation). I'm somewhat of an expert on smokey startups.......that much oil would produce a bug killing cloud.

Sure looks like dirty water to me. I have puddles from a bad main seal and they don't look like that.

nope, engine is running fine. (not that i have another 1.8 to compare to) ...

monza exhaust has the exhaust pipes go into ONE before it splits again into the 2 mufflers. (hard to see, cause it's where it has the steel plates welded on top to support the weight)

ok, so it looks like "go for a long drive, get the engine really hot, and see what happens" ???
humpf, guess i have to put those doors on first

Andy

btw. those pictures are not mine, they're thesey914's ....
i have way more oil on the ground than that. i'll be back sat., so i suppose i could take some pix then.

Andy

Drive it. Its crap from the muffler. If there was an issue.. it would be smoking. The car runs really strong (like I think its a 1911)..


B

Still, I agree with Andy that it is not normal. My muffler doesn't crap either...

The exhaust valve guides remain suspect, but as long as the engine runs well and the car isn't parked on the front lane of your mother in law things should go fine.

On second thought, perhaps you should visit your parents in law (depends on the relationship).