Blowin by

TPringle · 10-02-2009, 02:24 AM

I recently purchased a 1992 standard cab truck that has had a dump bed put on some time back. I think I might have gotten "bitten"

on the deal, but not sure how bad. The engine is hard to start cold, but know at least part of the problem is the lack of a good battery. However, my other '92 will fire on the first spin, while this one needs to spin several times to light up. (No, I havent had the opportunity to ck the LP - yet)

It idles a little rough, but I wrote that off as a dirty injector & the need to be flogged. It smooths out when I bring it off idle. My thoughts were to have the injectors checked &/or rebuilt.

Now for the killer - this engine seems to have an awful lot of blow-by. There is a noticable stream of smoke coming from the breather hose & oil dipstick tube. The previous owner said it used some oil, but that didnt alarm me since my other 92 also uses some oil. The engine doesnt seem to smoke much from the exhaust (less in fact than my other '92), seems to run strong, carries good oil pressure and sounds good. The engine looks fairly clean and I dont see any oil leaks, other than dripping some from the breather hose.

I havent driven it enough to know how much oil it uses, how the fuel usage is or even know how many miles is on this truck. The odometer doesnt work, and it shows around 150k, but I am sure it is much more.

My worst fear is a broken ring/scored cylinder, but maybe you guys have had something similar and could shed some light. I havent been into one of these engines, and have wondered if it could be a bad head gasket. May not be any way to check without pulling the head. Havent done any compression readings or leak down tests...