Alright. My 3.4L that we rebuild has ~5500 miles on it so far. Rebuilt pretty much all.. along with new cam/lifters, cam bearings.

When we put the motor back together, we somehow forgot to put a galley plug in the block on the front passenger side. We broke the motor in (first rpm fluctuations... 12 or so I think from 35-50 in 4th gear or something like that) with the galley plug out (not knowing). Drove the car maybe 50 miles and thought there was something wrong because we could still hear the lifters. I posted online about it and someone suggested a galley plug. We looke at pictures we'd taken over the course of rebuilding the motor.. and sure enough there was a pic of the motor w/out the galley plug.

Took apart, put plug in, reassembled. No lifter noise, good deal.

Now the car burns a quart of oil every couple weeks and I can hear the lifters a fair amount. The car smokes a little when I slow the car down using the RPMs too early... and when I get on it I can see some smoke if the sunlight catches it just right.

I was trying to find something about the smoke on here and maybe a bad PCV valve? Sticking or something. I've yet to replace it with a new one, but my TB is pretty black. I don't know how quickly it gets dirty, but 5500 miles doesn't seem like enough for it to be almost black to me? I dont know though.

Also my dipstick is off of the 2.8L motor (turned out to be a 3.1L) and the dipstick tube is from the 3.4L motor... they seem to be different. The dipstick does not seat all the way down on the tube. I figured no biggie, I'll just keep a bit more oil in it since it will not go all of the way down.

Now.. knowing all of that and that we did everything by the book (ring gap, rocker arms etc).... is it likely the galley plug problem would cause the bad lifters so early? is it likely the pcv cause the smoke? is the lifter problem a common 60* v6 problem? or do I just have bad luck (old motor had lifter tick also)...

comments/ideas/suggestions?


-Bud

 

did you pull the pistons?

If so, I'd say rings not seating well.

Did you rebuild the heads?

If so, I might say did you get both the guide seals, and all the stem seals on the valves?

 

I remember reading in Car Craft, I belive, that the sbc & Poncho's also have hidden galley plugs, where if not put back will prevent a side of teh valvetrain from getting the oil required for proper lube. This might be the case w/you having that plug out.

BTW, looks like from the pic shown & the one block Doward has, the pass plug was missing.

 

Doward...

Pistons came out yes.. new rings etc... honed the cyl... used the stock 3.4 pistons.

Heads were cleaned up by a shop and they put some better (they said better) valve guide seals on them. They were blue with gold rings around them. Used the old 3.4l springs and stuff.

Project...

Yea.. I put that pic up b/c that's the picture we saw that the plug was missing in. All the plugs we took out, we put back in. I got the 3.4L for free because a friend of mine works at a dealership and he has had the motor at his house b/c it was junked... busted head bolt and valvetrain tap. We fixed it.. new headbolts, cam, lifters, etc.


The next time I get a chance to go home, I was going to switch to synthetic oil... is that a bad idea now? or does it matter?

We had to mill one of the heads (or both, but at least one) because it was warped. Did nothing to the block in that way. I talked to a friend about it later and he said that the block could be warped too... how likely is that?


-Bud

 

head should warp before the block will. get a straight edge, machinists one if possible, & feeler gauge & consult the holy book haynes on go-no go procedures for block warpage.

 

just a heads up....the intake manifold has part of the valve cover gasket seat on it...if heads have much machining done to them, intake must too. you may leak oil up there. that doesn't really sound like your prob but its something to keep in mind. also, no, the TB should not be black especially not after 5500 miles.