rings seating in
 

well my engine is finally running good, but i have a problem with number 8 cyl. it was smoking real bad but after i changed the oil for the 1st time after 2 hrs running it's not smoking as much.
after my fresh rebuild and a trial and error on plug wire placement i'm finally running on all 8 cyl. i think that lots of fuel was getting into my oil from the 4 cyl that weren't firing before. when i changed the oil it was real thin and smelled of fuel.
my concern is that i hope i don't have to pull my engine and redo the rings on #8 cyl. when checking the plugs only #8 is black. i have 150 lbs on each cyl for compression. and now it still smokes a little after about 10 min of running , then when you give it the gas a little more comes out...anyone have an idea how long i should give it for the rings to settle in. i haven't cruised down the highway yet, i'm still 2 weeks away from that. i just run it for 20 min at a time in the driveway.

You need to go around the block a few times, and just stab it hard, then back off, then stab it hard, then back off, etc., several times. Otherwise, you may have a ring that doesn't seat. I'm very serious.

Take care,
-Chris

I think that's right. I would drive it around for 500-1000 miles, but not really hard. If the rings (moly) haven't seated by then , they probably aren't gonna.

Rev

Give it about 500 miles or so. Just drive it normal. Don't let it idle for long periods of time and make sure it is cooled off when you shut it down. I'd also stay away from long cruises at a constant rpm.

Are you sure you didn't line the rings up on that cyl ??
How about breaking a ring when you installed the piston??
Did you install the oil scraper correctly, no overlap???

i didn't build the engine. a friend of a friend that builds local circle track engines built it and he says also to run it down the freeway for a while and see what happens. he also stands behind his work and says if #8 cyl is getting blowby than it's probably from all that fuel getting in there and not letting the rings seat properly. he also says if it doesn't get better he will tear it back down and fix it for free. the only thing is i have to pull the engine myself and get it to his shop.
so i guess i'll take ya'lls advise and run it down the road in a couple of weeks and just see what happens.
thanks again guys, preciate all the good info.

Not trying to repeat myself, but the best method for seating moly rings is to generate several short, hard revs under load, and to then let the engines compression braking slow the vehicle down. This loads the rings in both directions. Drive around the block, and while in 2nd gear, floor it for 4 seconds, then back off and let the engine slow the car down, then do it again. 6 or 7 of these should seat the rings.

Take care,
-Chris

that makes sense. thanks for the info. i'll give it a try and get back with you.

Forcing hot combustion gasses past unseated rings doesn't seem like a good idea to me. I would take a more gentle approach and hope for a more gradual "wear in". Moly rings should do that without any thing extreme if the cylinder walls were honed correctly.

Rev

thanks for the info Rev. i'm finishing welding on my rear quarter panels on tomorrow and then i'll have a fairly street legal car. then it's license, insurance, and paint time. but i'll take it down the street probably tomorrow night and check it out. i'm gonna have to get one of the digital cameras so i can post some pics.