I have not posted on here in quite a while my car has been down for some time. Mainly do to money for improvements. but I got my 396 back in the newly painted engine compartment, and headed back to the track after some drive time. Well last time I got it to run a 13.6 I put in a bigger cam and a new edelbrock rpm intake. I was suppose to have slicks but the moron at discount tire can not figure out how to order a rim screwed me 3 times and way I'm ramblin got to the track and decided to see how it would do with no tuning or messing with tire pressure. I just wanted to see how it did the way it was. To my delight they preped the whole track and somehow my piece of crap general road huggers stuck like I never thought possible befor I had a best 60 ft of 2.15 I got a 1.88 this time and an et of 13.17 and a 103 mph, To my dismay at half track I started blowin white smoke like uncle buck. Got in and found the dip stick pushed out and oil coming out of the breather. I have a PCV valve that is working i tested it right there. I thought I had see some oil coming out the breather on one of the first initial romps around the block when I still had the hood off. Any way would have been nice to tune it and run 12s on street tires but I did not want to make anymore of a mess on the track or in my engine compartment. So drill holes for more breathers in my nice alluminum valve covers? put those vent tubes in the lifter valley and if I put those in the lifter valley do I affect road driving, Not a daily driver but I take it to shows and movies and to work occationally. so 4 breathers in the corners or 3 breathers and a PCV or screwed in the BUT. Also I am getting little black flecks all over the compartment valvecovers motor everywere, I think it is an exhaust leak any Ideas thank you.

Jacy

I'm running two push in breathers and no pcv valve and dont have that kind of problems,of course I get a very slight amount of oil out of the breathers,but not hardly worth wiping off,even after a hard day at the track. It sure sounds like you're gettin alot of blowby past the rings. :confused:

man I sure hope not this is a new rebuild and the same guys did this one as the last one and I never had any problems, man that would suck. Heck I may try two breathers because at wot the pcv is just a plug anyway. I did not really run it that hard it was my first and only pass in a year or so, so I was not really watching everything just the tach.

How many miles on the motor? Have you tried a breather hooked to your air cleaner? whats your oil pressure?

The whole idea is to have fresh air flow through the crankcase. You use one breather on one side of the engine to let air in and a PCV on the other side of the engine (connected to the carb) to suck the air out.

If you have a lot of blowby and a PCV and single breather cannot keep up then there is probably something wrong with the rings or a piston. Keep in mind though that during WOT passes down the 1/4 mile there is no engine vacuum so it is NORMAL to puke just a little oil out the breather (like a little mist on the valve cover).

In your case I bet you just need a PCV -- what you are describing sounds common to me for an engine with nothing but breathers.

ps. I have never had good service at Discount Tire either . . .

I have a pcv hooked to the carb I probably do not have enough miles on the motor yet so I will drive it on the street for a few more weeks. I have a pcv on the passenger side hooked to the carb and a breather on the driver side. I have never tried the breather hooked to the air cleaner will that puke oil into the cleaner or can I put a filter between the two? I was just wondering if this new cam will need more than those two things or if I need to drive the car more to get the rings set. I keep saying this new cam I know that doesn't help you guys with no specs they are at work and I will post them later it is an ultradyne with .6 lift int.,ex

Do the valve covers you are using have oil baffles?

Stock engines use a tube to the air cleaner instead of a separate breather. Then there is a little piece of foam inside the air cleaner assembly to pick up any oil that finds its way back into the air cleaner.

You don't want to put those tubes in the lifter valley on a street car. They reduce the oil getting to the cam.
Also, you can't physically install them on a BBC.

Scott_68_SS
I believe Eric68 meant the tube running from the pass side valve cover to the air cleaner. Never heard of one from the lifter valley....

Couple of simple things to check.
As was mentioned, do you have baffles in your valve covers?
What pan & how much oil is in it? Too much oil will do it.
Check the plugs for signs of detonation. If you are getting detonation it will unseat the rings & push oil, especially at full tilt ;)

I have a stock pan and it was not too full right on the line before I left home. I do not hear any detonation but I will look at the plugs but what am I looking for, Last I checked they were dry and black. I do not have baffles I guess they would keep oil out of the breather but I need to get it so I am not getting the oil out the dip stick, I still need to make sure it is not the valve cover gasket but I do not believe it was. So the pcv and breather I have should be all I need, however they do not seem to be working. I think I have seen some bolt on baffles I can get. I have had two old racers tell me to drill and install breathers in all four corners. One works with my dad one guy at the track with a 11.05 second 57 chevy and a 427 small block.

Originally posted by chevhell68:
I have a stock pan and it was not too full right on the line before I left home. I do not hear any detonation but I will look at the plugs but what am I looking for, Last I checked they were dry and black. I do not have baffles I guess they would keep oil out of the breather but I need to get it so I am not getting the oil out the dip stick, I still need to make sure it is not the valve cover gasket but I do not believe it was. So the pcv and breather I have should be all I need, however they do not seem to be working. I think I have seen some bolt on baffles I can get. I have had two old racers tell me to drill and install breathers in all four corners. One works with my dad one guy at the track with a 11.05 second 57 chevy and a 427 small block. =
You need to have baffles or oil seperators in the breathers or they will puke oil.
Pushing the dipstick out sounds like to much crankcase pressure but if you have this much pressure I doubt adding more breathers is going to solve the problem.
It could be that the rings haven't seated yet but when you say "no tuning" I get a bit nervous :D
What was the total timing?
Put a fresh set of plugs in & lean on the engine then pull them & see if you are getting any little black or aluminum colored specs on them.
We run engines all the time with just a couple of breathers in one valve cover & nothing on the other side or one in each cover & no pcv valve & normally only get a little "misting" around the breathers.

Hey Mike I didn't mean to make ya nervous I did throw my dial back light at it after I got it fired up the first day. 18 initial 38 total roughly. just got it close to get back in and break it in and after that it was O.K. So I have not messed with it since. I will try to put another new set of plugs and romp it a little and check for detonation. I went to Loapers today (decent performance place by my work) and they said they did not have oil baffles for a big block I did not think there would be much of a difference. I am pretty sure I was just in too much of a hurry to run the new cam intake and 8" treemaster. Now I need to rebuild that ebay 650 with the proform main body I bought and see what breaks next. (with my luck something will go to crap).

Thanx for the info everyone

jacy

this might be worth a try and i am not sure if there is any value to it........pcv valve and breather is just that right?.........but i had my breather on the drivers side and the pcv on the pass. side(just like yours) and my bbc kept pushing the dipstick out too.......and just for the hell of it i put the pcv on the driver side and the breather on the pass side.......well mine stopped pushing the dipstick out........go figure.......might sound silly but maybe its worth a shot........