77 304 oil consumption issue

[Bunky67]

My 77 CJ5 with AMC 304 had sat for 10 years it was ran at least once a year, I have put about 1000-1500 miles on it since I got it on the road, and it seems to use quite a bit of oil, 3-4 quarts, I really don't notice any smoke or leaks on the ground, it has headers and header mufflers and the exits of the mufflers look black like it's rich, not really oil,

I read a post and it sent me to another site with a list of possible oil consumption problems and it listed missing valve cover baffles, and mine does have after market covers, what does missing baffles do ??

Also I have been thinking of swapping over to a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l 6 cylinder are these pretty good engines ? I know my mileage won't really improve, but I want to go back to manifolds and regular exhaust and I think this would be just as easy and cost less,

 

[gert]

thats alot of oil, a lot of oil, the baffles block the whipped up oil off the lifters from being sucked back into the carb, It would be a good idea to look your motor over real good it is coming out of it somewhere, you might want to check the plugs and do a leak down check on the cylinders, you can go back to stock manifolds and mufflers if your tired of the hedders it would be easier/cheaper than swapping in the 6 clyinder. The inline 6 iis the standard motor and is a great torqy motor

 

[Bunky67]

Well I have done some more checking on my oil consumption issue and still at a dead end, I have changed the PVC Valve, and Keep watching for oil leaks where I park it and nothing, I pulled the spark plugs and they all look consistent and don't to appear to show burning of oil, the compression was good 120-130 PSI per Cylinder

Like I said it doesn't appear to smoke, but the end off the header mufflers are a little black,but other then that I don't see anything that really shows that much oil loss

 

[Saddle Tramp]

How many miles are on the motor?

 

[hagar]

what motor oil is being used/consumed/burned ?

 

[jasonmark1993]

Ya thats a ton of oil; should be like a batman smoke machine. If the plugs are clean you must be pumping it into the cooling system or dumping it on the ground.

Sitting can cause the valve stem seals to dry up.

Missing baffles in the valve covers can cause oil to come out around the breather/oil fill cap.

 

[PWRSPD]

It could be a ring seal issue especially after such a long sit. The cylinders rust from condensation, all engines do it, I've seen race engines ran one week and have light rust on the cylinders a week later at teardown, usually it's so light it doesn't effect much but it can pit the cylinders and cause oil consumption. If the engine is in good running order otherwise you might be surprised how much oil it can burn and not smoke. Prob needs valve seals as well but that much won't go by the guides unless they are badley worn.

 

[Bunky67]

It could be a ring seal issue especially after such a long sit. The cylinders rust from condensation, all engines do it, I've seen race engines ran one week and have light rust on the cylinders a week later at teardown, usually it's so light it doesn't effect much but it can pit the cylinders and cause oil consumption. If the engine is in good running order otherwise you might be surprised how much oil it can burn and not smoke. Prob needs valve seals as well but that much won't go by the guides unless they are badley worn.

We have came up with the same assumption and don't know what else it could be,

Time for the AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l swap....

Thanks for all the replies