Hemi oil consumption

If you are a regular on this site, you may remember my post about the thrash to seal the intake on my HEMI over labor day weekend, (Thanks Greg at Superformance!) To review, I had oil usage of roughly a quart every 100 miles. The fix ended up using superformance gaskets, (that stopped the "wick" of oil through the gaskets) coupled with studding the intake, light application of "Hondabond" and torqueing the studs to 125 inch pounds vs. the 72 in lb. factory recommended. I just finished my second trip, (won top 5 at the show and won $100.00) and oil level is down, SLIGHTLY. About 200 miles. I understand that the HEMI is going to use some oil, but not a quart every 100 miles!

That's great news! I remember you were pretty frustrated by the ordeal.

Sheldon

LOL, one of the responses was, "that is why we call them "HEMIROIDS"! I have never had an intake leak in dozens of engine builds, to deal with it TWICE in one build was frustrating to say the least. What I wonder is, how did the early NASCAR racers run over 500 miles at high RPMs without running out of oil? I collect old car mags. In several of them, brand new HIMIs were tested, more than one mentioned the "above average oil consumption". I have talked to old time builders that even went so far as to set the valve to guide clearance at ZERO in an effort to reduce the oil consumption. I even have an article on Dick Landy suggesting extreme measures to eliminate the problem.

Hey Zig
Glad you got it fixed. Now come up to Maryville ir Knoxville next weekend and cruise with us.
Jerry

I'm i Morristown, tell me about your cruise.

Maybe its because the exaust valve is submerged in a bath of oil, bad oil drainage?

Glad to hear that your problem seems to be solved. Superformance does make excellent gaskets. Just for the record not all Hemi's drink oil. I had a '66 street hemi back in '70 that became my daily driver for a few years. When I bought the car [ for $600.00 ] it had a bad right rear qtr. and a rod knocking. I replaced the rod, repaired the crank [ couldn't afford a new one ] and did a really cheap ring and bearing job on it along with an Isky cam and drove it for 50,000 miles before selling it to a friend for $500.00. As best as I can recall it used about a qt. of oil every 1,500 miles or so. Not all that bad considering the really crappy ring job. Not much talent in predicting future car prices either.

My oil consumption was obvious once I pulled the intake, the ports in the hear were wet with oil and the intake gasket was saturated. The oil actually wicked through the name brand gaskets. What was frustrating was that the head/intake angle was spot on, the torque of the bolts was per factory spec, yet it still leaked. Superformance gaskets stopped the wick problem, "Honda bond" stopped the oil from passing the gaskets, and studs with the extra clamp (125 in.lb vs. 72)kept the oil where it belonged. Funny thing, once I discovered the "Honda Bond" I noticed a familiar grey material under a number of intakes on fast cars at the drag strip!