puff of blue smoke

puff of blue smoke UPDATED

64cj5 134 F head complete overhaul, rings, gaskets, bearings, valve job and seals. Less than 500 miles on the overhaul. Oil pressure gauge is mechanical and when cold is around 40-50lbs, as it heats up, it responds to teh engine RPS between 20lbs at slow idel and 55lbs going down the road.

Today, I had ideled at a stop light for mabe 2min, then as I reved to pull away, I saw a desturbing puf of blue smoke that quickly went away - have not been able to repeat it.

Searched and read, do not think it is a mistake in assembly as I have built motors before and this one was pretty simple, just figured I would ask if I should be overly concerned or if there is anything I could do to prevent a major problem down the road.

 

With that low mileage, I would not be concerned. I am sure you used cast rings. Depending on the finish of the cylinders, the rings have not been broke in yet. I would not worry as of yet. If it happens at 3,000 miles, then I would look for problems. Have you driven the vehicle through a break in cycle for the rings? Or have you just done easy short trips with no load. It should get some hiway time.

 

was a very careful breakin, first run was 1 min then full cool, second - 10 starts were all short runs then shut down/cool. finally, ran to full warm, let cool, then retourqued the head, reseat the valve clearances.

The motor was rebuilt near the begining of a year and a half build, if I had to do over - it would have been the last, as I shouldn't have let it sit so long IMO.

the jeep has been on the road for a week or 2, other than a 40 mile round trip, most rides have been less than 10 miles. The 40 mile round trip did see top speeds of 45 MPH, what I believe to be it's top speed, never kept it at a constant RPM for more than a minute or so, even pulled over from time to time, as there were some suspension issues being worked out but they have been solved.

She rides really well, pep wise is better than I expected with the Power sterring upgrade, she is no speed demon, but that was not in the plan to begin with, I do not think I lost much power to the PS.

just looking to see if mabey I missed something and others have BTDT and could give me a heads up on what to look for, she climbed up on the trailer in 4 low with a very little touch on the throttle

 

Drive that sweetheart!! She'll be fine! You do need to run her up to temp for longer time periods. At least 30 minutes at opperating temperature is what I recomend to my customers. If the overhaul was done correctly, you just need to drive it. Babying it can lead to glazing of the cylinders, and then the rings will never seat until you rough the cylinders up again. Back in the day, the rings and the cylinders were both made out of cast iron. Then, one had to closely follow the "babying" break in procrdures. With the modern materials that we make rings out of today, there is little need to be overly gentle with a fresh overhaul. I would not take it down to the drags, but a bit of mild four wheeling will be just fine. You should keep an eye on the water temperature though, and change the oil as recomended.
A small puff of blue smoke after idling at a stop light for two minutes is no big deal, it could be from rings that have not seated yet. It usually is from oil leaking past worn intake valve guides. With a fresh overhaul, I suspect the rings. If after you have driven it for at least 3,000 miles, and it has gotten much worse, then you can be concerned. Until then drive it! Do not baby it! I do more warrenty work because the customer babys the engine then for all other causes put together! After I ball hone them, I drive them fairly hard for at least three hours to seat the rings. I do this before I return it to the customer. I have not had any complaints from these customers after I do this under warrenty. They are all happy that I took care of them and their machine at no cost to them. On at least two of my repeat customers I remembered that they baby their engines and I run them hard for the three hours before I give the vehicle back to them after the overhaul. No warrenties and everyone is happy. Have fun! Matt W.

 

ok - loaded up the jeep and headed up last night to play a bit bfore todays event at Sporties (place in Minerva, NY)

Jeep was undescribable awsome - everything plus more than my wildest dreams

after running her for about 6 hrs with some breaks in there for us, she sends me another symptom. no puff a smoke, more like the old time BUG DUSTING MCHINES, checked the oil in the am - looks clean so I figure is is one of 2 things, a broken ring or I lost a valve seal, Jeep is running strong thou

 

If you are getting that kind of smoke, pull a plug and see which one or ones look dark. That will be the bad hole. Sorry to hear of your problems. I have also seen rings put on upside down. Smoke, oil fouled plugs and crankcase blow-by are the results. Do a few checks including a compression check. You will find it.