Oil On Spark Plugs

[vintagestg]

Looking for some help. Went to fire up my 55 TBird (which has the original 292) today. It wouldn't turn over and I heard a slight banging sound. I immediately turned off the ignition and saw a billow of smoke coming out of the carb. I was a little freaked out (as you can imagine) so I let it sit for a few minutes and tried restarting it but no luck. I am getting fuel and spark so I checked the spark plugs and found oil on nearly every one of them. I know this isn't a good thing. Any ideas where I should go from here?

[stubbie]

It could be a few things valve guides, rings. You could get a compression test done. I'm not an expert but I would think 160-180psi is probably ok. Anything less than that I would think there is a problem. If compression is ok it is probably valve guides. Depending on how long it has been sitting. Could just be week rings letting some oil bypass them.

[vintagestg]

What are the odds that all of the piston rings would wear out at the same time? It's just odd that I have oil fouled plugs in every one of the 8 cylinders.

[sseebart]

Are you saying that the engine won't turn over at all?

Oil fouling is a symptom of engine wear, but shouldn't cause of hard starting unless the wear is severe. A compression test would help to diagnose (if the motor spins!), but I would be ok with readings as low as 140 or so.

The noise & smoke at the carb sound like a backfire, so I would check the points, condensor and maybe the coil to make sure the spark is good.

It would be helpful to know how many miles are on your Y-block. They will go a long time, but not forever.

~Steve

[vintagestg]

Yes...won't turn over at all. I just installed a Pertronix unit in lieu of the points/condenser.

[stubbie]

I think I would clean up the plugs first and see if it will start. What oil are you using? (IE 10w40 or something else).

[sseebart]

If it won't turn over at all, it's most likely the starting system. I'd check the battery, cables, ground, solenoid and starter. All these are prone to failure if the car has been sitting a while.

If they all check out as good, pull the plugs and trying turning the motor over by hand very gently--it should turn smoothly once you have it moving. If you can't budge it, it's possible (through pretty unlikely) something internal is broken.

~Steve