Need advice on building a 318

[Nealuss]

I need some help and advice from some of you small block mopar veterans out there. The 318 in my truck is burning oil and it seems to be bad rings as far as I can tell. For the time being I am just going to use thicker oil and maybe test some additives but I am going to be piecing together the parts I need to rebuild the engine over the next few months or so as well. I know I want to do a mild cam, but something I can still drive everyday if I choose to. I know I need to change the lifters and upgrade the springs and rockers at the same time. When it comes time to build the motor I plan to pull the motor, strip it down, and take it to a machine shop to be cleaned and tested so I can buy the rebuild kit. What I don't know is what cam, lifters, springs, and rockers to I need to be looking at? I have no idea how to look at lift/duration numbers and make sense of it. I know what the numbers mean but I don't know how to relate that to outcome.

Also, what can I do about tuning for a 94? I read somewhere that you can use a Mopar PCM with a Jet stage 2 chip on it and get pretty good results. Can anyone back that up or provide some insight on how I can get the motor running right without going carbureted?


Sorry for the long post but I like being thorough!

 

[Statcher1]

I need some help and advice from some of you small block mopar veterans out there. The 318 in my truck is burning oil and it seems to be bad rings as far as I can tell. For the time being I am just going to use thicker oil and maybe test some additives but I am going to be piecing together the parts I need to rebuild the engine over the next few months or so as well. I know I want to do a mild cam, but something I can still drive everyday if I choose to. I know I need to change the lifters and upgrade the springs and rockers at the same time. When it comes time to build the motor I plan to pull the motor, strip it down, and take it to a machine shop to be cleaned and tested so I can buy the rebuild kit. What I don't know is what cam, lifters, springs, and rockers to I need to be looking at? I have no idea how to look at lift/duration numbers and make sense of it. I know what the numbers mean but I don't know how to relate that to outcome.



Also, what can I do about tuning for a 94? I read somewhere that you can use a Mopar PCM with a Jet stage 2 chip on it and get pretty good results. Can anyone back that up or provide some insight on how I can get the motor running right without going carbureted?





Sorry for the long post but I like being thorough!

I'm not a 2nd gen guy. But you can go up a weight on your oil. And switch to a regular old conventional oil. And replace a quart with Lucas oil additive. It will slow the burn down some. Depending on how bad yours is burning it. It worked on my old GMC.

 

[Nealuss]

That's the plan for now. Last oil change I used 10w40 conventional and a bottle of Lucas stabilizer and the burn was minimal. This time I went with 10w30 conventional and Lucas stop leak (rear main and valve stem seals) and It's definitely burning it. Blue smoke on start up and every second or third take off.

 

[dapepper9]

Cam you're best off calling comp or crane to get their recommendation as far as cam specs. Do not buy that Jet horse**** you will fry sensors or if you're lucky the pcm will simply relearn and override it eating $200

 

[crazzywolfie]

i wouldn't be putting stuff like stop leak in the oil. won't really do anything. once seals start leaking they need to be replaced. you can run thicker oil to slow it down but nothing will 100% stop it. i personally like running shell rotella 15w40 in my 81 that leaks oil. yes it is for diesel trucks but it keeps the engine clean. i believe it is part of the reason my 81 still has a pretty steady 170psi compression accross all cylinders

have you done a compression test to see what shape the engine is in? a compression test will tell you if you got bad rings or if it is just the valve seals.

 

[Jimmy68]

My high mileage 318 I run 15w40 and Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer
Every oil change. 2 liters of Lucas and top off with 15w40.
Usually burn 2 liters between changes.

 

[Nealuss]

Cam you're best off calling comp or crane to get their recommendation as far as cam specs. Do not buy that Jet horse**** you will fry sensors or if you're lucky the pcm will simply relearn and override it eating $200

Thanks, I will call one of them when it comes time to buy a cam. As for the Jet chip I had one on my 04 4.7 Ram when there were no other options and it gained quite a bit of mid-range power and overall driveability was better but I have not heard any reviews on these trucks. What are my tuning options otherwise?

As for the stop leak thing I just don't want to burn as much oil. I was in retail parts for 10 years so you're preaching to the choir here. I know additives are only a temporary solution and sometimes don't work at all, but my oil changes are pretty much free so I don't mind spending a few bucks on something like Restore or Compression Repair to test it out until I build the motor.

 

[crazzywolfie]

As for the stop leak thing I just don't want to burn as much oil. I was in retail parts for 10 years so you're preaching to the choir here. I know additives are only a temporary solution and sometimes don't work at all, but my oil changes are pretty much free so I don't mind spending a few bucks on something like Restore or Compression Repair to test it out until I build the motor.

best to just run diesel truck oil. it being thicker will help you burn less plus all the chemicals in it will help clean out the engine and restore some compression