I have a 89 22re rebuilt about 6000 miles ago. I just started driving it and it uses a little oil. How much you ask? Hmmm about 1/2 Quart to 1000 miles is a rough guess.
Will a rebuild use oil until everything gets broke in?
This is supposed to be a complete rebuild. Only the block was reused
Breaking in or bad rebuild?
I see no leaks and see or smell no oil burning
I don’t think you have a problem with 1 quart per 2000 miles. I remember that the V-8 engine introduced in the Super and Roadmaster Buicks had a problem with the piston rings seating and some of these engines took 8-10000 miles for the rings to seat and the oil consumption to go down.
good news
I drove a Ford truck that burned 1 quart every 1,200 to 1,500 miles for the 400,000 miles that I owned it. Maybe the oil getting past the rings kept the cylinders lubricated.
perfect lol
Keep careful track of the oil use, see how it changes.
I plan on that
The engine should have been broken in about 5990 miles ago. The amount of oil used seems high to me so you might monitor that for a while to see if it continues.
There’s a lot of things that could go wrong during a rebuild. It only takes one piston ring installed upside down, poor crosshatch on one cylinder wall, one excessively worn valve guide, etc, etc to create a problem.
22re tend to sound like a sewing machine. It actually sounds better now than it did 1000 miles ago.
How could a motor be broke in on the first rotation?
Ive been wearing new boots 2 weeks that still arent broke in
I said nothing about a first rotation; only that an engine is broken in within 10 miles of assembly. The 500 or 1000 miles recommended break-in periods are simply breathing room recommendations so to speak.
Many high end cars and crate engines where assembly line costs are not nearly as big an issue as they may be on garden variety cars are dyno run at 80-100% before even being shipped from the factory.
I hear ya. Its hard to say with this thing. It had a knock. I took it to the guy that rebuilt it and decided he would make a good lawyer. The knock is getting better. In fact today when i took a gamble and dumped 0-30 in it i noticed the knock was gone (or maybe just on vacation)
From what i learned in here those old motors werent really made for synthetic but im going to take my chances
Try a different brand of oil too. I’ve noticed that different brands seem to ‘agree’ more with some motors than others. For instance, most people including me would agree that Mobil-1 synthetic is excellent oil, but my cars have always used a little oil when running it. They seem to use less on Valvoline synthetic and none at all with Amsoil.
One check would be to do a compression test.
Affirmative.
I checked Amsoil 5-30 has a pour point of -60. Im going with that if i can find it in this town and another thing. The 22re had a knock. I started using Lucas Gas Treatment and engine sounds smoother and knock is gone (as of late). This all happened on first treatment.
Any input on Lucus Gas Treatment
Did this quiet my engine by lubing top end and or cleaning injectors?
How well were the cylinders were honed? How good was the re-builder compared to OEM?
The factory should be the gold standard, pattern and roughness well controlled; quick break in and low consumption.
I have no idea. I didnt rebuild it
They were rhetorical questions.
My point was that cylinder preparation is very important to oil consumption.
I understand that