How much oil/vapor is supposed to come out of the valve cover in a healthy motor? Here's my situation:

jdm b18c, turbocharged, hondata.

I just changed my headgastket this weekend because it was leaking horribly. Everything seems to be sealed up... no visible seeping at this point.

Strange point 1) My spark plugs are white. I need to re-tune, but my wideband says I'm running 11:1 at idle, 12.5:1 in partial throttle ares and 13:1 under boost.

Strange point 2) I can't see any visible smoke or anything strange coming out of my valve cover breather (the rest of the PCV system is stock), but I put a clean sock over the breather and drove for ~15 miles (not hard driving).... and the sock had some oil on it. Not much at all, but there were a few spots.

This prompted me to do a compression test: 173 163 170 170 (keep In mind I'm at 6000feet).


[Modified by servion, 1:13 PM 2/25/2003]

 

Did you change your plugs after the head gasket? If coolant was leaking into the head you can get a white build up on the electrode. Clean them, run it and let us know. Have you check the PCV to make sure its opening and closing properly? The fact that you have some oil would make me think it is working fine but you never know... How are the groummets around the PCV?

 

You're right... I completely overlooked getting new plugs.

Ialso change my valve seals... I couldn't have messed that up somehow, could I? It was very simple... You're not supposed to use any hondabond on those, are you? I didn't... but the helms didn't mention doing anything like that.

The grommets around the PCV are fine.. but I will go ahead and change the PCV valve.

How much oil is normal?

 

Can you (anyone) confirm that you're not supposed to use any sort of sealant when putting on a new valve seal? (I just tapped mine on with the end of a socket).

Can anyone tell me how much oil is normal to come out of the valve cover?

 

valve seals use no sealant. your compression numbers look good. it is normal for oil to go through the pcv system. 13:1 is too lean for wot, 11:1 is too rich for idle.