So I removed my exhaust manifold on my old motor and found this:



This is the center cylinder on the passenger side. The rest of the cylinders all looked fine. Are you able to diagnose the problem by looking at this picture, or would further tear down be necessary?

 

Is it oil? Possibly piston rings?

 

A leak down test, this will tell you condition of the cylinder.
What does the plug for the same hole look like?

If the leak down is good and plug is clean.
(check the other five)
Then you need valve seal and /or guides.

 

The issue is only with the one cylinder. I did a leak down test on that particular cylinder and only had a 10-15% loss.

 

I'm going to go with a valve seal.

 

Did you have a mis, that looks like it was a dead cylinder

 

10% isn't bad. Check the others for comparison and general health of the motor.
A compression check would not hurt. Just provides additional background on the guts.

Since the oil is on the plug and burning its rings or seals.
First guess is valve seals. I'd grab a bore scope and toss down the plug hole and check the condition of the cylinder wall.

Compression is only held in by the top ring, if the other two are damaged the wall should show scars. Also, a pic of the top of the piston might tell you if it rings of seals.

It will be some work to get the (valve) seals replaced on the head on the engine. If the seals are gone due to guide wear the heads need to come off anyway.

 

Amazon and others have a small dia bore score that plugs into a micro usb.
I use my phone and the CameraFi app and a 5.5mm scope.

 

Additional Information: The engine only smoked on start up. After the motor was warmed up, it no longer smoked, even under heavy load.

If i do diagnose the problem as just being a valve seal, how do I go about cleaning all the crap out of the exhaust valve?

 

It didnt seem like it. It still smoked heavy on start up, so im assuming that cylinder was firing as its the only one that was burning oil. Also, there was no misfire codes before I took the engine out and apart.

 

Sounds like seals. I'd be concerned with how much carbon/soot/oil is on the seats.

If the head/ not coming off... insure the valves are closed and hose out with carb cleaner. The port is not the major worry.
Steam or water injection will de-carbon a running motor as well.

 

You could seal the motor, pressurize it (5~10 psi max) and listen for leaks in ports and spark plug holes.

This will tell you seal/s intake/exhaust or rings or all.

 

I have the upper oil pan removed. Is there anything I can look at from the bottom of the motor? Somebody mentioned to look at the bottom of the piston. What should I look for?

 

Turn the engine until the piston is at the top of the bore.

Check the bore for scratched/gouges/ridges.

Bring the piston back down a look for broken cracked skirts.

Can't really see too much. The party is inside hole.