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"Blue Smoke Special"aka "Stinkin Lincoln"


its a V-12

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This sounds similar to what one person I know did to "swell" a leaky seal on a fan clutch. However, it didn't work for long, even with direct application of the fluid to the seal.

Frankly, I can't imagine how much brake fluid you'd have to put in to reach all the old gaskets and seals, and that assumes that the problem isn't with the rings or somewhere else. But maybe someone has some direct experience on this one?

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Guest imported_V12Bill

I have been told that some of the additives that stop leaking automatic transmissions do nothing more than swell up the worn leather seals and thus get a tight fit until the now swollen seal wears down and the leak is worse than ever. This used to be a quick fix when trading a car in or buying from a not too reputable used car lot. The fix only lasted a short time.

Bill

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I don't know about using brake fluid in the oil, but I have used a quart of ATF. Add it instead of a quart of oil when the level is down a quart, then change it after about 300 miles. Several mechanic friends have recommended this and it has worked for me in several Fords, but not in a V-12 - yet. As to softening up hardened gaskets, I don't know if ATF will do that.

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I THINK HE WAS WATCHING TOO MUCH TV....THE OIL SUCKED INTO A H-12 WAS IN A LARGE PART THROUGH SPLIT VALVE GUIDES INTO THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER. I DONT THINK ANY "MECHANIC IN A CAN" IS GONNA HELP THAT..BOY..IF IT DID..I'D BUY IT FOR MY MOSIQUTO SPRAYER

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Guest imported_V12Bill

ATF added to the crankcase is supposed to clean out the inside of the engine while you drive. Also supposed to aide in quieting noisy lifters by cleaning out the passageways that feed the lifters. If it does all that I would want to change the oil within a few hundred miles to drain out the dirt and sludge.

Bill

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Hey Zeffer, better check your facts a little better, all Ford V-8's had split valve guides from 1932 to 1948, the "NEW AND IMPROVED" 1 piece guides you seem to be so enamored of came out in 1949, with all their rubber seals and BS, and have never been proved to be superior to the old 2 piece guide, but require a different valve, and were probally cheaper to produce in their day, for sure no better, and definitely not the cause of V-12's using oil, and puttimg out blue smoke, I have some theories as to why this happens, and others do too, but few think it is split valve guides, but please, if you are going to make these claims, show us some evidence, please, thank you Rolf

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Guest imported_V12Bill

I was once told that the original pistons in all V 12s were cast iron and their movement burnished the cylinder walls which had a very high Burnell rating.The rings then began to slide over the polished cylinder walls without offering much of a seal. Replace the pistons with aluminium and never use chrome rings and you get a better seal. Yes Ford used split guides and didn't have the reputation for smoking like the V 12 did. But the Ford didn't have hydraulic lifters either. When the lifter loses its lift there is a mist of oil in the valve chamber that gets sucked into the combustion chamber by the leaks around the intake valve assembly. Go to solid lifters and eliminate one leak, put a seal on the intake guide and eliminate another. Try a valve stem seal and eliminate a third leak. True the V 12 still puts out some blue smoke, but not as much as before.

Bill

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Thank You Bill,some evidence maybe at last, but the stated fact that the split guides work well in the Fords, and the fact that many Lincoln V-12's went 10 to 15K miles before they started smoking, seems to point to piston clearance and ring problems to me, but what do I know, I even forgot what Lincoln Custom tail lights looked like, and I owned one of the ugly dinosaurs in the '50's too, they used to call it senility, but now it is probally alzheimers, Rolf

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Guest imported_V12Bill

I agree that rings are a strong contender for taking the blame for blue smoke, but I have had several V 12's down for rebuild and there was never much wear in the cylinders. The V 12 had very hard cast iron and the ring ridge at the top of the cylinders was just barely noticeable in the 6 or 7 engines that I tore down. Whats everybody experience with cylinder wear on the 12s?

Bill

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Hi Bill, as you may remember, I had embarked on my ill-fated "ultimate V-12" quest last year, and in that research, a number of qualified engine people seemed to agree that piston to wall clearances were the most critical, and using the standard rebuilders .003 per cylinder bore inch is just too much for a V-12, and accounted for their very short life. The folks in the know said to measure how much expansion there was in the piston you are going to use, and then allow as little as 1/2 a thosandth more clearance than the amount of expansion. To that ultimate end, we were looking into the new silicone pistons that have no expansion, but before that could be tried, the project collapsed, a pity really, because I felt this would have been a good try to correct the inherent design flaws of the 12, compared to the very durable and time tested Ford flathead V-8's, the relative angle of the cylinders seem to compound the wear in the bores, and contribute to short life as well. Naturally this can not be changed, but if careful blueprinting reveals a slightly untrue bore, sleeving and reboring at the precise right angle to the straightened and align bored crankshaft would be a major step in bringing these vulnerable, troublesome engines up to their full potential, I had one that was very close in the 1950's, and that was such a fantastic engine, I have been striving to duplicate it ever since, but I have shelved all study of this problem, and replaced it with the precise discipline of tail light lenses, where my knowledge is lacking, Rolf

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