MG Car Repair: 1967 MGB GT oil cooler, combustion chambers, compression gauge

Question
Hello - I just got my 1967 MGB GT back after a winter in the shop (new hubs, brakes, etc.) and it is blowing some oil through the exhaust - smell of burning oil, bluish white smoke out the tail pipe.  There is no loss of oil pressure nor does the engine stumble at this point.  When I check the oil, it is down but only a little.  There is, however, a constant oil film around the oil cooler.  Would this be the problem?  There are no major drips when I park and it did not do this last year after I bought the car.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Answer
Hi Kevin,
Blue white smoke is oil burning. Oil pressure has nothing to do with oil burning. Oil is getting into the combustion chambers and the only way for that is by the rings or down the valve guides. If it is noticeable when you first start up and it goes away as you drive, that is an indication of valve guides. If it is noticeable when you accelerate, it is rings. There are some exceptions, If the crankcase it overfill of oil or the crankcase vents are clogged up or if the oil in the crankcase is diluted with gas.

You need to do some testing, do a dry and a wet compression test. Be sure to hold the throttles open and run about 4 or 5 revolutions on each cylinder. That's the dry test, for the wet test squirt about 4 or 5 squirts of engine oil into the plug hole and run another compression test on each cylinder. If you don't have a compression gauge, they are not expensive and can be purchased at most auto parts stores and even at Wall Mart.

Write down each reading on the dry and the wet tests and let me know.

A leak at the oil cooler has nothing to do with oil burning. It can only cause the loss of oil.

Let me know.
Howard