I need an oil dipstick that threads into the tube and seals tight. I have oil coming up my dipstick and it leaking down the tube onto the plug wire and burning. I have no idea whey oil is coming up the tube but it is and I need a quick fix to stop this oil from causing a fire.

 

sounds like you might have a pcv problem... is your pcv system functioning properly? Do you have a pcv system? At any rate plugging the dip stick tube would most likely force it to find another way out..

 

come on man you know the the easy way to do things is not the right way.

figure why this is happening.

 

I do have a PCV system and it seems to be working correctly. the only test I did on it was putting my thumb on it to check to make sure it still sucked. My engine is brand new. It has about 1000 miles on it and I already did a compression test all all 8 cylinders where with 4-5psi of 185. My oil pressure on start up is 85 and it only drops to 60 after warm up at idle. its at 65-70 while cruising on the highway. My oil pan gasket has already blown out too. it seems like there is way to much crank case pressure and Ihave no idea where else to look. All I know is that I definitly have to stop this oil from coming out of the dipstick.

 

what kinda vaccum numbers are ya gettin? do you have enough vaccum to open the pcv valve all the way?

 

I get about 16 inches of vaccum at idle

 

I had a similar problem but I was using a factory pcv valve and only pulling around 9-10 at idle.. maybe someone else will chime in..

 

Excess crankcase pressure will push oil out anywhere it can. A simple fix for the dipstick is to slide a spark plug boot over the dipstick. When installed, the boot will seal over the tube.

 

Decided to give up on the last thread, huh?https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech-general-engine/352327-new-engine-already-leaking.html

You have a PCV problem, like you were told in the last thread you started. Either that or you're getting blowby becuase the rings aren't sealed. Sealing the dipstick will do nothing but make the pressure find another way to escape. It will probably make it start to leak out of the valve cover gaskets, then the pan, then the rear main seal. Whatever the reason for the crankcase pressure, FIX IT, not sealing your dipstick.

 

definately going to find another way out if you seal off the dipstick tube. it'll blow out the next weakest link in the seals until you find out why it has so much crankcase pressure.

 

I seem to be having an issue also, the car was bought from a guy who said he had the engine rebuilt, and he had under 1K miles on it. I started leaking about a month ago and replaced the PCV valve, oil pan gasket (one piece) and now i dont know what to do. I am down the the rear main seal but dont want to pull the engine just to replace that and find out its not that. Need some guidance here, please.

 

engine doesn't need to come out to replace the rear main seal, just the transmission. Clean everything off real good and get the car in the air. Start it up and try to pinpoint where the leak is. Could be that the pan gasket you put on didn't seal all the way in which case you can stop that by using a little bit of RTV on the leak. If it won't leak on jackstands idling, then it's a PCV problem because the crankcase wont build any pressure idling.

 

You may have a PCV valve and it might be working properly (replace anyway) but do you have a breather on the other side (and is it in good shape)?? A PCV without a breather on the other side is a no-no.

 

Yea the breather is some Mr.Gasket shinny one that the idiot before me put on. I already replaced the PCV valve. So i can replace the RMS without pullin the engine? Just the tranny. Its a 2 piece. Im actually getting scared about doing this RMS while in the car. I cant even get my oil pan off without pulling the engine. I just dropped it enough to and jacked up the engine to be able to work the one piece gasket under the pickup and rotating assembly. HELP PLEASE.......

 

BottledZr28, maybe you got bad exhaust valve guides. That would allow blowby but wouldn't affect your cylinder pressure readings. Is there smoke coming from both valve covers?


Ray, you got to find the source of the leak. Let yor car sit for awhle. Look underneath at the rear of the block. No dripping? Start the engine and let it idle. Look under. Is there a steady drip, drip ,drip? Then shut it off. Does the dripping stop after a couple minutes? If there was no constant dripping then its probably not the rear main seal or anything else under pressure. If it does leak the way I described, then climb up by the firewall on the drivers side and with a flashlight look down at the oil pressure sending unit and make sure its not leaking. Oil doesn't flow uphill so there should be no oil back there. If there is, clean it off and run the engine and check again.
Next step is putting the car on ramps and crawling under. Talk to you later,...Maybe you should start a new thread. You're problem doesn't seem to have anything to do with blowby.

 

The dipstick goes over the tube - after you drive the car, shut it off, and pop the hood, is the dipstick sticking out of the tube? I'd imagine if there's enough pressure to force oil out, the dipstick would be slightly out of it's tube.

Does the shiny breather leak oil also? If there's that much crankcase pressure, the breather would be soaked also and leaking out through the element I'd think - does the breather drip oil when removed after the car cools down? I have some blow-by on my car, and even with a working PCV, mine would blow some oily smoke out the breather.

If neither of these is occurring, then maybe it's not a disaster, maybe it's just a leak. My intake manifold leaked terribly, and it took me 3 tries before I got it to seal. During the process, I also had valve cover leaks, and leaking oil pressure sending unit - they drove me crazy until I tracked them down and finally got them sealed.

 

Either faulty PCV system or blowby. Do a leakdown test, compression test will reveal a lot but leakdown will reveal more.

I had a blown engine and it used to push the dipstick tube out and pour oil if I didnt run the PCV system AND a breather on the valvecover. It failed a month later, wiped a cyl completely

 

My dipstick does not push out. oil just seeps out the top. I just replaced the PCV valve today and the problem still exist. I pulled the vaccum hose off the TB that goes to the passenger valve cover and the barb fitting on the TB has a yellowish black oil in it. There where also a few bubbles in the oil there. I am using a Holley TB. it has 2 barb fitting on the right side of it and I am using the bigger of the 2 to hook up my PCV system. The other is plugged. and no my TB coolant bypass barb is not connected to the PCV system. My compression test passed and all 8 cylinders where within 2-3psi of 185. This engine has about 1K miles on it. As far as my valve guides being bad, I dont think so since my heads are brand new too but hey, anythings possible. What other things can cause excessive crankcase pressure.

also, what does a leakdown test confirm and what does it pinpoint as a problem area in an engine? Can a leakdown test be performed with a compression test kit?

PS I am not running any breather at all in my PCV system. Just a hose from the passenger cover to the TB and a hose from the bottom of the HSR plenum to PCV valve on the drivers side cover. Could this blowby have anything to do with a mismatched head and intake setup. I thought I read somewhere that if you disabled the EGR then you must get a special intake gasket that blocks off the passage from the intake to the head or pressure will get into the engine. Is this true at all?

 

I was going to make a guess about the intake gasket and the exhaust cross over port but wasn't sure if your heads had the crossover. A cracked head could lose exhast gases into the valve covers and pressurize the crankcase. I mean if its not your pcv or your rings then its got to be something unusual.

 

this isn't right. you need one hose to go from the passenger cover to the air cleaner or to an open filtered air source. the pcv valve hose should run from the drivers valve cover to the throttle body to constantly have vacuum on it. or the valve cover locations can be switched. both hoses out of valve covers should not have vacuum applied to them, which you state one goes from the intake to valve cover.....vacuum applied, and from the pass cover to throttle body.....again vacuum applied. am i making sense?

 

His hose to the throttle body is probably before the throttle blades, as it should be.

 

ah i was thinking like a carb where the ports are below the throttle blades and under vacuum

 

my hose setup is the same as a stock TPI engine has it. The passenger hose goes to one of the barb fittings on the side of my Holley TB. The drivers side hose goes from the bottom of the plenum to the PCV valve. Thats the same way it was on the TPI engine I had in there. Isnt that correct way to run it?

 

did you do a leakdown test yet?

 

negitive, no time as of the moment. I did stop back by themachine shop and told them that my compression test was a success and thery told me that the next possible problem area could be a leak in the intake gasket. Somewhere on the gasket where the outer edge of it is lsucking air into the oil passage area. Could this be possible? I am running an old version of the HSR and I know some people had fitment issues with these

 

A exhaust recirc port could be blowing exhaust into the lifter valley which would definately cause it to pressure up.

 

heres the results from my leakdown test.

Cyl 1 38%
Cyl 8 60%
Cyl 4 38%
Cyl 3 38%
Cyl 6 33%
Cyl 5 40%
Cyl 7 38%
Cyl 2 35%

So, it seems like i have a problem with the number 8 cylinder. air did come out of the dipstick tube on all 8 cylinders but the sound of rushing air was so much louder while doing the number 8 cylinder. There was a little bit more air blowing out the tube but I could hear it so much more coming from inside the engine near the plug area. I thought maybe I did it wrong but got the same recults 4 times on that cylinder. THis engine has abuot 1K miles on it. I then redid a compression check and all 8 cylinder where with 10psi of wach other. The number 8 was the lowest at 180. The rest where 185 and 190. I added oil to the number 8 and it jumped to 210. It almost seems like the compression test didnt prove anything useful to me. Im gonna have to see what the machine shop says about this. They swear up and down that I have an intake gasket leak. If that was the case then wouldnt the head gasket have to be bad too in order for air to get into the cylinder

 

Doubtful that it's an intake gasket. That doesn't make sense. Sounds like the rings in the #8 hole are gone. Did it sound like the air was pushing past the rings or through one of the valves on that cylinder? Did you break the motor in properly?

 

all it sounded like when I was doing the test on that cylinder was a loud rush of air moving somwhere withinthe head and block area. I couldnt pin point the exact location. It was a lot louder then the other 7 cylinders. The air was pushing out the dipstick a little bi tmore thenthe rest though. I also noticed that if I put my finger over the dipstick tube, that the sound of air escaping would now be heard from the TB. As far as breaking the motor in right, I guess I did. The engine was built and I drove it around the neighbor for a few miles and then got it on some back roads. Never was the RPMs brought over 4K. I put about 50 miles on it and then took it to a dyno for some part throttle runs to ensure my timing and fuel pressure was correct and that all sensors where reading correct. THe dyno tuner told me I had a bad vibration in the drivetrain and I took the car home. To make a long story short, I had the engine taken back apart to look for a problem and I ended up rebalanceing the entire assembly. It was put back together and put back in the car. I drove around some side streets for a while(no insurance or plates). Iput about 500 miles on it and then aded the FAST setup and took it to the dyno to be tuned. Im sure the tuner abused the crap out of it toget my tune correct. Im sure he did a lot of WOT pulls to almost 6K. I got the car back and put about 200 miles on it driving around my neighbor for a few months and never noticed any problems at all. THe problems started after I put the car on the road and started taking it to work. I drive about 30 miles round trip and 99% of it is on the highway. Idrive at a steady speed pulling about 2K RPMs. About 1 week after doing this,I noticed the oil pan gasket was leaking and the blowby. At first I figured maybe the rings werent seated yet but its getting worse.

 

Dialed_In=1 very smart guy.
Blowby is blowby, by any other name.
Tying down your dipstick and putting a hose from the valve cover to the top of the air cleaner above the carburetor does not solve the problem. (I actually did this when I was 18)
Sounds like you have a piston/ring problem in #8. (?nitrous?)
See also this thread:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...cking-any.html
And note how many people said it wasn't worth the time.

 

Here's the deal, everyone has their own way of breaking in motors. I know what works on the motors that I build and every builder is different. But one thing remains constant, if you run a new motor un-tuned and rich, the rings WILL wash out. The walls will glaze over before the rings have a chance to seal. If you've got air in the crankcase, then you have some rings that aren't sealed. If you've got it coming through the intake and throttle body, then you've got a valve that isn't seating.

 

well the only way that the air would sdound like it was coming from the TB was if I sealed off the dipstick tube. I left the PCV valve in along with the fitting on the other side of the engine. Air never escaped through the TB if the tube was open.

If the cylinder(s) where washed out and glazed over, then does that mean that the walls will have to be rehoned or something? Will my pistons still be the right size afterward? would I just have to buy new rings? Oh and could I get away with reusing the mainand rod bearings and head gaskets. Im not trying to be cheap or anyhting, just looking to see what can be reused. the engine is practically new

 

In reverse order:
Reuse headgaskets - no.
Reuse rod bearings (no need to remove mains): Yes, if they are kept matched & clean.
New rings? - Yes. Check end-gap again & position correctly.
Pistons still the right size? - Yes, if #8 is not damaged.
Cylinder walls- rehone/scuff if #8 is fine.
Let us know.

 

Supervisor hit the nail on the head. You 'da man!

While it's apart I would take the heads apart and at the very least, re-lap the valves in and check them for straight. Air coming through the TB sounds like a bent valve. Or at least it's not sealed for some reason.

Also, get the injectors checked. Only one cylinder seems to have washed out so you could have an injector stuck open on that cylinder and that's what washed the rings in #8.

I would also find another machine shop. One that specializes in performance engines and not stock rebuilds.

 

personally i would recheck #8 by opening the lash on the valves to see if that will result in a better leak down test reading. there's no way you should hear air rushing past the throttle body unless a valve was open a bit, or a blown headgasket could feed into a different cylinder, but your compression test doesn't show a blown headgasket at all.

 

usually a blown head gasket will cause your coolant to buble in the overflow tank

 

I went BACK to the machine shop today and told them the results of my leakdown test and the guy says that he has no explanation for it. He says "if your rings where bad then the compresion test would have showed it". He swears up and down that I have a bad intake gasket and that air is getting sucked into the lifter valley area of the engine through the intake gasket. I cant argue with him there because I dont know for sure if that can happen or not. All he keeps telling me to to change out the gaskets and see what happens. Can a badintake gasket cause blowby?

 

Like stated above, an intake gasket leak can cause a vacuume leak, an exhaust recirc port to blow exhaust into the lifter valley or coolant leaking into lifter valley or onto intake.


I doubt its a intake gasket.


This is weird...

It cant be a head gasket, you would be bubbling the rad and blowing white smoke, I dont see how it can be rings or valve leaking if its got good compression either


Your motor has a gremlin!

 

I highly doubt its the intake gaskets too but its almost like I wanna change them out and show these people that I still have the problem with NEW gaskets. I asked them what to look for if the problem was still there AFTER I put new gaksets in and they said to have my intake checked for cracks or something. They said get another intake and try it out. I have the HSR intake. I do know there where fitment issues with the earlier ones and I did buy mine about 3 years ago. I do not know if I have a bad one or good one either. it would be nice if Holley swapped it out fo rme if I told them it was having fitment issues with my heads.

 

I dont understand the debate. You have 60% leakage on one of the cylinders and large leakage across all of them. Your rings are shot. They didnt seat properly. Could have been caused by lots of different things. THe big thing is, your machinist is a loser. He knows good and well that a leakdown test with those numbers, and air escaping into the crankcase means that. He just doesnt want to have to outlay any cash or time.

 

exactly. I once had an engine that had bad rings in it so I know the side effects of it and blow by is by far the biggest one. Ijusat dont know if I should have these guys refix my engine or look elsewhere for the work to be redone. There are practically no good machine shops in my area that specialze in street/strip engines. Im going to do some looking around through and see what I can do. A 50-100 mile drive for a real shop to do the work is better then this crap Im going through now.

 

What you need to do is take him to court and make him pay for a real machine shop to re-do his f*ck up. When you're doing a cranking compression test, there isn't enough a.)cylinder presure to push past the rings, and b.) enough time for the air to get by. Everything is different when it's running. There is only one way for air to get into the crankcase through a closed cylinder and that is past the rings. End of story. Wether or not it's his fault we may never know. He could have honed the cylinders poorly or to the wrong size, installed the wrong rings, installed rings improperly, pistons could be defective, or the rings could be cracked/broken. On the other hand you could be to blame by not breaking it in properly. Right now the ball is in his court as to what he's going to do about it but I definitely wouldn't let him touch it again.

 

Dialed in is right in the leakdown test you should have had about 10-15 if the rings were seated properly and if they are not the engine acts like a big pump for the crank case.

give the machinist a can of carb spray and have him go at it. they give him the leakdown tester and show him in the book what the real readings are.

Me personally I would just re-hone all the cylinders gap a new set of rings and break it in a little more carefully.

 

Yeah but someone's got to pay for that plus the time that it takes to tear the car back apart. And I certainly wouldn't let the same guy hone the cylinders wrong again.

 

you have to understand there is no way of proving that the machinist was to blame. because of the user error that could occur in the break in process. the owner of the vehicle never expained the procedure he used to break the rings in..

there are very few of us that are strong enough to look at our own faults and the parts we play when things go wrong. it is much to easy to point a finger and take the blame away from ourselves.

Did he have any sort of warranty. if so he should follow your advise and get it done elsewhere and go to small claims court.

if not he is up the creek without compression. Sometimes even the best machine shop can make mistakes and sometimes we make mistakes. Finding the best way to resolve this issue is the concern.

somehow this guy got into business and opened a shop. this means he had to be doing something right. It is not hard to hone a block. Up and down really slow with tranny fluid and a bunch of paper towels. It may be hard for the buisess owner to admit he make a mistake he has pride in his buisness. just as hard as it might be for the owner of the car to admit he pushed the motor to soon.

the bottom line is in order to get things straight with the machine shop you will have to be a smooth negotiator.

 

I doubt a machine shop is going to hone someones block with a dewalt drill, atf and paper towel. well ya never know but i would say the honing was probably done on a machine worth more than his car!

But the engine will have to be carefully disassembled and every piece inspected to try and figure out who was at fault here. It could have been poor machining/assembly or it could have been the WOT dyno runs so soon in its life that did it in.

But whoevers fault it was it sucks that you have to go through all this BS and most likely end up without a car for a while.

 

did you ever figure out what the problem was because i am having the same problem with my hsr'ed l98.

 

yes, problem was blowby. I had 60% leakage in all 8 cylinders. Crappy rings never seated well.

 

so did you have to rebuild it? did you get the machine shop to pick up the bill?

 

Yes, the engine was pulled back out and completly rebuilt. I picked up the tab for everything. It cost me $300 for some Total Seal rings and about $500 for rebuild. I ended up rehoning the walls, installing a new oil pump, and I had two bulkhead AN fittings installed on the back of the block just under the back wall. This had to be done when the engine was apart and that was a perfect time to have it done. I wonder why the one fitting is blue and the other is red. BTW, no I can get to one side of the fitting with the intake on. Its "hidden" just like the rest of the goodies will be be when it done