oil out the dipstick

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68 A

68 A

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So once again, i was reminded that to assume is to make an *** of you and me.

i took my intake off 3 times because i though it was leaking oil out between the intake and the block by the alternator. Got it back together for the third time a week ago, drive around the block and guess what?! Still oil all over the place. Clean it up and run the throttle by hand and look to see where it is coming from.

It is coming out of the end of the dipstick. It is what i think is a stock dipstick. When I built the 318 for it, i got a new chrome dipstick, but couldn't get the tube in the block (it measures .03 inches larger than the stock tube) so i pulled the one out of the 273 and put it in. There is no rubber at the top, and i dont know if there is supposed to be or not? it is just steel, It fits kind of tight, but seems to be cocked to one side allowing a gap. Whats the deal with these? is there supposed to be some sort of o ring or rubber on the top (new dipstick that i couldn't get in does have rubber around the top)?

thanks

Steve
 
Do you have oil coming out anywhere else? Are you running a PCV valve, and if so have you checked it? Sounds like crankcase is not venting good.
 
The new dipsticks are to be lightly hammered in for a pressed in fit. No "O" rings.
Breathers/PVC on the valve covers?
 
i have a breather on one valve cover. I wanted to put a pvc valve in, but haven't been able to find any grommets that will allow me to do that yet. I do have another breather i could put in so i have 2. Maybe that will help?

thanks,

Steve
 
Oil out the top of the dipstick tube usually indicates serious compression lose (blow by). Run compression test ?
 
You must use a PVC or you will develop back pressure. The PVC acts like a vacuum it will do more than having two breathers.
I always use a breather on one valve cover and install the PVC on the other side.
 
I had exactly this issue with a stock 318, I hooked up a breather to the valve cover, and the problem went away. worth a try.
Mike
 
Blow by... had the same problem with a 340 that i had. Did a lot of street racing with it and then all of a sudden i developed the oil out of the dipstick problem. After i tore it down i discovered that i had busted the land between the rings on one piston. It in turn put all the compression for that cylinder into the crankcase. Saved the block after a .080 overbore. Thats my two cents. Good luck.
 
Could be either problem. One way to tell is to watch it closely while idling with no dipstick in the tube. If it is a constant stream of vapour/oil then it is the fact there is no pvc. If it pumps out in regular intervals then you have a problem with one of your pistons or the rings on one of your pistons.

Jack
 
so i looked around tonight and finally found a grommet that will hopefully work with my mopar performance valve covers. The grommets they gave me with the hardware kit don't fit as they are not deep enough. I found one that should work and had to "glue" it in with some silicone. I just had it idling and it didn't blow anything out, i took the oil fill off the other valve cover and it feels like it is creating a slight vaccum in the crankcase now so the PCV must be working. I think i'll wait till tommorow to take it down the road and let the silicone permanently set up. I'll report back then, hopefully with the results i am looking for!

thanks again

Steve
 
well, took it around the block tonight, got on it to about 3500 and had some oil on the windshield, pulled over, reved it by hand, oil is coming out the dipstick still. On the way back to the house i got on it harder and it blew the pcv and grommet right out of the other grommet (forgot the silicone that one in).

got back cleaned all the oil up and put a breather on the drivers side. Back on the road, didn't seem to have to much blowing out, but when i got on it a bit i could see steam around the breather (hood is off by the way). got back and there was oil on the drivers side inner fender. I wasn't sure if it came out the breather or if something was leaking with the power steering since the first run it steered like normal, and the second run there was more resistance and the pump sounded a little low on oil.

third run, after cleaning up oil and taking the power steering pump belt off. No oil on the windsheild until i got WOT up to 5,500 rpm, but not much oil came out at all. and the pcv stayed in without silicone on the other grommet.

The engine does only have about 150 miles on it since rebuild, so its not broken in yet and could be causing more blowby. Cylinder 1 may have more than the rest. I had the block work done 6 years before putting the engine together so i honed all the cylinders, and cylinder 1 was the first one i've ever done and it was over honed.


so i think i have the problem solved with blowing oil out the dipstick.

next question is, can i leave the belt off of my power steering for good? i liked the way it drove alot better without it.

thanks

STeve
 
Steve,

You got so much going on that I had to read your post a couple of times. LOL!

Is the PVC hooked to the carb or the breather?

If I was you and after comfirming that the PVC and breather didn't solve the problem I would do a compression test on all cylinders. Have you ever done a compression test?
 
Probably the motor isnt broken in yet. You do need to run a pcv on one cover and a breather on the other. For the mopar performance valve covers I found that the stock pcv grommet works fine for the knock out on one side and for the other a push in breather - I used a K&N with the corresponding grommet that fit the knock out in the cover.

A cylinder balance test might be useful as well if you know someone who has it. It cancels the firing of one cylinder at a time and you read the rpm drop. What you are looking for is an even amount of rpm drop on each cylinder.
 
This has happened before to a guy I new
And it was a head gasket blown between the two middle pistons.

dip stick would blow air and oil.
 
could still be an issue with the motor having so few miles but most rings will seal up fairly well by then. i would pull the plugs and pump air into the cylinders and listen at the dipstick for air escaping. if it sounds like a slow tire leak you just might need some more run time but if it sounds like a lot of air is escaping you got yourself a ring problem. oh yeah and of course make sure you rotate the motor so both the valves are shut. i use my compression tester hose to put air in the cylinders just remove the one way valve from it and the other end should have a standard air hose connector.
 
camd64 said:
could still be an issue with the motor having so few miles but most rings will seal up fairly well by then. i would pull the plugs and pump air into the cylinders and listen at the dipstick for air escaping. if it sounds like a slow tire leak you just might need some more run time but if it sounds like a lot of air is escaping you got yourself a ring problem. oh yeah and of course make sure you rotate the motor so both the valves are shut. i use my compression tester hose to put air in the cylinders just remove the one way valve from it and the other end should have a standard air hose connector.
Click to expand...


Yeah that's great advice there now.

To me it sounds like way to much oil coming out of the dipstick for it to be just not having crank case ventilation.
 
ok,

so the only time i have oil coming out now with the PCV in one valve cover connected to the carb, and a breather on the other cover is when i am at high rpm.

I could try putting another breather in a knockout on the valve covers (then 2 breathers and 1 pcv)

but it sounds like i should do a compression check first? to make sure that i dont have an internal problem that could lead to more internal problems.

I have never done a compression check, but from what I understand, you put a pressure guage into the spark plug hole and turn it over. I think we have a guage at work, or i could borrow one from a neighbor.

thanks for the ideas

Steve
 
This how to do one:

http://autos.yahoo.com/maintain/repairqa/engine/ques056_1.html

Make note of this:

If compression is low in one or more cylinders, you can isolate the problem to the valves or rings by squirting a little 30 weight motor oil into the cylinder through the spark plug hole and repeating the compression test. The oil temporarily seals the rings. If the readings are higher the second time around, it means the rings and/or cylinder is worn. No change in the compression readings tells you the cylinder has a bad valve.
 
If the compression test doesn't give you a definitive answer, then I would do a leakdown test.
 
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