Engine oil everywhere?
Thread Starter
|
Postmaster
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 3,005
Likes: 2
From: Santa Clarita
Engine oil everywhere?
I was driving with my boys this evening and saw this very cherry 41 Ford pickup on the side of the road with the hood up. Being the nice guy I am. I ask if he needed help. He said he was driving and notice a lot of smoke coming out the back of the truck. (just finished a complete restore on this truck which took him over two years). Thinking that it had the "other non-Ford" engine under hood, it would smoke normally. After looking closely, we noticed that the one breather on the passenger side was spitting oil out the filter portion and running down the valve cover onto the headers. He had a PVC valve on the other cover and another breather type in the rear of the same valve cover with the leak. The engine has less than 500 miles on it. What would be some possible causes for the oil to come out on only one breather?. (It was a lot of oil too.) Since the guy wasn't familiar with the area, I drove him to the nearest Kragen to get another PVC valve to get him home, hopefully.
Lead Driver
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 6,777
Likes: 553
From: Kalispell, MT
41's didn't come with valve covers - I think that's his problem!! LOL
Excessive blow by will cause that - rings not seated yet or broken. I have a worn out 351M that blows oil out the dipstick tube. Plugged hose on the pcv will do it. Pcv not rated for the cubic inches he's running or using too small a hose back to the manifold. You say he had two breather caps on the pass side valve cover and pcv on the driver's side? Was his pcv hooked to a manifold vac port on the carb base?
Nice of you to help out a fellow Ford driver!
Excessive blow by will cause that - rings not seated yet or broken. I have a worn out 351M that blows oil out the dipstick tube. Plugged hose on the pcv will do it. Pcv not rated for the cubic inches he's running or using too small a hose back to the manifold. You say he had two breather caps on the pass side valve cover and pcv on the driver's side? Was his pcv hooked to a manifold vac port on the carb base?
Nice of you to help out a fellow Ford driver!
Last edited by mtflat; May 15, 2005 at 12:57 AM.
More Turbo
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 682
Likes: 0
From: Peoria, IL (more or less)
One other possibility is that the baffle is gone under that breather, or was damaged by the valvetrain (not enough clearance). I've seen an amazing amount of oil escape this way, especially if the upper end of the engine was being oiled excessively. On a Chevy (if that's what it was) a rocker is almost always directly aiming at the breather hole on most rocker covers.
Another possibility is that the oil drainback holes in the head are partially plugged, leaving the oil no place to go. Combine that with excessive crankcase pressure from blowby and there you go.
Or, could be a combination of all.
Or, like mtflat said....not supposed to be covers on a '41!
Another possibility is that the oil drainback holes in the head are partially plugged, leaving the oil no place to go. Combine that with excessive crankcase pressure from blowby and there you go.
Or, could be a combination of all.
Or, like mtflat said....not supposed to be covers on a '41!
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 27,299
Likes: 1,059
From: NM
I'd bet on Homespun's theory of no baffles. I've seen dozens of aftermarket (Chinese) covers that you either have to screw baffle plates on yourself (aluminum covers) or they are just not there (chrome). Real bargains...
There aren't two baffled openings on (most) Chev valve covers; one is a fill and is usually not baffled. If he was using a breather on the fill I don't doubt he is getting direct shot of oil out there.
There aren't two baffled openings on (most) Chev valve covers; one is a fill and is usually not baffled. If he was using a breather on the fill I don't doubt he is getting direct shot of oil out there.
Thread Starter
|
Postmaster
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 3,005
Likes: 2
From: Santa Clarita
I know he had Edelbrock finned valve covers on the truck. As for the PCV hose, it did go to the manifold plate under the carb. As for the plate under the valve cover. I thought the same thing, however this guy (an elderly gentleman) did the work himself and appeared to be very knowledgable. I don't think this was his first project. I really don't think he left it out. But who knows. Sure hope it wasn't rings. As he followed me to the nearest auto parts, I didn't notice any smoke at all. We drove it without the breather on that was leaking? Thanks for the input guys.
I agree with you guys on the engine. As pretty this truck was, looking at the engine in the stall just didn't do justice. At the least he could of put another Ford in. To each his own. The guy still had a very nice truck and did a great job restoring it.
I agree with you guys on the engine. As pretty this truck was, looking at the engine in the stall just didn't do justice. At the least he could of put another Ford in. To each his own. The guy still had a very nice truck and did a great job restoring it.
Last edited by imlowr2; May 15, 2005 at 10:05 AM.
Posting Guru
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,908
Likes: 2
From: Seattle WA.
If he had the PVC line to the carb base. The hose the the air cleaner from the valve cover. There is no need for the breathers. My Vette is setup this way without the breathers and I have had no problems with it. I would block the breathers off. He might have a hi volume pump sending a lot of oil the the top of the heads contributing to that problem also.
Rod
Rod
