OIL pressure and finding oil in strange places...

[hanse1bd]

I recently pulled the 1.6 NA out of my 81 Rabbit and installed it in my 95 Geo Tracker. The engine had 118k, ran fine, it was just leaky, so I replaced the head gasket to stop the oil leak on the front of the motor, as well as the rear main, aux shaft, camshaft, etc.. The good news is that my head isn't leaking oil to the outside yet. But I'm finding it in other places.
I replaced the injectors last week after 300 miles in the Tracker (I don't know why I didn't replace them while the engine was on the stand). I found an alarming amount of oil at the base of injectors 2 and 3. By that I mean the heat shields were bathed in oil up to the threads of the injectors. I just can't figure out how the oil got there. Is it leaking through the head gasket and getting blown up into the pre-chamber? I couldn't see any oil in the pre-chamber, and the glow plugs looked/functioned OK. I assume if oil is getting into the prechamber, it is getting burned up when the cylinder fires.

The second place I was surprised to find oil in a large amount was in the intake manifold. I took the valve cover off to re torque the head bolts today. I found out that half of the air filter was soaked and oil was pooling in the bottom of the intake. I've always had some oil in the intake, but never this much. Never ruined an air filter. I made a deflector out of some aluminum flashing and put it over the cam lobes on cylinder 4 to help keep oil out of the breather. I'll let you know how that works out.

I also installed a Vgauge dual read water temp/oil pressure digital gauge. I finally hooked up the oil pressure gauge today after tracking down the right adapter, and found my oil pressure to be 100+. I am running a 36mm pump. Granted, the engine wasn't up to full operating temp (water was at 130) but 100 seemed high. Does that seem too high? If so, how do I fix it?

I still have to fix the rear main oil leak. It leaves a couple drops on the ground over night. When I changed it while the motor was out, I pushed the seal in to far and had to take the carrier off to push it flush from the backside. I think I might have damaged the seal. I have one of the new style carriers with the integrated gasket, and will probably drop the transmission this weekend to install it.

The engine has lost 2 quarts of oil. About one every 300 miles. I don't think the rear main is leaking bad enough to account for all of that. If it was, I think I'd see more oil on the ground and all over the undercarriage. The Rabbit left bigger puddles from the head gasket leak, and I'd add a quart about every 1000 miles. And there wasn't 2 quarts in the intake. If it is burning oil, it isn't blowing blue smoke. I get a little black smoke when I rev it, but not much.

Any ideas on where the oil is going? I had a little bit floating in the top of the radiator, but that could have been residue that got into the water jacket when I had the head off. The coolant isn't milky, and neither was the oil when I changed it today. Very black.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks,

Brian

[Quantum-man]

Hi-Bri,
If your rings are wearing thin, the ring gap enlarges, so you may have excessive sump pressure.
If you have this pressure, and your oil filter/drain sheeting in the valve cover is clogging [as they naturally do]; then more oil can be pushed up into the vent hose and deposited onto the air filter.

It can then seep through and get burnt.
As it comes in with the air at low pressure, ie vaccuum, in drip form, it has time to stick to the chamber walls and flow upwards.
Although much gets burnt, some of it naturally accumulates around the heatshield, and should there be very slight leaks there, it can creep past the shields[along with some diesel no doubt], a "matter of time and pressure" [Morgan Freeman].

The accumulation around the injectors can also be just diesel...
Diesel can also escape the injector body via the interface of the nozzle and injector body.
What you are seeing is very common.
Generally not a problem. Reforming, and reusing heatshields in their particular injector hole can improve the shield to head to injector sealing. [Look up my extensive research into this topic ]

Poorly operating oil-scraper rings can also be contributing to oil entering the combustion chamber.

Best priority is to ensure valve cover is clean. I scrub with paraffin oil. Check for excessive sump pressure, which would also mean some of your oil leaks were from the oil seals behind the sprockets...

[TylerDurden]

It does sound like major blow-by.

The crankcase can also be excessively pressurized by the vacuum pump: if there is a leak in a vacuum line, significantly more air volume is vented into the crankcase by the vac pump.

Also would be good to know where the oil pressure is being measured.

[hanse1bd]

Thank you for the responses. I guess I should have done a full rebuild of the engine while I had it out. The cylinder walls looked really good, no scratches, gouges, etc. I'll keep doing what I have been doing for the last 2 years, which is running 5-40 synthetic and checking the oil level daily.

My oil pressure sender is in the factory switch location on the back of the head (cyl 4 next to the water outlet).

I was expecting to average 35 mpg in the tracker. My first two tanks were 31.5 and 29.5. But it has been really windy here and the Tracker catches the wind way more than the Rabbit did. Plus I caught myself running 75 mph on the interstate a few times. I never took the Rabbit above 70. The Tracker can be a handful at highway speed. Now maybe I'll add tired engine to my list of reasons for lower than expected MPG.

[82vdub]

The oil in the intake is fairly common. It sucks oil from the valve cover into the intake, and if there's enough, it can cause a run on situation. To a diesel, oil is nothing more than thick diesel fuel. It will take a lot more oil consumption than 300/quart before you would see any hint of oil smoke coming out of the tailpipe.

As far as 300 miles to the quart compared to what it did before, I'd run it for now and see if the rings re-seat themselves. Not sure how long the engine was out of the Rabbit, so it may need to re-seat the rings. Plus, if you overheated it, you could have taken the temper out of the rings and it'll suck oil no matter what you do (except to replace the rings). I had an old Rabbit that did 200-250 miles on a quart. It sucked to pull over and add oil before having to fill the fuel tank. Was the engine overheated just before you pulled it?

The baffle in the head should cut down on some oil getting into the intake. If the filter is as soaked as what you say, I'd guess that the majority of the oil is getting sucked into the intake. What could have changed to cause this to happen? Was it the same head that was reused, or a different head possibly driving up how tight the valves sealed causing higher cylinder pressures?

Like I said, I'd continue to run it for a while and see if the situation works itself out or not. You may also consider switching back to regular dyno oil and see if the oil consumption stops or slows, or has a significant change.

[air-cooled or diesel]

what did you do with the vacuum pump line?

[hanse1bd]

My Vacuum pump is hooked to the master cylinder on the suction side and the block (above the oil filter) on the other.

I haven't put many miles on the Tracker since the oil change last week. But I can see that my baffle is helping to keep oil out of the intake.

According to my gauge, my oil pressure 58-60 psi at idle when the oil is warm, and 99+ psi driving down the road. I'm not convinced that the gauge is working correctly. Where else can you tap in to the oil system to get a pressure reading other than the port on the head?

I found more oil in the radiator. More than what I can blame on rebuilding residue.

Doesn't appear to have any water in the oil.

I'm going to keep my eye on it. But I have a bad feeling that I'll be pulling the head again soon.

[TylerDurden]

I don't have a gauge, but if my memory serves, 100psi is common. Excessive pressure usually bursts the filter before pushing past the HG.

There may be a port on the oil-filter flange, where a pressure sensor can be installed. It is the turbo supply port on turbo versions. Pressure there is usually higher than the head port.

Where did you find the adapter for the pressure sender? I need a few. Thx.

[82vdub]

100+ PSI for the diesels is common for oil pressure.

Also with a diesel, the combustion pressures typically will push combustion gasses into the coolant, or oil, or both, but typically water won't go into the cylinder. It's different then gas because of the pressures involved.

[hanse1bd]

Tyler,

The adapter is from autometer, and i ordered it from Jeggs. About $10.

[bc]

My Vanagon had major blow-by, not as bad as that though. it turned out to be 2 broken rings.

[hanse1bd]

Update: I'm getting more and more oil in the coolant. After a 60 mile drive, the next day I sucked about 3 oz of oil from the radiator.

I think it is time to pull the head. This time I'm going to use ARP studs. Just want to make sure I have my info straight.

Since I have 11 mm head bolts, I understand that I should order either 204-4701 or 204-4203. Undercut or non undercut.

The u/c are only a few dollars more. Should I use them? I read on another forum that they don't have to be retorqued?

All of the bolt holes in the block are blind holes, so I don't need any sort of thread sealant, but I do need to use the ARP ultra torque assembly lube. Does that mean lube the studs on both ends, or just the top threads for the nut?

The studs go in finger tight, and the nuts are torqued to spec. Those of you that are using ARP studs, when the time comes for you to pull the head, do the studs stay in the block, or do they come out with the nut? (on my exhaust manifold studs, about half of them stayed in the block, and half came out with the nut attached.)

How many times can you re use the studs/nuts? I read on the ARP site that the studs do stretch, and I thought that was the reason not to reuse the regular head bolts. I couldn't find anything about re using them.

Do you have a preferred brand of head gasket? if so, why?

Please set me straight if any of my information is wrong.

Thanks,

Brian

[Caerbannog]

I went with the 204-4203 on the recommendation of ARP. You can find some discussion here:viewtopic.php?f=8&t=8312&start=15

I lubed the top threads with their "special sauce" that was supplied with the kit. When I had to pull the head to address the external oil leak (viewtopic.php?f=8&t=11353 ) I pulled the studs, because on a Rabbit, to remove the head, there isn't enough "headroom" to the raintray to clear the studs, as I recall. Otherwise, I wouldn't have pulled them. You may not have the problem in your Geo.

There is an small Allen-head on the top to help you out. The ARPs are a very high quality item, and you should get a lot of use out of them... if you are unfortunate to need to repeatedly open your motor, that is

When you get it apart, take good look at the area around your oil port (between #3 and #4 near the injector side of the head and block). Chances are, you'll see the gasket has blown around there.

When I did the head gasket this last time, I used the Permatex Copper spray, something I've never done before. Hagar, I recall, was using epoxy as a sealant. YMMV

[82vdub]

I also used the 4203's, as this is what was listed in the ARP catalog.

You use the thread lube on the nuts that hold the head down.

Make sure your head and block are flat. I didn't use any head sealer or anything, put the Goetz gasket on dry. I did a retorque at 1000 miles (or 800, or ...) and was amazed at how loose the nuts were. So buy yourself two valve cover gasket sets for the job, and save one set for a few weeks down the road.

Now's the time to re-shim the valves and service the head, if it needs servicing.

I'm not sure how many times you can reuse studs, but when I torqued them to 80 ft/lbs, that's not much torque. For my retorque, instead of backing any of the nuts off, I just took everything to 82 ft/lbs and left it at that. I did do them to the original 80 just to see how loose they got, and were they ever.

[hanse1bd]

Caerbannog: I read through the threads you linked. Here is a pic of what my head gasket oil port seal looked like when I pulled the head (after pulling the motor out of the Rabbit). This was leaking oil to the outside of the block at a little less than a quart per tank of fuel. The seal was separated from the head gasket and warped just how the picture shows.

I'll get the studs, head gasket, and lube ordered. When they arrive, I'll pull the head and see what it looks like this time.

82vdub: I know I should check the shims for real this time. I couldn't find my full set of feeler gauges the first time. The thinnest one I had was .008. It was tight fitting on all of the intake and exhaust, but as I rotated the cam, I could see a thick film of oil on the low side of the lobes, and could see where it was wiped clean on the high side from contact with the shims. So I know that there is some clearance. Problem is that I have to buy the tools to pull the shims to see what size they are before I can order the correct ones if needed. I'm to cheap to buy a $90 full set of shims when I know I won't use them all. I should at least bite the bullet and order the tools so I can check what size my shims are the next time I have it apart.

Removing the valve cover repeatedly isn't that big of a deal because I pulled the shouldered valve cover studs and replaced them with hex head bolts, then switched to the preformed, one piece rubber gasket. I've had it off twice so far and it has gone back on with no leakage.

Thank you both for your advice. I'll let know know what I find.

-Brian