I give up! - advice on who can help - oil everywhere post rebuild

Is the "oil thrower" the bit that can go in back to front? (like ours was, meaning the oil got "pushed" out instead of back in) ..... or is it the "spiral"maybe?

 

The concave washer. LP battered mine - it happens when you drop the crank in and miss. It leaked with the battered one. Didn't after I rebuilt with a new one (and a zillion other things).

 

That is a possibility, that the oil slinger is in back to front (or the pulley boss isn’t a close fit).

Is the crankcase breather in place and of the right diameter?

 

@zedders siliconing up the drain holes makes some sense, but I think the oil you see coming down off the pulley is being sprayed up the back of the engine from the oil pump..

If theres enough to make a large amount of smoke, its probably pumping straight out at 50psi..

One of your oil pumping "pops" might have been a crack in the oil pump cover ...

I think if the thrower is the wrong way round, it still throws oil but is close to rubbing- that was my memory from my engine build.

Aftermarket aluminium pulleys have been known to have the "air pump" spiral machined the wrong way round so they suck air and oil from the crank case rather than suck clean air into the crank case.

Also some people fit "sand seals" which mean that the original engine case may have been machined out for a seal around the crank pulley, and the crank pulley may be turned down in size. In a new engine case, there would be a massive gap where the seal is not and the pulley nose is too small.

You should be able to see the spiral on the outside of the pulley nose - its quite fine.

The gap between the pulley and the engine case should be pretty small.

As I said before I do have a completely untouched Maxi 3 lying around. Also a stock oil pump that might be worth a try .. to eliminate external oil circulation mistakes you still may have in your installation.

 

Hi guys, thanks again for all your advice and insights. It is enormously appreciated. I called south west splitz today and they are coming to get the van wednesday. Its maybe a mistake but after this debarcle i am doubting my rebuild and so it might be good to have them look it all over. To answer a few points raised..
I think the slinger is there but unsure and am loathed the get the pulley off again to look. There were no major oil leaks after the mess up on the oil pressure relief valves so i think the slinger is there. Maybe a dreaded valve is stuck i wonder. It might be as simple as you say that the oil pump or a pipe is leaking - that does seem most likely. The breather pipe is clear as i can feel pressure and fumes coming from it when i pull it off the carbs. I am wondering whether i still have residule fuel in the oil too which is thinning it, and causing the leak or not helping it. I was meticulous with the case build up- faint smear of sealant on the joints so should be fine. Anyhow i mighg have a quick look again if i can face it but will post an update when i know whats what... thanks again all.

 

So, the vans in at south west splitz in Exeter truck away last night. They seem like a nice bunch of guys. Fingers crossed,

 

Fingers crossed for you and please report back their findings.

 

So, great relief. Shaun who is one of the owners of the business at South West Splitz thinks the engine build is probably all ok. He says he has seen the oil problem a lot of times before on upgrades to 1641 engines and bigger where the crankcase isnt breathing properly with dual carbs. What happens is the case over pressures. He is fitting a breather box and extra breathe pipes on the rocker covers. Originally i just had a pipe venting under the van off the pil fill port. I guess it could also be related to the autolinea case, who knows. Anyhow he's pretty convinced that this will sort it out and the van will be ready once the breather box comes in early this week. After reading a bit about crankcase breathing it does make some sense and i hear it actually improves performance and fuel efficiency as the pistons are not trying to compress air on the downstroke so good news there too. Will report more once i pick her up hopefully end of the week. Anyone else had any experience on crank case breathing probs...for me it was not something i had ever thought much about even though i've seen breather boxes you could buy. I always thought they were a nice to have rather than vent to air.

 

That does make sense. The stock VW breather hose is pretty wide - 20mm? Folk chuck them out and fit things like those blingy oil fillers with piddly breather connection, and their crankcase pumps itself up and throws oil all over the place.

Personally, I wouldn’t use a breather box (drippy oily things) or vent the rocker covers. Just route nice wide breather hoses into the air filters. Sorted!

 

My 1641 gets along fine with its 20mm breather routed to the air cleaner downstream of the pressure reducing flap. Not vented to air.

If the engine was really OK and it just has a choked up breather you would expect a fine spray of oil from the crank pulley because over a full operating cycle of the engine, the total volume change in the crank case is zero.

In the end it coats the engine bay with oil but never makes huge clouds of smoke. That was my experience with the EMPI bling filler and a worn 1641.

Something else awaits..a split oil pipe or a pump cover. Or you actually damaged it running with the oil system blockage.

 

It's a 1641 to all intents and purposes, stock. Vented rocker covers and breather box? Twin carbs pressurising the case? I've heard it all now!

 

It is faintly ridiculous.

 

I was surprised, but lets see what happens. I was pretty sure it was a leak on the oil pump or hose, but there we are you have to put your trust somewhere. I will see what goes this week and report back.

 

I think our surprise was not the crankcase pressure, but things like venting rocker covers, when you could simply vent into the air filters.

Have you got one of those chrome oil fillers?

 

Only place I see breather boxes are on engines with just air/velocity stacks, where there's no filters to vent into. Blummin pain as emptying the box is another service item.

 

Some people fit catch cans under the breather box that you can remove to empty them.

 

The oil filler that went on the engine was the one off the old engine which was shiney but i think had a good diameter pipe to vent. This then went to the top of one of the carbs. From what i understand i now have three vent pipes - one ftom the oil filler neck, and ond from each rocker cover going to the breather box and presumably from that to the carb/carbs. Shaun from south west splitz has called today to say that after doing the mod all is good. He's given the van a good run out and its now fine and ready for collection. I will hppefully get over there at the weekend to collect and drive back so i will see where we are at after the drive back. Hope all is good and the van is in good shape. Will report back after pick up....

 

Great news.

Have a good spin round whilst still near the garage, make sure you are happy then take it home.

 

So guys, not good news on the engine problem. The case is over pressuring still and in a big way. The garage said the van was ready to pick up but i made no more than a couple of miles before oil spraying out the breather box, oil everywhere and well down on power. Towed back to yhe garage and lots of head scratching. They have now compression tested 3 cyls ok and are about to do the next. He is saying it might be ring clearance which spunds wrong to me but who knows. Any pearls of wisdom from you guys would be great. To summarise - after the fuel in the oil i now have high crankcase pressure. Could it be the oil is still thin from the fuel leak stopping the rings sealing? A stuck valve? Any ideas would be great as yhe garage are stumped too.

 

It won’t be thin oil but the compression test will tell you if it’s worn rings. Nobody really thought a breather box would solve the problem, did they?