Gas in the oil. Not through the fuel pump.

KarmannMarco

Hi guys.
I need some advice.
I'm not super familiar with the engines ( I'm learning ) so there may be some stupid questions.
Here it goes.
The last time my Ghia ran good was in 2011. Back then it started right up , drove pretty good but the car needed lots of work elsewere.
Because of some life events the car sat for a good two years sadly.
When I tried to get the car running again a year or so ago I noticed my extreme stupidity and neglect caused me to needing to replace most of the fuel system that had gotten gummed with old gas up or ruined from sitting around. The fuel lines had to be cleaned completely. They actually survived better then the rest of the system.
The gas tank was rusty and gummy. I ended up cleaning the inside real good , removed every bit of rust and coated the inside with this great product called Redcote. It is now brand new basically.
The carb ( cheap Brazilian solex ) got rebuilt. I do plan or replacing it with a dual Kadron kit eventually.
The fuel pump got replaced with new one with and a new push rod.
I installed the new fuel pump and the rebuilt carb a couple of month ago but I didn't install the gas tank or hook up the fuel lines because I knew it was going to be a few more months before I could spend more time on it and I didn't want to risk gumming up everything again.
Two months ago before moving to Colorado I decided to see if I could get the car going. I hooked up the carb to a small bottle with gas and bypassed the fuel pump. The carb sucked up a couple of pints of gas before it actually started but eventually the car fired up and ran.
It ran a bit rough and wouldn't hold an idle but what concerned me the most is how much gas the carb sucked up. Within two minutes of running the car has guzzled probably a quart of gas. I figure some of it went into the bowl but had no idea where in the world the rest went.
Fast forward two month ( yesterday ) I've been moved into our new place of over a month and wanted to try and get the car started again. This time the car would not start at all. Pouring a bit of gas down the carb would make it try to start but it never actually started.
So I decide to address the rest of the neglected maintenance.
I drained the oil to do an oil change and the was easily a quart or more extra fluid in the engine. The oil looked like chocolate milk and smelled of gas. I figured this was somehow related to all that gas being guzzled months before so I added a couple of courts of fresh oil , turned the engine over several times and drained it again. I did this a couple of times to the point most of the oil coming out looked pretty decent. I will do this again a couple more times to be sure.
Now this morning I checked under the car and I had no leaks under the drain plug but had a few spots under the driver side valve cover. I wiped a bit with my finger and smelled it and it smelled of gas.

Has all the gas I've been pouring in the car been going directly into the block ?
Is it because the high volume of gas going in ? In other words is it supposed to do that when more gas then usual goes into the intake ?
Or do I have some kind of bad seal somewhere causing the gas to go into the block?
What should be my next course of action ?

Thanks in advance.

c21darrel · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 11:49 am Post subject:

danielsan · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 1:23 pm Post subject:

^agreed. Also ask your carb rebuilder if he checked the float level.

If that isn't it --

1. I know you said not the pump but if you replaced a bad long rod pump with a short rod pump and left the original long rod in the case your new pump could also be bad. Also know that there was bad period of brosol pumps in the early 2000 . . .

Do you ever park on a hill? If so you need a different sort of pump --

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=609991

KarmannMarco · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:03 pm Post subject:

Thanks guys. I'll check the carb as suggested.
I don't think its the pump because in 2011 when I was driving this car I didn't have this issue. When I replaced the pump I did so because it had gummed up fuel in it and I made certain the rod was the correct lenght. And even so the new pump has yet to see any fuel.
Seems like this all started after the carb got a rebuild.

My next questions.... if fuel did run excessively down the intake and leaked into the block and out of the valve covers does it mean there something wrong down there ? Or is it expected for the fuel to take those paths?

danielsan · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:38 pm Post subject:

No, oil should make it down to the valve covers. It is probably especially bad on the 3-4 side since that side gets more oil than 1-2. The stock pushrods have holes that allow oil to slosh on through and Bob Hoover wrote a long article on to improve oil flow to the heads . . .

If you have stock push rods if it wouldn't be a bad idea to remove them and blow the gas out . . . just make to sure to put each one back in the same place.

Just to make sure -- you have been pouring the gas into the bowl and not right down the throat right? If you have been pouring it down the throat yes, that will all make to the oil and it isn't good for the rings / cylinders.

While it sounds like prescribing the cause you might want to pour some marvel mystery oil right down the throat of the carb. This will initially cause starting problems and lots of smoke when starting up but it might also save your rings -- stuff has some strange protective properties. On might even say mysterious properties . . .

KarmannMarco · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 3:23 pm Post subject:

Yes , the fuel has been going through the carb and not directly down the throat. I'm sure something is off with the carb rebuild. Thanks for the advice and explanation!

c21darrel · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 3:37 pm Post subject:

Marvel Mystery Oil, love it. I pour a few capfuls in after i fill up. Good call, gas is washing down the cyl walls. Check needle valve.
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kreemoweet · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 8:39 pm Post subject:

It sounds like the float in the carb bowl is not floating, and/or the needle valve is stuck open. The 34 PICT-3 carb (and I assume
yours is similar) takes only 105 cc (3.5 fl.oz.) to fill the float bowl to the proper level, and the excess you put in certainly just
gushed out into the intake manifold and down into the case.

I've never seen gas in oil make it look like chocolate milk, it seems like there must have been some water getting in there as well.
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KarmannMarco · Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 10:20 pm Post subject:

CiderGuy · Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 4:17 am Post subject:

c21darrel · Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 1:22 pm Post subject:

KarmannMarco · Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 3:08 pm Post subject:

Thanks guys. I appreciate it.


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