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1973 bus spraying oil/dripping onto heater boxes, then a shudder
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alman72
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 10:18 am    Post subject: 1973 bus spraying oil/dripping onto heater boxes, then a shudder Reply with quote

ok, I need some advice, but first things first...1973 bus with the pancake, but mystery motor when I bought it (found a invoice for a replacement motor in the glovebox, no info) single carb prog.
was running great since Colin came last summer, about 400 miles on it since then. did valves, timing, points then. had a drip of oil from somewhere, thought it was coming out the neck of the oil fill neck, so some rtv and new clamp I thought tool care of it. breather appears unplugged, but maybe some ring issues causing blow-by causing the problem ( I am running synthetic) ....anyway....

I was driving home on the highway for about 30 min at 65-70, and started smelling oil burning. Looking for a spot to pull over and I felt a moments hesitation in the rpm, a stutter, and pulled over in fear i was burning up. no flame, only lots of smoke off the heat exchangers. i dont know yet if it was coming from the valve covers (unlikely?) or spraying out from somewhere in the engine compartment. I had some (little droplets) oil on the back of the bus as well. I checked the oil and I was touching the bottom mark on the dipstick. I let it cool down, and then started it up, and seemed to run fine. drove it backroads 35/40 mph 3 miles home. no hesitation or shutters or power loss noticed. I am going to tear into it later today or tomorrow to check valves (only 400 miles since we did em) change out the synthetic oil for something slightly thicker, inspect what comes out, and check the plugs to see if they had a story to tell. btw, my oil light does work, and it never came on. I will check the breather again as well. ..
any suggestions or dire warnings? I reached out to Colin as he will be a couple hundred miles away this week, and maybe can fit me in for a diagnosis visit.
a couple more things...oil on the fan, a mini slick on the tin under the fan. and a 3 inch piece of my engine seal was found in the yard that must have fallen out when I left for my trip. the gap is right in front of the fan.
The bus did 300 miles 2 weeks ago at 65 mph (150 each way, 2 days in between) and did fantastic.
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Wildthings
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 12:45 pm    Post subject: Re: 1973 bus spraying oil/dripping onto heater boxes, then a shudder Reply with quote

Clean things up well and search for the leak. A breather problem can cause a sudden loss of oil, it is best if the breather box vents into the top of the air cleaner rather than the bottom so there is more slope in the breather hose, helping the engine snot drain back into the crankcase verse clogging the hose.

A few pictures of your setup would be helpful.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 1:11 pm    Post subject: Re: 1973 bus spraying oil/dripping onto heater boxes, then a shudder Reply with quote

Pop your valve covers off and check the clearances. Inspect your valve springs as well. While your in there check to see if you have the retainer wires under the valve/rocker assemblies.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 2:27 pm    Post subject: Re: 1973 bus spraying oil/dripping onto heater boxes, then a shudder Reply with quote

Check the right viscosity oil for your expected temperature range and run that - you don't fix a leak with thicker oil

Watch it like a hawk as you could suddenly lose all your oil if a galley has come loose and pops out - then you are seconds from engine disaster.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 4:49 pm    Post subject: Re: 1973 bus spraying oil/dripping onto heater boxes, then a shudder Reply with quote

checking the condition of the oil and for chunks regardless. oil strainer rookie, but I know about the bolt nut sensitivity for tightness. have my torque wrench set for 9 ft pounds for reassembly, however-
when the plate comes off, just the plate comes down? no screen? I am not about to go prying on stuff
pics of setup coming, and of the tiny chunks of who knows what I found on the plate. no aluminum/metal flake in the cover, but I feel a chunk or two. tiny. going to take into work tomorrow and run the crud thru a filter and see what I have
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 4:55 pm    Post subject: Re: 1973 bus spraying oil/dripping onto heater boxes, then a shudder Reply with quote

You typically get a small amount of carbonized junk on the screen as Dino oils can't handle the heat all that well. Running synthetic will keep the inside of your engine that much cleaner.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 5:07 pm    Post subject: Re: 1973 bus spraying oil/dripping onto heater boxes, then a shudder Reply with quote

there is a screen? is it on the bottom of the plate and I cant see it until I clean it up?
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 5:45 pm    Post subject: Re: 1973 bus spraying oil/dripping onto heater boxes, then a shudder Reply with quote

The screen is probably sitting up in the engine still. Use a thin knife to pries it out. Unless someone glued it in place it shouldn't take much to get it to drop.

Very occasionally someone will leave the screen out in the hopes of getting better oil flow.
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 11, 2019 1:50 pm    Post subject: Re: 1973 bus spraying oil/dripping onto heater boxes, then a shudder Reply with quote

yup. it was up there. Nothing on the screen, but the sludge on the plate felt a little grit. rinsed and filtered it, and little bits of carbon, and 3 or four tiny flakes of aluminum. I got to look at everything under a microscope, and it was pretty cool to see the debris. turning up the mag power was scary as it looked like little boulders!
been raining pretty much off and on, so not a lot of time for more diagnosis. I took a vid of a startup before I drained my oil, so I need to figure out how to get that posted.
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 4:20 am    Post subject: Re: 1973 bus spraying oil/dripping onto heater boxes, then a shudder Reply with quote

All normal. Don’t freak out about the strainer bolt, it isn’t delicate, you just don’t want to tighten it like a drain plug.

New washer and a wrist tight on a 6 inch ratchet will be fine. Work on getting the feel in your hands so that the day you need it done and the torque wrench isn’t there, master mechanic skills save the day.
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 7:19 am    Post subject: Re: 1973 bus spraying oil/dripping onto heater boxes, then a shudder Reply with quote

dipstick boot was bad, new engine seal, confirmed breather working, changed the oil
my question of the moment is, is it normal to hear a gurgle from the oil fill cap when the engine is running?
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 9:19 am    Post subject: Re: 1973 bus spraying oil/dripping onto heater boxes, then a shudder Reply with quote

alman72 wrote:
dipstick boot was bad, new engine seal, confirmed breather working, changed the oil
my question of the moment is, is it normal to hear a gurgle from the oil fill cap when the engine is running?


With the cap removed you are going to hear noise from the various internal parts of the engine moving about and splashing oil
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 10:43 am    Post subject: Re: 1973 bus spraying oil/dripping onto heater boxes, then a shudder Reply with quote

thank you
it ran in a parade last night id did great. I think the original shudder must have come from the smoking oil choking the carb.
But you know things could not have been perfect. on the way home it kept popping out of first. Shifter adjustment hopefully is all it is. Is popping out of first a symptom of anything trans related?
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