as you all know i broke down yesterday but managed to get the car back home and today ive been examining for any damage,

first thing that is noticeable is that the underside of the car and the nearside of the engine bay is cover in oil slime, i mean it goes all the way back to the rear of the car! i have cleaned all of the engine bay,tunnel and underside panels and i can't see oil coming out of anywhere but the crank case breather pipe. so im assuming that the front and rear crank seals are fine. took the starter motor off and there is no oil in the box bell housing, which is a relief.

so my only trail of thought at the moment is that there is an excessive amount of crank case pressure in the engine forcing oil out if the breather? what could be the cause of this? could this be the cause of my car spraying oil out of the breather and causing the car to over heat?

[Edited on 23/5/09 by omega0684]

Broken or worn rings, worn bores, damaged piston.

take it ive got to compression test each cylinder then?

(p.s lets get the cat avatar revolution on the go again )

[Edited on 23/5/09 by omega0684]

Did the gauge show signs of increasing temp, or did it just blow?

don't know didn't have the laptop connected up, temp gauge is un-reliable as the resistance of the sensor don't match that of the gauge - on thing i need to get sorted!

I remember DarrenW had some problems with his Pinto breathing heavily.

I'd try a compression test.

Slimy oil sounds like it's mixed with water.

Mike

definately not mixing with oil, its black oil not the grey foamy sludge you get when oil mixes with water. im 99.9% confident the head gasket is fine, in fact all gaskets appear to be ok

You next port of call must be to do an compression test and see what youv got.

Whats your breather system like?

crank case breather on the nearside of the engine and rocker cover breather, only a standard oil filler car though, are they restrictive?this one


i think i need to upgrade to this one and run a pipe to a catch tank?

yep, that will help, mine breaths heavy, but my trouble is the valves, im getting valve seat regresion, did a type of comp test, Vacume in rather than compresion gauge, and defo coming out through exhaust on mine,
HTH
Mitch

quote:

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Originally posted by Guinness
I remember DarrenW had some problems with his Pinto breathing heavily.

I'd try a compression test.

Slimy oil sounds like it's mixed with water.

Mike

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quote:

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Originally posted by omega0684
as you all know i broke down yesterday but managed to get the car back home and today ive been examining for any damage,

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literally driving at 70 in 5th, started breaking for an island, depressed the clutch to select 3rd and as i depress the clutch the engine rev's drop and the engine died, stuck hazards on and stopped,

tried to restart, nothing, steam coming from my overflow pipe on the coolant system and oil spilling out onto the road from the crank case breather, then got towed home

I can't think of any non-engine-internal problem that could cause that.

I think there is someone near you who is rebuilding a spare pinto engine, could be useful

John

quote:

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Originally posted by mr henderson

I think there is someone near you who is rebuilding a spare pinto engine, could be useful

John

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Sounds as if the head gasket coud be suspect especialy if you overheated it if the temp gauge is inacurrate.
Paul.

quote:

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Originally posted by omega0684
literally driving at 70 in 5th, started breaking for an island, depressed the clutch to select 3rd and as i depress the clutch the engine rev's drop and the engine died, stuck hazards on and stopped,

tried to restart, nothing, steam coming from my overflow pipe on the coolant system and oil spilling out onto the road from the crank case breather, then got towed home

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if my head gasket would have failed though would't i have blue smoke bellowing from the exhaust?

quote:

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Originally posted by omega0684
literally driving at 70 in 5th, started breaking for an island, depressed the clutch to select 3rd and as i depress the clutch the engine rev's drop and the engine died, stuck hazards on and stopped,

tried to restart, nothing, steam coming from my overflow pipe on the coolant system and oil spilling out onto the road from the crank case breather, then got towed home

---

Any progress?

My breather trouble was due to incorrect oil level (too high) caused by incorrect dipstick in a 2nd hand engine. Once corrected no issues since.

As you have already said id start with a compression test on all cylinders first.

I assume the engine has ran fine before and nothing settable (ie timing etc) has been changed.

Ive heard people talking about the oil relief valve sticking - could this be a potentail cause?

I use a vented cap in cylinder head piped to catch tank. Also use Cortina breather on side of block piped to same catch tank.