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Post by 1800heap on Jul 2, 2019 8:00:32 GMT
Hi All
I seem to have an issue with oil pressure dropping out on my UK crab which is currently being prepped for its MOT.
Actually the pressure is good 65+ psi and ticks over at 40 ish when warm. The engine has been partially rebuilt by Dad and has been run a good few times no problems at all with the pressure. Electrical and fuel issues yes, but not oil pressure! The car has up to now not been road tested though! The issue is the oil pressure was dropping out when driving round left hand bends! It did it 4 or 5 times on this first drive.
I have had this issue before when slinging the car harshly round a left bend in the old days of driving it, which I think is not uncommon on the crab. This is driving at a normal or even slow pace though. It only made the oil pressure light come on once, so if there were no pressure gauge fitted it may have gone unnoticed. It was dropping to 10 ish psi then shooting back up as it picked up the oil again.
I suppose Im looking for thoughts on the best way to proceed. Should I persist in the hope that there is still a bit of air in the strainer canister which will clear or am I dreaming and have an air leak in the vac side. This might be because the strainer seals were not replaced unfortunatly when it was removed for cleaning?
Also Im thinking of options and if I have an air leak wondering what effect over filling with oil might have as a temp measure, so I can get it here to Oz. For those that dont know I live in Oz and will be shipping this car which I have owned for many years from the UK to Oz very soon I hope! I dont really want to have to make dad pull the engine apart again to fix it. Even though it could be fixed without removing the lump.
Nick
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Post by foglaursen on Jul 2, 2019 8:42:34 GMT
The problem is the oil strainer. I solved it in this way: Block the end of the flat oil strainer tube. Make a hole in the side of the tube near the end, and in the place that is situated at the low side when mounted. (I hope this makes sense). The oil will now be picked up at a lower point. The good news is, that the oil strainer can be removed with the engine in situ. Peter  |
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Post by 1800heap on Jul 2, 2019 9:41:58 GMT
The problem is the oil strainer. I solved it in this way: Block the end of the flat oil strainer tube. Make a hole in the side of the tube near the end, and in the place that is situated at the low side when mounted. (I hope this makes sense). The oil will now be picked up at a lower point. The good news is, that the oil strainer can be removed with the engine in situ. Peter Hi Peter Sadly I think you are right and the strainer needs to come back off! Not sure if I should get Dad to do it or wait till it gets here! Nick |
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Post by dave1800 on Jul 2, 2019 11:27:51 GMT
Assuming the dipstick is the same one as before the strip down, your father could add a little more oil, maybe a pint over but certainly no more. As you will recall early cars suffered from engine failure allegedly because of too much oil and the conrods hitting it and creating a froth. It depends on how it is going to be driven to Gloucestershire for the asbestos certificate, not too hard I hope.
David
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Post by 1800heap on Jul 2, 2019 21:44:20 GMT
Hi David
I would say that the dipstick has not been mixed up but dad has another block there so there is a slim chance. I would hope he would drive it carefully after all his work! I am more concerned with the Roro drivers! He thinks there is around 7.5 litres of oil in the engine currently. He is going to recheck on level ground for me. In the WM some types require 8.5 litres do you know what the difference is?
It has an 18H engine.
Nick
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Post by Penguin45 on Jul 2, 2019 23:18:03 GMT
From a dry build I think you're supposed to add about a pint into the transfer gears through the square headed bolt on the top of the housing before running the car. Oil gets through to there eventually; I suppose it must reduce the overall level in the engine by doing so.
Chris.
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Post by dave1800 on Jul 3, 2019 1:29:49 GMT
Ok, I'm confused (easily done) I thought your car was being driven to Gloucestershire by someone other than your dad and was then going to be crated at his home. The only reference I can find to oil capacities are in the last BL w/s manual. Early Mk1 cars quoted as 15 pints (UK) 18 pints US 8.5 litres. Later Mk1, 11, 111 12.5 pints (UK) 15 pints US 7.1 litres There were from memory more than two dipsticks although the w/s manual only notes two. The w/s manual indicates a dipstick of 18" (457mm) for late Mk1 Mk11/111. NOTE: These capacity figures differ slightly from your quoted 7.5 litres. As Chris noted the primary drive gear stores 1.5 of these pints and should be primed through the small filler in the top of the primary drive cover. If insufficient it will gradually fill as the car is driven and the level on the dipstick will fall. It may be that the level has fallen as the primary drive fills and it simple needs topping up to the dipstick level again. If this isn't the issue it does suggest a possible air leak in the pickup and Peter has suggested a suitable mod. I will see if I can find how they addressed this problem of oil starvation on cornering on the rally cars, it didn't usually affect road cars other than early Mk1 vehicles. David Hi David I would say that the dipstick has not been mixed up but dad has another block there so there is a slim chance. I would hope he would drive it carefully after all his work! I am more concerned with the Roro drivers! He thinks there is around 7.5 litres of oil in the engine currently. He is going to recheck on level ground for me. In the WM some types require 8.5 litres do you know what the difference is? It has an 18H engine. Nick |
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Post by 1800heap on Jul 3, 2019 2:55:49 GMT
I did ask dad to put the oil in the primary case which I am fairly sure he did for me. I better check with him though thanks Chris! He estimates the car has about 7.5 litres in it. This is looking at what is left in the two 5l cans he used. That means it is already a little over yes David. WM says 7.1l as you noted. I was wondering if I could push it to 8.5l but after your info I better not! Do you know if this extra oil was because of the pickup design on the strainer on MK1's or there was a difference in the casting or something?
Sorry I may have given you the wrong impression David as I was talking about being worried about the roll on roll off drivers. The plan is dad drives it to Gloucestershire gets the asbestos test done then drives it back to his place. This will run it in a bit too. I can't book the shipping until I have the Asbestos cert. If it fails the test it may need more work! When this is all good I will book the shipping which will probably be from Southampton. So another drive for dad. The car will not be put in a crate it will go on a car shipping ferry (RoRo) as it is about half the cost.
Nick
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Post by dave1800 on Jul 3, 2019 4:31:06 GMT
I believe that as well as changing the oil strainer and dipstick the g/box casing was modified to limit the movement of the oil in the "sump". The most quoted comment about the early Mk1 engines failing was that there was too much oil but it mainly affected UK cars and not the Oz vehicles and this was down to a wrongly marked dipstick. It was said that UK owners used to top up each week and add a little, whereas in Oz so the myth goes they let the level fall. Whatever the truth the capacity was reduced quite significantly and the problem stopped.
I found filling the primary gears with 1.5 pints was tedious so used to put in about half a pint and then let it find its own level. Not suggesting anyone does this of course!
Is your oil pressure gauge electrical or capillary - I wonder if this is reading correctly and if it is consistent hot and cold?
Has your dad confirmed where the oil level is showing on the dipstick?
David
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Post by 1800heap on Jul 3, 2019 5:49:04 GMT
Dad told me it was dipping on the upper mark on the stick but the car is not on a level drive so he thought it would have a bit extra in it.
The pressure gauge is a capillary tube type so should be accurate.
Nick
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Post by dave1800 on Jul 3, 2019 11:18:26 GMT
Do you know the history of your Mk111 gearbox; could it have been fitted - suitably modified - with an early Mk1 box in the past -clutching at straws I know ! You mentioned that the oil light used to flicker when cornering hard before the rebuild.
David
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Post by 1800heap on Jul 3, 2019 23:16:57 GMT
Do you know the history of your Mk111 gearbox; could it have been fitted - suitably modified - with an early Mk1 box in the past -clutching at straws I know ! You mentioned that the oil light used to flicker when cornering hard before the rebuild. David I think the gearbox is original and a Mk111 unit for sure. It is a rod change so I doubt if its a modified Mk1. It had the correct type of strainer also. We have had the car since I was a young fellow and the box has never neen changed in that time. I think its my bad in that I didnt get dad to replace the strainer seals and I have air getting in! Just spoke to dad and it sounded like I could have a bigger issue anyway! It has developed a nasty squeeky bearing type noise when the engine is running! From the video it sounded to me like an alternator bearing. After speaking to dad at length and he having already gone through a bit of fault finding. First tightening then removing both drive belts for alternator and PAS pump the noise still remained so not water pump either! Im starting to get very worried at this point in the conversation! What on earth was causing it. Rockers, cam, petrol pump who knows. It was looking worse and worse the more we talk about it. He said today it was quite difficult to start! I wondered if it could be something rubbing rather than a bearing and asked him to try shaking the engine. He went to check. Came back saying he had discovered the right hand carb was loose! Thats where we are at the moment. I have everything crossed hoping that is the nose. It would definitely make it hard to start! I have to wait till tomorrow to find out if thats the noise as its bed time in the UK. Have to say Im quite nervous! Nick |
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Post by dave1800 on Jul 4, 2019 0:44:25 GMT
Don't panic! It must be difficult for you thousands of miles away.
Having checked the immediately obvious I know that a loose carb may cause a whistling sound; I've seen it before on a single carb crab where the manifold bolts had worked loose - and the BL main agent had failed to diagnose it! Other considerations, clutch release bearing - load it to see if the noise changes and take off rocker cover to ensure oil is being pumped around - or first peer through the oil filler cap. (I think unlikely to be an issue as you have good oil pressure).
Good luck
David
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Post by 1800heap on Jul 4, 2019 2:58:17 GMT
Everything is crossed that its the carb!
David if you still have my dropbox link I put the video of the noise in there. Called it "Noise" which was original! Don't have Utube so cant put in on here.
Nick
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Post by dave1800 on Jul 4, 2019 5:13:40 GMT
Hi Nick
I don't think the noise is anything to do with the loose carb, from the video it does sound to be coming from where the camera is pointing. I don't think it is anything serious and as your dad has discounted the water pump and everything driven by belts my guess is that something metallic is rubbing against the timing cover, whether it is perhaps from the camshaft nut or crank oil thrower for example difficult to know. (I've seen the latter cause problems on an A60). I think a "stethoscope" type of check with a long screwdriver etc would confirm this is the location - or not. I appreciate noises can travel and be misleading but the sound seems consistent with something rotating at engine speed (rather than half?).
If you could reduce the .mov file to <1MB you could add it here as an attachment so others could help. (Sorry my video software isn't up to the task as it's geared up for .mts files from my camera and is hopelessly inflexible).
David
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