Brandt

I was checking my oil this morning after it sat all night and I smelled the oil on the dipstick. It had a heavy fuel smell. I am not sure how bad this is so any help or ideas what's wrong would be helpfull. I figured it was just some compression leaking passed the rings. They are thin moly rings. It is a 383 stroker motor with 9.5 to 1 compression. Is this a situation where the car should not be driven or is it nothing really bad. :eek:

vert2go89

I suggest that you don't drive it till you find out how gas is getting into crankcase as oil with gas will wash the cylinder walls down and a rebuld will be next.It's possible that your gas pump on right side of block has bad seals and gas is getting into crankcase through internal of gas pump.Also if you are running an electric gas pump without a regulator then it will also put gas through carb into engine.Afriend of mine races and he didn't have regulator and sure enough it dumped gas into engine.It is possible for crankcase explosion from gas fumes igniting.
wave on \ //// :seeya

MikeC

Is your engine running rich? (black smoke out the tail pipes?)

paso

You can usually "feel" gasoline on the dipstick. As when there is gas present you don't get that slimy feel of oil. Also Back in the 60's when it was a real problem with fuel pump diaphams leaking gasoline into the oil pan we also "just to confirm" Light the end of the dipstick with a match. Oil only is black smoke. Gasoline NO EXPLANATION NEEDED you can tell :) Old school mechanic taught me this.

Brandt

My fuel pump is only about a year old and it is running a little rich. It isn't blowing black smoke though. I can smell it running rich. I won't drive it though. I really don't want to rebuild it considering the engine is not even a year old.

Tom Johnson

Gas in the oil will also destroy your crank shaft bearings.

clem zahrobsky

that is what blew up a lot of 3X2 427 because the carbs leaked through when the car was not running. that is why there are very few 427 with the orignal short blocks. :chevy

yogi78

Was the oil level unusually high? Did the oil on the dipstick feel thick and slippery or was it thin and watery? Fuel pump diaphrams can leak into the crankcase. A bad needle and seat or improperly adjusted float can flood into the intake manifold, leak past the pistons and into the crankcase. Sometimes fuel can boil over past the needle and seat when the car is shut down. A too rich condition can leave the oil smelling slightly like gas. If you think fuel is leaking past the needle and seat after shutdown just look at the carb butterflys and see if fuel is sitting on them. Hope this helps. :chevy

Phlash

I learned the hardway not to park my previous 68 with the engine sitting lower than the gas tank. On night it put several gallons of gas into the engine. Fortunately when I tried to start it, it wouldn't turn over. Liquids don't compress. I found the oil pan to have about 3 gallons of gas in it, plus the cylinders had gas in them. Had to pull the plugs and turn the motor over by hand to push the gas out. Don't do this with the starter or any ignition source that than ignite the gas. The root cause was a bad needle in the carb.

Phlash 72 BB Roadster :rolleyes:

LT1driver

OK motorman, never heard of your reason for few original engine 435 cars or 400 cars, had two of them, 67 and 70 with 69 unit and never, never ever had a problem like has been cited. I do not believe this was a common problem or chevy would not have had a 3 year run with tri power. My own opinion of course and experience over years with my cars and others.

clem zahrobsky

the aftermarket even came out with a inlet to outlet bleed bypass for the fuel pumps to bleed the pressure between the pump and carb back to the inlet side of the pumps. we even tried drilling a hole in the gas caps to relieve the tank pressure. the 2 end carbs have the nitrophyl floats which have a short lever arm and this cuts down on the force to keep the needle and seats closed. when we use these floats because we have to modify them for jet extensions or cut them on a angle for circle track racing we extend the lever arm out to get more mechanial advantage to close the needle and seat. :chevy

Vetterodder

You didn't mention your starting technique but I've come across similar symptoms that were caused by over pumping the carb at start up. Even if there are no other ill effects noticed, much of the unneeded fuel winds up in the oil pan. As already mentioned, this is after it's washed lubricant from the cyiinder and creating other problems. This may not apply to your situation but after seeing other posts about pumping 3 or more times for starting (and cringing at the result) I thought it was worth the time to mention,

Matt Gruber

1. change oil
2. open hood next time it is shut off

if it is a hot soak-boil problem opening the hood will stop it.

had same problem on both my c1, c3

there is a fix, but u won't like it

GaryS

Floats set too high can cause excess fuel to run into the gas. Or if the floats don't seat properly, you can keep pumping fuel into the carb and into the oil. Drain the oil, check the carb,ASAP!

Gary

Jvette73

If your running a Q-jet carb then heres a post on the subject.http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=193153

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=193153




[Modified by Jvette73, 7:15 PM 12/2/2001]

Chuck Harmon

I had a girlfriend who used to let her car warm up idling in the driveway for 5-10 minutes before she drove it to school. The idle was set too slow and it never really warmed up until she actually got it on the road. Her cold idling allowed a great deal of unburned gas to wash past the rings and get into the crankcase.

Chuck

Wrencher

I'd sure look at the fuel pump first. When you get it off, it'll be real clean in the pivot area, and if you give it a pump it may leak into this area.

Hans

woodenichols

Okay, I just put a new 454 in my car and installed a new Carter electric fuel pump. Engine floods everytime I drive it now! Is a regulator required with the electric pump? Don't mean to change subject but this thread is
very similar to what I have been going through the last couple of days.

MELVIN

MOST ELECTRIC FUEL PUMPS RUN FROM 5-7 PSI. NORMALLY, OUR C3'S TAKE ABOUT 7 PDS. I WOULD RUN A REGULATOR. BUT, IF YOU HAVE FLOAT/SEAT PROBELMS, A REGULATOR WILL NOT HELP

woodenichols

That's what has me baffeled. I never had carburator poblems before and now, with the new motor, all of a sudden it is a problem. I stoppped driving the car yesterday because I was afraid of getting gas in the crankcase. I had gas running over onto the manifold! This happened on Friday and we took the back half off cleaned it up. Then yesterday I went for a cruise and it happened again. I'll get a regulator though, before doing anything else.