Coolant in my engine oil

[SS Spoiler]

Ok, oil level is good, changed oil filter still high oil pressure. Sending unit?

[David T]

Ok, oil level is good, changed oil filter still high oil pressure. Sending unit?

First you have to confirm the actual pressure and make sure it is not an instrumentation error. Remove the sender unit on the right side and hook in an accurate pressure gauge. If you do have high pressure that would mean the oil system is plugged up AND the bypass on the oil pump is not functioning. At this pressure you must be careful you don't blow the spin-on filter apart, they are not made for such a high pressure.

[SS Spoiler]

Ok, I didn't change the oil filter, I'm using one of those permanent oil
filters that a guy was selling at the Gettysburg show. Opened it up, cleaned it out
and reinstalled. Everything inside looked good, no buildup of anything. Replaced
oil sender with DMCMW upgrade in 2014. A mystery

[David T]

Ok, I didn't change the oil filter, I'm using one of those permanent oil
filters that a guy was selling at the Gettysburg show. Opened it up, cleaned it out
and reinstalled. Everything inside looked good, no buildup of anything. Replaced
oil sender with DMCMW upgrade in 2014. A mystery

Try an ordinary spin-on filter and get an accurate mechanical pressure gauge on the motor and see what the pressure is. I saw those "permanent" cleanable filters but didn't like them. A solution for a problem that doesn't exist. Spin-on filters are not THAT expensive and you don't change then that often.

[DMCMW Dave]

I'd still suspect the sending unit, new(ish) or not. It's pretty hard to have high oil pressure.

[PJ Grady Inc.]

What would be the cause of High oil pressure? I'm starting to read 100, 110 lbs.
I do have severe blowby and some low comp. figures [30, 65, 80, 95, 120 and 175. Also
have BAE turbo. Assume ring lands are shot, going to check oil condition and level after
it cools down.

It wouldn't be broken rings lands (although overboosting will certainly cause that via detonation) as that would cause a very noticable engine knock. Perhaps the rings have lost their tension/ seal with the liners. The big problem with the BAE turbo is oil use do to improper positioning of the seal retension groove IIRC. I think Bruce Benson and/or Marty Maier researched this heavily some years back. You must be using an external gauge to obtain that reading since the dash gauge only goes to 80 LB's. The sender is often the cause of the needle going above 80# if that's what's happening.
Rob

[SS Spoiler]

I was just guessing on the pressure reading off the dash gauge.
The blow-by is bad enough to pop the oil fill cap off. My milage has dropped
about a third and power is weak. It's crazy but it starts and runs well. Oil
is clean, smokes a little. Looks like an engine build this winter. Now the question
is keep the turbo and add forged pistons, or toss the turbo and go for cams and
headers. What's the best way to go? Meanwhile got a car show coming up.
Took another first place last week. Sometimes it's nice being the only DeLorean
in town.

Paul/Kate Cerny
# 2691 Kalispell, MT

[David T]

I was just guessing on the pressure reading off the dash gauge.
The blow-by is bad enough to pop the oil fill cap off. My milage has dropped
about a third and power is weak. It's crazy but it starts and runs well. Oil
is clean, smokes a little. Looks like an engine build this winter. Now the question
is keep the turbo and add forged pistons, or toss the turbo and go for cams and
headers. What's the best way to go? Meanwhile got a car show coming up.
Took another first place last week. Sometimes it's nice being the only DeLorean
in town.

Paul/Kate Cerny
# 2691 Kalispell, MT

From a purely economic standpoint you are probably better off keeping the turbo. From a performance and reliability prospective the Stage II is the way to go. If you keep running the motor you will be going for liners as well. If you pull the spark plugs you will be able to see which cylinders have the blown pistons. They will be the ones with oil all over the plugs.

[PJ Grady Inc.]

I was just guessing on the pressure reading off the dash gauge.
The blow-by is bad enough to pop the oil fill cap off. My milage has dropped
about a third and power is weak. It's crazy but it starts and runs well. Oil
is clean, smokes a little. Looks like an engine build this winter. Now the question
is keep the turbo and add forged pistons, or toss the turbo and go for cams and
headers. What's the best way to go? Meanwhile got a car show coming up.
Took another first place last week. Sometimes it's nice being the only DeLorean
in town.

Paul/Kate Cerny
# 2691 Kalispell, MT

Ok then changing the sender usually solves the gauge problem. Stay away from Fram filters as they tend to blow out the sender.

I have cams and headers should you decide to go that route. I also have NOS liners/pistons. If you keep the turbo get in touch with Bruce or Marty to get the details of their turbo fix for the BAE. If you do that then you could keep the turbo setup.
Rob

[Farrar]

OK, I'm a little late to the party, but here is some advice I found elsewhere, and perhaps it will be useful to the next person who has this kind of engine trouble.

If you get the cylinder at TDC compression stroke and put air in it, there are a couple of things you can do, assuming your valves are properly adjusted. If you have a compression tester, remove the Schrader valve in the bottom of the tube that screws into the spark plug socket. Now you can put shop air into the cylinder. Once you have air flowing into the cylinder, there are three tests that you can do.


1. take the radiator cap off and look for bubbles. Bubbles could indicate a blown head gasket or warped/cracked head.

2. listen for air escaping out the oil dipstick. Air escaping here could indicate leakage past the rings.

3. listen for air escaping out the tail pipe. Air escaping here could indicate a leaky exhaust valve.


Kind of old school diagnostics, but might give you an idea of what to look for. I'm sure there's probably more to it, but that's all I can remember right now.

Remember, I am not a mechanic.