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Thread: Gas in oil pan....

  1. #1
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    Gas in oil pan....

    I was recently having a issue with my car not starting for quite some time now. I finally found out that my starter solenoid was no good. It wasnt sending enough volts to the ballast resistor to start the car. While I was under the car today installing the new starter I noticed gas dripping from the exhaust crossover pipe. When I drained the oil it was thin and smelled like gas. The oil overfilled my catch pan. Im guessing by 2-3 quarts or so. Overtime, of me trying to start the car to remedy the problem I kept flooding it. Are Deloreans prone when have starting issues that they flood easily and the fuel ends up in the oil? Im sure that while I was trying to start the car and it was flooding that's not good for the pistons, rings or cylinders. Luckily I never drove the car. I did have it idling about 3 weeks ago for 15 mins but I never drove the car. Should I replace oil with 20-50 conventional and new filter, start car for awhile, than drain oil and filter again? Is there anything else I should do before I start it again? Would this damage my oil pump? I just hope the engine did not suffer catastrophic damage.........

  2. #2
    Senior Member DMC-81's Avatar
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    I'm glad that you found the problem. Yes, I would change the oil and filter at least once.
    Dana

    1981 DeLorean DMC-12 (5 Speed, Gas Flap, Black Interior, Windshield Antenna, Dark Gray)
    Restored as "mostly correct, but with flaws corrected". Pictures and comments of my restoration are in the albums section on my profile.
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  3. #3
    Administrator Ron's Avatar
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    $.02

    When it's not VERY cold out and the engine is in good shape otherwise, it should usually start w/o the starter sending more power for the coil. (Consider push starting due to a weak battery...)
    That is A LOT of fuel to find in the oil! More than I would ever expect due to a no start-no spark problem. I would guess that at least one cylinder is/was severely washed out (bad injector), if not all (FD, PPR, etc. problem).

    If you haven't, I'd strongly suggest you don't start it before you: confirm that the injectors are acting normal, replace the filter and oil (with what you normally run in it), pull the plugs (inspect closely), give each cylinder a couple of squirts of oil, disable the spark and fuel pump, bump the engine over several times (pausing between each), reassemble all, start the engine, warm it up at idle, change the oil and filter again (warm), warm the engine up again then put a few easy miles on it and change the oil and filter yet again.

    Yes it could have damaged the oil pump and a lot more. More likely are the rings (part of why you squirt oil in the cylinders), cam lobes, bearings...Time will tell.
    But it is good that you only let it idle...

    If you are lucky, the O2 sensor will clean up after a while (i.e. don't be surprised if it smokes and runs like crap at first).

    Curious as to how many times it has failed to start in a row now??

  4. #4
    EFI'd dn010's Avatar
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    You should also do a compression test at this point.

    The oil pump is nothing more than a couple of gears rotating. I'd be more concerned about bearing surfaces or washed cylinders before the pump.
    -----Dan B.

  5. #5
    Administrator Ron's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dn010 View Post
    You should also do a compression test at this point.
    Good idea...after shooting some oil in the cylinders tho.

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    Quote Originally Posted by coreydmc View Post
    I was recently having a issue with my car not starting for quite some time now. I finally found out that my starter solenoid was no good. It wasnt sending enough volts to the ballast resistor to start the car. While I was under the car today installing the new starter I noticed gas dripping from the exhaust crossover pipe. When I drained the oil it was thin and smelled like gas. The oil overfilled my catch pan. Im guessing by 2-3 quarts or so. Overtime, of me trying to start the car to remedy the problem I kept flooding it. Are Deloreans prone when have starting issues that they flood easily and the fuel ends up in the oil? Im sure that while I was trying to start the car and it was flooding that's not good for the pistons, rings or cylinders. Luckily I never drove the car. I did have it idling about 3 weeks ago for 15 mins but I never drove the car. Should I replace oil with 20-50 conventional and new filter, start car for awhile, than drain oil and filter again? Is there anything else I should do before I start it again? Would this damage my oil pump? I just hope the engine did not suffer catastrophic damage.........
    Don't use 20-50wt. I recommend 15-40wt for the retention of Zinc and Phosphate compounds legislated out of the other weights. There are other threads that deal with this at length.
    Rob

  7. #7
    Administrator Ron's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PJ Grady Inc. View Post
    Don't use 20-50wt. I recommend 15-40wt for the retention of Zinc and Phosphate compounds legislated out of the other weights. There are other threads that deal with this at length.
    Rob
    +1

    Rob is right (Good catch, thx!) -- When suggesting you use what you normally run in it, I was thinking about the amount of fuel and time it has had to combine with and/or break down deposits inside your engine, etc., and the negative affects changing types at this point might have. I.E. No need to add more ingrediants to the cocktail.

    15W-40 comes in many flavors, so not knowing what you were using and to avoid yet another "Oil thread" derailment (NOT in this thread ;-) I'm going to say don't change types and avoid high detergent (for now).

  8. #8
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    Hello Everyone. By the time I saw this thread I already changed the oil with 20-50 and installed a new filter. I pulled and cleaned the plugs. But before I re-installed the plugs I squirted a few squirts of oil into each cylinder. Then I cranked engine over a few times and installed plugs. I re-connected the coil wire, cold start valve, and the RPM relay. I was now ready to start the engine. First try it fired right up but would not idle on its own without stalling so I kept mt foot on the pedal around 1000 rpm for 10 seconds. When I took my foot off the pedal to see if it would idle it stalled. The exhaust had a lot of white smoke from the residual fuel burning off. After that I couldn't get it to start again. I pulled the plugs again and they were wet. Seems like the cylinders are getting to much fuel and flooding. How wet should the plugs be after cranking a few times with a no start? Should I see fuel in the spark plug hole? After pulling the plugs to clean them should I remove the CSV wire to prevent flooding or does that need to be plugged in for a cold engine to start when its below 30 degrees outside? I never did a compression test before. Can I pick a cheap one up at harbor freight or NAPA? Ill try and do that tomorrow..... Right now the battery is on the tender to charge for the night.....
    Thanks in advance

  9. #9
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    If you are flooding the motor with that much fuel you should check to see if the plunger in the fuel distributor is stuck.
    David Teitelbaum

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by David T View Post
    If you are flooding the motor with that much fuel you should check to see if the plunger in the fuel distributor is stuck.
    I will check this!!
    Last edited by coreydmc; 02-06-2018 at 09:56 PM.

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