Distributor filling itself with oil

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dusterbd13

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La 360, been in the car for 15 years, about 20k on it. Has had stocke electronic ignition, then msd pro billet. After i removed the megasquirt and went back to a carb i wanted vacuum advance and easily adjusted advance curve. Went with an Amazon special hei style distributor.

About 200 miles in, it started filling the cap woth oil. Thats a new one on me. According to a Google search, this can be caused by too much crankcase pressure. However, ive never had this issue before with any other distributor, and im setup for crankcase evacuation exactly the same still. So it has to be the distributor.

Took it apart today, and see no actual seals between the body and the shaft, just bronze bushings. Same as the factory chevy hei i took apart today. So no smoking gun there.

Im guessing the hei is more sensitive to crankcase pressure than others?

Anyone ever dealt with this before and find a solution?
 
My thought is that something on the shaft is acting as an oil slinger and "screwing" oil up the shaft. Maybe someone or some thing burred up the shaft and managed to accidently form a spiral.

And how about shaft side play? None of these ever had any sort of oil seal
 
I read someone else here had the same issue with the china hei, they allowed too much oil, up in the distributor.
The fix was a couple dabs of permetex on the distributor case.
 
Permatex on the dist case? Exactly where.


[1] Remove the shaft
[2] The dist base [ where the bottom shaft bush is ] may have slots cast into the the dist body.
[3] These slots can go some way up into the body & exit into the shaft hole. If the bush is too short, it may not be covering the exit of these slots, giving oil a direct path into the shaft cavity.
[4] The same sort of slot arrangement might be used with the top bush, so the above applies & you have a path for oil to get into the main body.
[5] Best fix would be a thrust washer under the shaft collar that covers the slots. Some metal may have to be removed from the collar or dist body to maintain 0.010" shaft end play. [ 0.010 is more than enough for the short A body dist ]
[6] Or.......put silicon in the bottom slots to block the oil supply. Maybe this is what post #5 referred too...
[7] Excessive blowby pressure is also a possible cause.
 
The best fix would have been to not buy the cheapest POS distributor you could have found.
 
Gee, thanks rusty! Really helpful!

Everyone else:
Distributor was torn down completely yesterday. No burrs found on shaft, but polished with 2000 grit anyway just for kicks. The i side of the housing had no passages, nor and obviously missing seals or damage. Nowhere to put permatex, nor anywhere to drill vent holes like dui reccomended with the chevy distributors. No smoking gun i could find.

The pcv valve not stuck, and pulls significant vacuum through it. No blowby or crankcase pressure noted with the oil fill cap. Tested via putting a paper towl over the open oil fill hole and revving the engine. It didnt blow away like id expect with an issue.

Keep the ideas coming yall. This one baffles me.
 
Yep, regardless of your tests, your crankcase is pressurized pushing oil up the hill.

Next exit point will be the rear main seal, (drips on the floor) and the front dampener seal.

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Want to make sure you have the proper oil level In the crankcase (5 quarts). Not 7 or 8 quarts.

Messing around with carburetor changes your float may have stuck open filling your crankcase with a Gas/Oil mix that has snuck up on you.

Thinner gas oil mix will wick and seep out faster than a fresh 10w30 oil change.

☆☆☆☆☆
 
dusterbd13 said:
Gee, thanks rusty! Really helpful!

Everyone else:
Distributor was torn down completely yesterday. No burrs found on shaft, but polished with 2000 grit anyway just for kicks. The i side of the housing had no passages, nor and obviously missing seals or damage. Nowhere to put permatex, nor anywhere to drill vent holes like dui reccomended with the chevy distributors. No smoking gun i could find.

The pcv valve not stuck, and pulls significant vacuum through it. No blowby or crankcase pressure noted with the oil fill cap. Tested via putting a paper towl over the open oil fill hole and revving the engine. It didnt blow away like id expect with an issue.

Keep the ideas coming yall. This one baffles me.
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Hey, I'm a cheapass bastid, but even I don't buy the cheapest knife in the drawer. You know me. I always try to inject some humor here and there. Have you checked to see if you have a lot of blowby? Is the PCV valve stopped up or not working somehow? If it's really the distributor at fault, I'm not sure that's something you're going to be able to repair. WHICH HEI distributor are we even talking about here? As usual with a lot of these type threads, we have ZERO to go on, because once again, a member refuses to get a picture so we can all be on the same page. There are a LOT of different distributors out there marketed as "HEI", but we're supposed to know which one you have. It doesn't work like that. Throw us a bone and we might can help more.......although as I said, I don't know what CAN be done if the distributor is at fault. Is this something that just started after everything was running fine for a while or has it been happening ever since the distributor install?
 
You could run a breather on the other valve cover and see if the oil issue stops, if so, positive crank pressure would be culprit.
 
rklein383 said:
You could run a breather on the other valve cover and see if the oil issue stops, if so, positive crank pressure would be culprit.
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He should have that already as it is a part of a complete PCV system. PCV on one side, breather on the other.
 
rklein383 said:
Maybe not, I don't run a breather on my 408, just a PCV valve.
Click to expand...
You should. The breather is the INLET for the PCV system. It's not complete without it. Just because you do it, doesn't mean it's right. Here's a generic diagram for a correct operating PCV system. There is no "maybe" involved. Without the inlet, the PCV cannot do its job.
PCV SYSTEM.gif
 
This is the exact distributor i am using. Not the cheapest i could get. I would have gone dui, but at the time it was an 8 week backorder. A-Team Performance - HEI Distributor 65K Volt Coil - Compatible with Mopar Chrysler Dodge Plymouth 392 Early HEMI V8 One-Wire Installation Red Cap https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079QFGS6W/?tag=fabo03-20
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The distributor didn't leak for the first 100 miles or so. Then started.

Nobody had asked for pictures, and i didn't think to post any, so im not sure where the "refused" part comes in, but here is my exact setup. Pass side valve cover breather is both vented to atmosphere and had a fresh air tube (ford part), pcv in rear of drivers sidem its a fresh pcv as well, though i could find no indication of issue with the previous one. Pcv goes to its own pfull manifold vacuum port.

20230730_103936.jpg
 
RustyRatRod said:
You should. The breather is the INLET for the PCV system. It's not complete without it. Just because you do it, doesn't mean it's right. Here's a generic diagram for a correct operating PCV system. There is no "maybe" involved. Without the inlet, the PCV cannot do its job.
View attachment 1716121135
Click to expand...

Never said it was right, however, it does look like I was wrong. Trying to remember if I have a breather in my stash of parts...
 
rklein383 said:
Never said it was right, however, it does look like I was wrong. Trying to remember if I have a breather in my stash of parts...
Click to expand...
I think you will find it will work better with the breather added. Also, and I know......it's gettin nitpicky, but if you add the hose to the r cleaner as in the diagram, you will greatly reduce oil residue on the valve covers. I have mine just like the diagram on Vixen's slant 6 and it works good. I know some argue PCV is emissions and that's true, but a properly operating PCV system also helps the rings to seal better, so what's not to love? lol
 
RustyRatRod said:
I think you will find it will work better with the breather added. Also, and I know......it's gettin nitpicky, but if you add the hose to the r cleaner as in the diagram, you will greatly reduce oil residue on the valve covers. I have mine just like the diagram on Vixen's slant 6 and it works good. I know some argue PCV is emissions and that's true, but a properly operating PCV system also helps the rings to seal better, so what's not to love? lol
Click to expand...
I have an aftermarket air cleaner, but they usually have a knockout on the base. Presently doing body work so the car hasn't moved in a bit.

IMG_4664.JPG
 
The fix is RTV... mine was filling with oil as well. I upgraded the module and coil while I had it on the bench.

20210212_134315.jpg


Flip it over and fill all the holes but one. I used Right stuff.
20210213_172717.jpg


20210213_172923.jpg


Been a few thousand miles and no issues since.
 
I didn't see any holes in mine like that. However, ill pull it back out and look again! Ive been wrong and blind before.
 
dusterbd13 said:
I didn't see any holes in mine like that. However, ill pull it back out and look again! Ive been wrong and blind before.
Click to expand...
Easy to miss if you are not looking for them. LMK if you need any additional photos..

GL!
 
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