got a wierd problem.

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THE STEVE

THE STEVE

"part-time wheelman"
Joined
Nov 23, 2009
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springville, indiana
when i did my engine wap into my 72 duster, i installed a GM HEI distributor that was fitted for mopar. its just a simple summit brand dist. anyways. ive had it in the car for abt a year with no problems. but ive recently spotted an oil leak at the back of the engine. i resealed the oil pressure fitting, replaced the o-ring around the dist but that didnt help. i also replaced my pcv valve. i took the cap off the dist and found oil inside the dist. ive asked all my buddys and local shop owners and non of them have heard of this. apparently oil is coming up through the shaft. there are no other oil leaks on the whole engine. any ideas?

thanks
 
THE STEVE said:
when i did my engine wap into my 72 duster, i installed a GM HEI distributor that was fitted for mopar. its just a simple summit brand dist. anyways. ive had it in the car for abt a year with no problems. but ive recently spotted an oil leak at the back of the engine. i resealed the oil pressure fitting, replaced the o-ring around the dist but that didnt help. i also replaced my pcv valve. i took the cap off the dist and found oil inside the dist. ive asked all my buddys and local shop owners and non of them have heard of this. apparently oil is coming up through the shaft. there are no other oil leaks on the whole engine. any ideas?

thanks
Click to expand...

Thats a very weird problem. Does the distributor get an oil feed? How are the bushings in the distributor? Do you have a positive crankcase pressure?
 
the engine is out of a 77 dodge van. im not sure abt positive crank case pressure. i have a pcv valve on one valve cover and a filter on the other. the pcv valve seams to be working. its not leaking anywhere else so i dont think it has too much pressure. the dist. is only a year old. ill double check and see how the bushings are. like i said the inside of the cap is covered in oil and the dist has a pool of oil sitting in it. i took it out once and cleaned it with some electramotive. but within a day or so the dist was full of oil again.
 
My personal thought is that I'd dump the HEI and put a regular Mopar electronic ignition in it. That said, what you are experiencing should not happen. IIRC, those had an oil feed on the lower end, not sure exactly how that works in a Mopar conversion, but that may be where your problem lies.
 
I've never taken an HEI apart... Are you sure the vacuum advance is functioning right? If the diaphram had a hole it could be applying vacuum to the dist housing.
 
is the ignition coil on top or inside the dizzy cap ?? coils have oil in them,,,,
 
hmm. i think the coil is on top. but its leaked out too much oil to be from a coil. like i said i drove it for a year and now its leaking. ill tear into it in the morning..
 
well if its sucking oil up the dizzy drive shaft,,that would be the weirdest thing i ever heard of,,,,any chance you have an oil line to a oil pressure gauge close to the dizzy ??? blow by driping out of the air cleaner ??? is there a pool of oil in the air cleaner base ???
 
Could be venting up through/around the shaft area like a valve cover breather.
 
I worked on Hyster forklifts for several yrs. and they used GM engines and I did see that happen a few times. Check the bushings and shaft for wear. If it's real sloppy it'll let oil seep up through it and it really don't take much oil to make for a big mess. Only other reason I can think of is if the pcv valve isn't working properly or the breather is plugged up as mentioned above.
 
That will teach you to use that bow tie stuff! OK, while the engine is idling, pull the PCV valve out of the valve cover and see if there is any major blow by. A little? try a new PCV valve and hope for the best. A lot? It's ring job time. No blow by? You need a new distributor.....and get a Mopar one this time will you??
Thanks, Mark
 
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