--Previous Message--
: I wouldn't rush to judgement without
: getting a few miles on it and changing
: the oil & filter and running it
: again.
: With .003 on the mains, and perhaps a
: little excess around the cam, the idle
: pressure will be a little low anyhow.
: Does it come up quickly and run 50-60 @
: cruise?
: If it winds up having low idle &
: cruise, after changing the run-in oil,
: there may be a problem.
: The oil leak around the distributor, if
: it's leaking from inside the
: distributor, it would have to be
: migrating up around the shaft, also
: there is an o-ring fitted to the groove
: around the O/D of the housing where it
: fits in the pedestal, maybe that's a
: possible leak source?
: Glen
:
: --Previous Message--
: Yesterday I got the engine started and
: worked on cleaning up some things in
: the engine bay. Today I re-torqued the
: head and reset the valves. I also took
: the car out on the road for its first
: trip in months. It wasn't a long trip,
: just a mile or so to the gas station
: and back.
:
: When I got home I noticed the oil
: pressure was lower than expected. I
: wrote this off to the
: "sticky" Smiths oil pressure
: gauge that was in the car. Later in
: the day I replaced it with a trusted
: VDO gauge that is known good.
:
: Now I am unhappy. The Smiths gauge was
: apparently right. THe engine starts
: from "cold" with oil pressure
: around 60 PSI. After idling for 10-15
: minutes the pressure at 1000 RPM drops
: to about 40 PSI. Let the car idle 10
: more minutes and the pressure is in the
: upper 20s. This is fresh 20W50 Castrol
: and of course... all the bearings are
: new. The ambient temperature is about
: 70 degrees F and the engine coolant is
: running close to the thermostat's 180oF
: rating.
:
: The main bearing clearances were
: running 0.002/0.003 and the rod end
: clearances were running almost exactly
: 0.0015". The oil pump clearances
: were all well within spec and the
: endplate was flat and without scoring.
: The machinist "said" my cam
: bearing bores were in spec. I trusted
: his measurements because I didn't have
: a good way to measure them. I suspect
: the low OP is from the cam journal
: clearance as it is the only thing I
: didn't measure myself. I have an oil
: cooler that I could fit. I had hoped
: it wouldn't be necessary but now... I'm
: not so sure.
:
: Then there is a confusing oil leak. At
: the moment the only crankcase venting
: is via a draft tube off the valve
: cover. There is no PCV valve
: connecting the the valve cover to the
: carb. The leak I am seeing is THROUGH
: the distributor. There is oil dripping
: out of the vent hole on the bottom of
: the Lucas 45D housing. There should be
: little blow by at this point and with
: the valve cover venting to air there
: should be no pressure to drive oil up
: and out the distributor. Have you guys
: seen anything like this before?
:
: All in all the restart has gone well
: but with the temperature relatively low
: today I am concerned about what the oil
: pressure will be next summer. Your
: comments and suggestions concerning the
: oil pressure and leak will be greatly
: appreciated.
:
: Doug L.
:
:
:
:
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