Talk Me Down From the Ledge, Please?
After a long night shift, I headed home today in -9ºF weather. About 20-25 minutes from home, I noticed the yellow oil pressure warning indicator. Being in no position to immediately investigate during a -30ºF windchill on the interstate, I kept driving. At a stoplight about a mile from home, I smelled what seemed like road tar—or burning oil. I arrived home, threw open the iced-over hood, and discovered oil all over the right side of the engine bay. I impulsively pulled up the dipstick, and black oil literally boiled up from it, splattering my jacket as I jumped back. And being as tired as I am right now, I’m not sure whether to cry and plan to buy a new car, or whether I just need to replace the valve cover gasket (I think), fill the ZHP with fresh Mobil1 0W40 and LiquiMoly Ceratec, clean up the engine bay and drive on.
Thoughts?
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Talk Me Down From the Ledge, Please?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
slater
it isn't really the sitting, it's short trips - how long is your commute? it's got to be at least 20min with these temps - you need to burn off the condensate.
The trip on which the gasket appears to have failed was about 75 minutes. The night before, my commute in from my mom’s place was 15-20 minutes, with most of it at highway speeds. I found plenty of frozen mayo in the valve cover and the PCV hose attachment; I’ll try to open the S/C to get at the PCV valve and clean it, too. Also, I found oil in a few of the spark plug wells, consistent with VC gasket failure.
Besides a repeat of this debacle, my biggest worry is oil damage to hoses and belts. I’ll replace the accessory belt, which got oiled. As for the coolant hoses, they’re fairly new, so I’m going to cross my fingers on wiping them down and keeping them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
slater
as for location - the drug bin really is a great spot for ease of access, and ease of mounting - but the hose runs are fairly long. i will likely mount the one in the 335 directly over the headers - you want as much residual heat to keep that thing warm. also, the 0ºC thermoswitch and 5w silicone heating pad that i used before, i will re-use on the 42draftdesigns can - it just worked so well....
From what I’ve read, it’s the cool surface areas in the catch can that cause the oil/fuel vapors to condense; therefore, a cooler mounting spot is preferred in order to facilitate air/oil separation. As for the longer hose runs, 1/2” NPT tubing will take up less space in a crowded engine bay, and could be easily insulated if necessary. I like the thermoswitch and heating pad idea; it’s simple and effective—quite clever, really.
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Talk Me Down From the Ledge, Please?
John, might be something to think about since you have a TS too. I have mayo in my system and it’s pretty warm here...it’s pretty simple to pull the hose at the PCV and check.