tightscot Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 On my way to get the fuelling, suspension, steering stuff all checked out, I'm about five minutes away when I find myself in a haze of smoke, billowing from every orifice (the car, not mine). Panic set in, but the engine sounded fine?? Take the bonnet off to find the engine bay swimming in oil. More cold sweats. Anyway, after much cleaning and testing the compression - fault diagnosed as possible o-ring failure on the dipstick (1.8 Zetec) resulting in it popping out of the tube. Cure - drill a hole in the dip stick handle and fit a spring to some suitable anchor. All good, so set off home to effect repair; guess what - Groundhog Day! Limp home for another mammoth cleaning session. Dip stick wired in until I get a spring fitted. Anyone else come across this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham0127 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 At least I'm now not the only member with their dipstick held in by a spring.....works a treat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodman Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Might be worth checking all your breathers , if they are blocked you may be getting extra sump pressure 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rab (bombero) Reid Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Hmm, this is a new phenomena to me .. is it common, and does it affect the 2.0 also? Isn't it better to investigate the cause (over pressure in the sump!?) than to simply hold down the dipstick..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightscot Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Good point, what's the possible causes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Never had a dip stick that's that tight a fit, unless its rattling loose, Id have definitely investigated further. Blocked breathers as has been mentioned, also excessive blow by past the piston rings. Currently the dip stick is acting like a pressure relief valve. Stop it, and the pressure may try and get out somewhere else, like via an oil seal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WINGNUT Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Wood man and Dave seem to be in the right area for me, check all breathers including pipes too! Make sure none are collapsing under pressure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightscot Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Sounds a little worrying. I'll check the breather hoses - I guess I just remove them and pour something through them (sorry, not that technical)? Pour oil through or something else? The garage checked all the cylinders for compression (he thought of blow by - I don't even know what that is) - all was well there. Does that take care of that? It did only happen after a bit of a thrash; doodling about the day before everything was fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WINGNUT Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 depending on size of breather pipes you will see if they are blocked, you can even blow through them if you have removed them! Whats your setup like do you have a catch tank? is it full? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightscot Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Whats your setup like do you have a catch tank? is it full? I do have a catch tank, two breathers and vented back to the engine. There's only about an inch of oil in the tank. I think I may be out of my depth here and a trip to the mechanic is probably in order? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid life crisis Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 It could be something as simple as vibration shaking it loose "It did only happen after a bit of a thrash; Put some tape around it and take it for a thrash before chucking money at it. My dstick is held in with a clip, because it vibrates out, always done so and chucks oil everywhere. Not good if you are sprinting Now't wrong with the breathing on my engine, just a poor seal on the dstick Oh just as an aside, it's a xflow with one of those crappy spring type dsticks and a rubber sealing ring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistonbroke Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 change the oil filter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatbaldbloke Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 If it's a zetec do you have the mod to remove the one way valve from the crankcase breather? As standard the breather pipe returns to the inlet manifold and depends on some occasional vacuum from the inlet manifold to hold it open. If you move the crankcase breather hose from the inlet manifold and into a catchtank you should remove the ball inside the breather valve, otherwise you could see higher pressures in the crankcase that could potentially cause the dipstick to pop out, if that's the next path of least resistance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Farrimond Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 ^^^^ was just going to suggest the same thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terryathome Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 The pipe should not be going back to the engine.PCV Valve here Terry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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