Hello, I am having a problem with Gasoline getting into my Engine oil in my 1970 Monte Carlo 350 Small block. I checked the dipstick one time and it looked milky and green, but no bubbles so I knew it couldn't be antifreeze/water mix. So I drained a little oil from the pan and sure enough it was a dark green and when I smelled it I could strongly smell the gasonline in it. I replaced the fuel pump just recently and changed the oil and filter but now the gasonline is back in the oil and my problem isn't fixed. I heard the power valve in my Holley I'm running might be blown allowing gas to get into the engine and I'm not very familiar with Holleys so the only way I figured gas could get getting from the carb to the engine oil is through the PCV hose and valve (I'm pretty sure this is what is reffered to when someone told me that I have a bad Power Valve, am I right?) in the valve cover from the front of the carb. I took that hose off today and ran the car and nothing came out of that hole so I didnt think it could be my Power Valve either. I'm still running open headers but I dont see any smoke at all as if the gas were passing through one or a few of my piston rings because if it did then the engine would be burning oil as well but I dont know if you can see it smoking or not with open headers, I'm not sure. We havn't done a compression check though yet, would anybody reccommend this? The only other thing I can think of but that my dad thought wasn't possible is maybe a bad intake manifold gasket? I used Fel-pro on just about all but this one so they're the cheap kind but is it possible to have a bad gasket or cracked one similar to what a blown head gasket would do? Anybody ever have this problem before? I would appreciate it if someone can help and email me their input. I was planning on putting on a Quadrajet by the way, anybody think I should put that on after changing the oil and filter then running it to see what happens? But the only thing is, I want to pinpoint it cause I dont want to keep wasting oil and filters. And I dont think its good to run an engine that has gasoline mixed with oil. Thanks again, I'd appreciate any feedback here or to: <a href="mailto:Ryan@RyansCustoms.com">Ryan@RyansCustoms.com</a>

-Ryan Washington
<a href="www.RyansCustoms.com">www.RyansCustoms.com</a>

Ryan,

The power valve is in the carb itself. You have to remove the front bowl of the carb and the power valve is screwed into the metering block...it's about the size of a half dollar...this is not related to the PCV valve. A ruptured diaphram in the power valve could cause gas to leak into the engine.

Does it run rich?
Check and see if you have gas dripping from the carb down into the intake when it's not running. After it sits for a while, I would think you would have a lot of gas in the intake runners.

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-Mark
TC# 717
ACES #1641
1967 Chevelle SS396/375 (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/1BadRat2)
1967 RailVelle (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/1badrat3.jpg)
1964 Chevelle 283/195
1975 Corvette 396/425 (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/1BadRat1.jpg) "Wow, that's a mighty strong 350!"
Rat Garage (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/RatGarage.jpg)


[This message has been edited by 1BadRat (edited 01-25-2003).]

A leaking fuel pump can put gasoline into the oil.

Alright, thanks. I'm gonna try replacing the carb and I was planning to put a Quadrajet on it anyway because that Holley is only about a 450. So I'll try that and get back to you all, thanks again

Ryan Washington

A stuck float will also cause gas in the oil.

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Paul
TC Member #1657
'66 SS 396/360
Me and My ride (http://chevelles.com/showroom/RedHot66/P1010048.jpg)
Under the Hood (http://chevelles.com/showroom/RedHot66/P1010049.jpg)

I'm inclined to go with the stuck float as well, especially if it sits for long periods. Doesn't matter what maunfacturer it is, but holleys need a little more attention...
Does it start up ok?
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73 Malibu
400ci 425/470
TH700-R4, 3:42 posi
Lovin my afr 190's!

Definition of an expert: Someone who knows more and more about less and less.

[This message has been edited by Gary_E (edited 01-25-2003).]

Alright, thanks for the reply. My dad still insists on a compression check and that I have a blown ring around my piston but I sure hope its not that. I'm just gonna get my Quadrajet rebuilt. And I only started up my car about once every two weeks or so it took a little bit before it fired up to answer your question. But the last time I tried to start it it seems like it took a little longer than usual to fire it up and thats why I'm leaing towards thinking its the carb thats bad because when the car shuts off all the gas drains in the cylinders and passes the piston rings and gets in the oil. This makes sense, right?

Thanks
Ryan

You say when you drain some oil out it is dark green. Are you sure it isn't water and antifreeze coming out first. Is the oil just very thin from mixing with gas? You could have a gas smell and still have water in the oil. I don't know, will gas in oil turn it green or milky grey. When I had gas in my oil, it looked pretty normal, just very thin. It is hars to tell what you are dealing with from the description.

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1969 SS 396 Camaro/Th 400/355s.(454 now)
Not a Chevelle but the BBC guys are here!

[This message has been edited by phel69 (edited 01-25-2003).]

Hey everybody again. To make sure that it was the carb like most people told me, I took 2 spark plugs out and they were really black and they're brand new spark plugs. So this told me that it must be the Holley thats not running right to cause the gas in my oil...well...Today I took that Holley off and put on a Quadrajet I had sitting around and changed the oil and filter and got rid of my old darn green oil out of the engine and ran the engine a bit but it wanted to cut off but I think its just the Quadrajet because it's been sitting around for years and years I know and its not adjusted right. I put my usual Fram filter on with 5 quarts of 10w-30 Valvoline oil. I was planning on getting it rebuilt but...

After running the engine for about 5 minutes, really white oil started dripping out of its usual spot under my timing chain cover from my front seal I guess. The leaking is usual, but not the really white oil. I checked the dipstick and there was no milkyness or anything on it, just regular oil. So I drained a little bit from the oil pan and to my much dissappointment the oil I drained was watered down and green again but not a dark green because it wasn't running for long at all with the new oil. But I knew that it once again had gasoline in my oil. {:-(

My question is: is it still possible with a different carbarator (my quadrajet--thats pretty old and needs to be rebuilt even though the engine runs with it on) other than the Holley that we all thought was bad causing gas to get in my oil that the adjustments or something is wrong with the Quadrajet that could still be causing the gas to get in my oil? Or do you all think its something different now after replacing the fuel pump with a brand new one which was the first thing I ever did when I found this problem and changing the Holley to a Quadrajet? Anybody think it could be intake gaskets? I put the cheap ones on when I built the engine.

My valve covers dont puff up like someone was telling me meaning I have a hole in my piston so I dont think it could be that and when I built the engine (remember, this engine hasnt even been on the road yet so its got 0 miles) I put brand new hypernematic pistons in it. And it doesnt burn oil (or at least I cant tell because of running open headers) so I dont think it could be bad piston rings.

Someone please help and let me know if I should just go ahead and get this Quadrajet rebuilt and hopefully that will fix it or should I change intake gaskets or take a compression check or something! I'm really getting frustrated and I don't know what to do. Hopefully its just my carb again that needs to be adjusted thats still causing my fuel to get in my oil but I'm afraid thats not it because its a different carb, even though its not rebuilt or new or anything. Please help!!!

Thanks-Ryan Washington

RyansCustoms.com (http://www.RyansCustoms.com) Ryan@RyansCustoms.com

Still sounds like a bad head gasket. If the water had a green tint to it, it's antifreeze. Time to pull the heads. Probably not what you want to hear, but a necessary step.


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MalibuJerry350
TC Member #1279
Original owner '70 Chevelle.
597,000 miles on car.
Hey, if it's got wheels, DRIVE IT!
My Chevelle: http://hometown.aol.com/erie614/myhomepage/index.html

Geez that really sucks if I have to do that...But wouldn't the antifreeze/water mixture show up as bubbles in the oil and on the dipstick or would it not? We had the same problem wiht our '79 Olds wagon and I drained 5 gallons of antifreeze/water/oil out of the oil pan and when they had time to settle in the buckets, the antifreeze separated from the oil...my mixture doesn't do that. Thats why I'm pretty sure its gas and because it definately smells like gas. But then again, I dont know why there was white milky oil leaking out of the front cover...

I would appreciate many more responses, thanks so much

Ryan Washington

I just had a similar problem with my Holley in the Malibu. A blown power valve let gas seep down into the cylinders, hydrolocking the engine. I rebuilt the Holley for around 25 bucks. It had a lot of gas in the oil. It turned the oil a greyish color, and it was really thin. If you want to know if it's gas or oil, you can do a little side by side comparison. It's not all that safe or environmentally friendly.

get a rag with gas, a rag with oil, one with anti-freeze, and one with a mixture of gas and oil, and yet another with anti-freeze and oil, and last but not least one with all three. Grab a pack of matches and stand back. Note the difference in smoke of all combinations. Then set fire to your engine. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/rolleyes.gif I'm kidding. dip a rag in your oil pan and do the same. See if you can decifer what the problem is. Isn't labratory science great?

Yeah, what I drained out of my oil pan is definately like a green of some original interiors of some Chevelles! lol I figured I would compare it to something we all know. And it seems the more I run it, the more green it gets. I've had a problem with our '79 Olds wagon of puffing white smoke and I drained 5 gallons of gray gook of antifreeze and oil mix out of the oil pan and when it settled, the antifreeze is lighter so it floated on top and the oil is heavier and stayed on the bottom and you could distinctly see this. This is different than my case because I drained about the same amount as has been in the oil pan always (about 5 quarts as SBC's hold) and when I drain it out and give it days or even weeks to settle, it doesnt separate at all...just stays green. This is why I would think that its not antifreeze in my oil.

I have been told by a BMW mechanic that my intake gaskets are bad. And now that I think about it, I used crappy gaskets that dont have any silicone bead or anything on them that I got from PAW and I know the head gaskets we got from them were crap and we threw them away and bought and put on Fel-Pro. So he told me to change intake gaskets, does this make sense to anybody?
Thanks

-Ryan Washington

ryan, i agree with the guy that said the oil would just be thinner with no color change. i have seen the oil milkshake before and with brand new antifreeze i would expect the green. as far as the gasoline smell you might have a carb prob at the same time. just a side note oil floats on top of water... good luck,
neil 67 velle

[This message has been edited by firemaneil (edited 02-08-2003).]

My 2 suggestions:

Switch to Kendall oil. It's already GREEN http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

Switch to one of those 5 year 50K mile antifreezes. They're orange. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif

K

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64 2 Door 400SB/TH350
Chevello Page (http://users.rcn.com/chevello)
"You laugh because I am different. I laugh because you are all the same."
TC Member #1155

Its not fuel in your oil, it can only be antifreeze, fuel would not make a colorchange or show up green, fix your coolant leak, hope your block or heads aren't cracked, all carbs will run rich without adjustment if the exhaust is uncapped, if you find any sparkplugs that are clean it can be an indication of coolant in that combustion chamber

and don't listen to a BMW mechanic

the fuel pump can cause a fuel leak inside the engine if the diaphragm has a hole in it it could pump gas directly into the engine oil I'd at least check that before going any further

Sounds like a blown head gasket. I'd replace it sooner rather than hydrolocking your motor.

Easy way to tell whats in your oil, dip your finger in it and taste it. Sweet = antifreeze.

Hey guys, its me again. Sorry its been so long but the problem has finally been diagnosed and fixed. I was planning on getting a new carb anyway since everything else on the engine was new so a month or more ago I bought me a Edelbrock AVS 650 from Summit and I put it on and my oil always looks normal now. So the problem was the old Holley was shot and dumping extra gas into the engine somehow. Thank goodness it was nothing more serious. Thanks again so much for the help though, I greatly appreciate all of you guys. Thanks again, talk to you later.

-Ryan Washington
www.RyansCustoms.com (http://www.RyansCustoms.com)

Ryan,

You haven't stated if you've been losing any water. I'd expect to see your coolant level dropping if you're loosing that much water into your oil system.

Compression check is an easy test to check for blown head gasket-not hard to do either, I'd give it a shot.

Also, I'd rethink the possiblilty of replacing that fuel pump, could be you got a bad one. But do the comp. check first.

Yeah, thanks. But I did a compression test before I bought the carb and the engine held 150-160psi on all 8 cylinders. So thats why I eliminated what most of everybody here said. Thanks again though, take care

Ryan