Erinyes

425 "A" block, probably bone stock, old Offenhauser 360 manifold, late model Q-Jet, switch pitch TH400, 3.23 gears. Compression about 175 in all eight cylinders.

Swapped in the manifold and carb (originally had the 2bbl.), did some jet/rod/spring tuning. Runs really nicely - when the secondaries open up, there's enough juice to shove me right back in the seat for two gears. For a 4000 lb. tank, that's not bad.

Added a PCV system, which was a pain with the D-shaped grommet hole in the valve covers (passenger side). No hole on drivers side, but filler tube has a breather cap. It used to have just a breather on the passenger side, unconnected to anything.

Problem is, running down the highway, oil blows out the breather cap on the filler tube. Gets the manifold awful messy, and I lose a good deal of oil. I would not want to drive it 50 miles on the highway. In town, it seems to be fine.

I thought for awhile that I was not getting a good seal on the PCV grommet, and fought that till I am happy it is tight (although it may not last - time will tell; it's definitely a juryrig setup, but for the moment it's holding tight). The vacuum through the brand new PCV valve is fine, from the main port under the carb.

Any ideas? My next thought is to drill a hole in the driver side valve cover for a breather, but don't want to go overboard if I'm missing anything.

coppercutlass

i have the same issue .I put a new oil cap on and voila. I had open element breathers so the pressure was getting out see if it's that.

Erinyes

Any chance a brand new push-on breather cap (Mr. Gasket, if I remember correctly - some chrome thing, anyway) could be faulty? The old one had half the filter missing, disintegrated away, and there sure didn't look like there was any way to replace it.

I did notice the new one doesn't fit as far down the tube as the old one did, but I couldn't believe that would be a problem, what with the foot-long filler tube.

oldcutlass

Two things, prior to changing your manifold and adding the PCV, did your engine have blowby?

Is there a baffle under the pcv valve to prevent oil from going in there when the engine is running?

Yes a vent tube from your drivers side valve cover back to the carb air breather would probably help this situation.

Erinyes

There was no blowby prior to installing the PCV, and there is a baffle.

I'm guessing I'll have to invest in valve covers with proper PCV ports. Can't go with anything fancy, I need shallow covers to fit under the PS bracket (which I think may have been homemade - since everything under the hood is a kludge, it's hard to tell for sure). At least I've got all winter to look - it was so nice out today, I finally put it under covers before the snow falls.

coppercutlass

The last time I was out at the track I blew the oil filler cap off and oil still came out all over the intake manifold . Try to find an o.e. Cap. On a previous set up i had i ran a pcv and a breather on the oil filler tube and that was it no breather on the valve covers besides the pcv. valve.

507OLDS

If it was a new engine,I would say the rings.My friend had that happen.It kept pushing the breathers out of the valve covers,and spraying oil.Then he duct-taped the breathers onto the valve covers,and it blew the oil fill cap off.Taped that,then it blew the whole oil fill tube out of the block.
You're getting too much crankcase pressure somehow.I normally run the pcv from the passenger side,into the intake,and have an open breather on the driver's side.The fact that you have breathers,should be enough.Your rings might be losing seal,even if it doesn't smoke.

coppercutlass

Mine turned out to be just the filler cap it was old and the rivet made it wobble on the tube

Lady72nRob71

Wow - that sounds like my kinda luck. He forgot to tape the fill tube in...

oldcutlass

Do you have blowby now, there should not be enough pressure to blow oil out of your fill tube. My old 330-4v did it because of bad rings. I got lucky enough by installing a new PCV and like I said above, installed a Mopar style breather with a tube to my air cleaner housing. That was just enough relief to keep the oil in the block! It bought me 2 years.

507OLDS

It turned out that the my friend's block never got the finish-hone,after it was bored,so the rings never seated.He tore it back down,sent all of it to BTR to get corrected,and it's been fine since.

67Olds442X2

There's a curved piece of metal that is installed in the block that prevents oil from the timing chain from splashing into the filler tube. I know cause mines missing and I get oil out the tube at high rpm's. Maybe part of the problem. I have a PCV steup.

Erinyes

Hmm. I sure hope it's not missing that curved piece of metal - not something I'm going to get to for some time.

I'll definitely be looking for valve covers that have a breather port on the driver's side, and go from there. Might be a long time before it gets resolved, since it's about winter time now, but when I do finish it (or run out of options), I'll post an update.

67Olds442X2

Pic 1 has the baffle or shield, whatever it's called. Pic 2 is the block without it. It goes in the "C" shaped area. May or may not cause what your experiencing. I know when mine leaks, I'll get oil drops on my windshield. Along with oil on the underside of the hood.

coppercutlass

a quick fix is grab a shop rag and place over the area where you close the filler cap . Do not stuff it and close the filler cap with the rag on pusing it down a bit so it seals it alot better and tightens up sigificantly. Then trim the extra. I had to do this as a quick fix at the dragsrtip one time. Beats taking the front of the engine apart. You can also weld a baffle to the bottom of the filler tube with some sheet metal.

67Olds442X2

Thanks for the tip, will try it out for a bit. My front seal is leaking so may have to pull the cover anyway. I'll wait till winter time to pull it.

SBORule

You could always pull out the oil fill tube and buy a expansible freeze plug and eliminate that oil slashing on your intake. I did it to my engine, I think it makes the engine look better.

You need a valve cover on the drivers side with a breather in it.

I have seen people put those sweat bands for your wrist that Tennis players use to prevent oil from the oil fill tube from blowing oil on the intake but usually if it's only letting a little oil out, sounds like your problem is from not having a breather on the drivers side valve cover.

oldcutlass

If its building pressure blocking one are will force it out another. You can cut a breather in your current valve cover and install either a baffel type grommet or a bolt in baffel. Its not hard, but you have to take the valve cover off to do it.

You did not answer the question pertaining to blowby. If you remove the the fillier cover while its idling and warmed up, is there smoke coming from the filler tube?

Do you have smoke out your exhaust while idling when its warmed up.

What is your oil pressure at start, and fully warmed up?

Erinyes

There does not appear to be any blowby. No visible smoke, either at the top or from the exhaust. Good oil pressure - no numbers on the gauge, but it's at the higher side, and never drops low.

I do seem to recall some smoke at the breather when I first got the car, before I changed the oil. Nothing has ever shown on the plugs, and there's no noticeable idle change with the PCV either in or out.

The oil spraying from the filler did not start till I replaced the grommet and installed a PCV valve, at the same time I swapped the intake.

One thing that occurs to me is that the old manifold used a turkey tray, and I used plain composite gaskets, no tray, with the new intake. Any chance that could be involved?

Lady72nRob71

Any possibility the PCV valve was installed upsidedown? Some valves have hose connections on both sides - stupid design but universal...

coppercutlass

Maybe a faulty pcv valve . I have bought parts that failed even when new. Try the old one see what it does . I doubt the turkey tray will affect it.

oldcutlass

I agree with the others, possibly a bad PCV. When you shake it does it rattle? Also when you put your finger over the end with the engine running do you have vacuum?

Erinyes

Standard PCV valve, metal bottom, single vacuum connection, rattles, finger on the end shows vacuum and clicks normally, showing the ball behaving properly. I've never trusted all-plastic PCV valves, ever since I bought a 72 Cutlass for $50 due to a faulty one.

Man, that was a smoker. Would fill a three-bay shop in less than a minute with thick blue oil smoke. Put a new metal valve on it and it quit smoking. Cleaned a few pounds of horrible thick crud out from under the intake, new cam, lifters, and timing chain and it ran great.

Wish I still had it. Sold it a few years later for $1500, and have regretted it pretty much ever since.

Erinyes

Weather was so nice, I went out and put on new valve covers to try to fix the crankcase pressure problem.

Ok, old Edelbrock valve covers that I sandblasted and drilled and tapped for blocking plates, but they fit right in with the theme of the car (old stuff, not too shiny, goes faster than it looks like it should) and they had breather ports on both sides.

PCV on the passenger side, breather cap on the driver side, breather cap on the filler tube.

No more oil fountaining out of the filler tube - BUT without that major problem, I can now see a minor oil leak at the front of the intake.

Sigh. It'll be the third time I've put that intake on. Any tips?

oldcutlass

Glad you got your pcv situation rectified. With the fiber gaskets, your intake sits a bit higher than with the ol metal shims, and therefore the leak. Perhaps this time, throw away the china wall rubbers, and use an ample supply of rtv on there instead. Don't over torque!

Erinyes

Thanks, OC. Greater installed height from fiber gaskets makes perfect sense; wish I had thought of it before I put it in. Maybe I'll go with the turkey tray this time. I was using the fiber gaskets to help compensate for any warpage in the intake, but perhaps that won't be necessary.

On a more positive note, I couldn't believe how clean the inside of that engine is. No sludge anywhere on the topside. And with the Q-jet, it's very responsive. I'm contemplating putting the dual exhaust in now - just in time for the high steel prices!

oldcutlass

I got lucky with my original engine also, no sludge, good cam and valvetrain. All it needed was a head freshening and seals. The turkey tray takes some work! Make sure the bosses are lined up and the the gasket fits flush. There was a manufacturing defect that didn't allow it to seat flush. You can search threads on intake manifold gaskets for specific details. My 330 had a small tray mounted in the lifter valley so I could use the 4 piece manifold gasket, IMHO much easier.

You will love the duals. Use turbo mufflers for that nice mellow rumble.

m371961

Had a good chuckle when I saw the pics of the baffle under oil tube. The other day I completed assembly of my 425. The next day I found the baffle in my parts box. Totally forgot I removed it when the block went to the machine shop. My first Olds rebuild. Btw, saw a baffle listed on E-bay recently.

Erinyes

First long drive today after finally getting all leaks from the intake fixed. 100+ miles, all very smooth.

Only sour note: I decided the kickdown wasn't working properly, so after pulling off the interstate I slowed to 45 mph, then stomped on it. No kickdown. Slowed to 45 again, shifted to 2nd and stomped on it -- major difference. I was doing 90 before I could get off the gas.

Stopped and checked under the hood, and there was some oil spill from the fill tube again. Not very much at all, most likely only from when I downshifted and stomped.

Wiped everything down, drove back home without ever jumping on it, and no oil spill at all.

Looked down the fill tube, and could see a mesh screen in the fill tube. Maybe that's good, but it does block any view of the baffle 67Olds442x2 described. I can't tell if it's there or not, but at this point I'm willing to bet that's the problem -- no baffle.

So it looks like I've got two new projects - fix the kickdown (which was working earlier) and pull the cover to fix the baffle, one way or another.

Fun.

67Olds442X2

To keep oil from coming out of my fill tube until I replace the baffle I installed one of these grommets. Fits perfectly in the tube. Stills lets it vent if needed but no oil comes out. Works for me.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TRD-9359/?rtype=10

Erinyes

Hey, that looks great! I already picked up the proper baffle from eBay, but I'll grab one of these and store the baffle until I happen to get deeper into the engine. I'll wait to order one till I fiddle more with the kickdown - I wasn't totally happy with the linkage I rigged up, anyway.

It worked, but seemed a bit Mickey Mouse. I'm thinking about using a Lokar kickdown cable, the one that attaches to the transmission, and then the only linkage geometry I need to worry about is for the switch-pitch. Summit has these, and I've never seen one on eBay for less.

Right now, I have a rod running from the carb to the switch, and it seems to move the switch appropriately, but since the switch-pitch needs juice both at idle and at full throttle and the kickdown only at the upper range of the travel, I think I'll get a little better control with two different devices.

Of course, the only problem right now might just be that the solenoid has quit working, or a voltage issue, or... guess I'll figure it out tomorrow!

Erinyes

Finally have everything together: Lokar kickdown at the transmission, switch pitch switch at the manifold (having two switches lets me make finer adjustments to each, individually), and putting that grommet in the filler tube finally made the last of the oil spilling vanish - thanks, 67Olds442x2.

I still need to dial everything in, including the carb jets/rods/spring combo, but I'll wait for that until I have the dual exhaust put in later this summer. At the moment, it's drivable enough to be an emergency car, as long as it's not cold or rainy!