iscmatt
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 11:04 AM |
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Pinto trackday oil problem
Well, we had an amazing day out at Croft yesterday! Our first ever trackday. Though we do have one issue.
When we came in off the track for the first time there was oil all over the top of the engine and on the gearbox. So we cleaned up and topped up the
oil.
After the second run which was taken more steady the problem was reduced to almost no oil.
After the third run out, back to higher speeds and revs, the catch tank had filled and again oil on the top of the engine and gearbox.
After this we by passed the catch tank to allow the engine to breath more easily, straight through the breather filters. Bad idea- after our fourth
and final run of the day we came in with no oil indicated on the dipstick and a very oily engine bay 
unfortunatly that had to be the end of our day as it was obviously too dangerous to continue plus we had just the minimum amount of oil left in the
engine (filling up with the oil we had taken with us). We re-connected the catch tank and we drove slowly to the nearest garage filled up the oil.
Drove home doing good speeds up to 70 and some over taking. When we got home there was no evidence of oil leakage.
The oil appears to only leak when engine speeds reach above 5500rpm - on the track revving to 6200rpm. The car has done 95 in a straight line in 5th
gear no probs before, but on the track reaching 95 in 4th gear seems not so good?
Would this be oil pressure getting to high? what would be causing this extra pressure?? (PCV valve removed)
Again the car is fine when going quickly on the road, but not at track - (i understand the car is under a lot more pressure when on track)
Just looking for any thoughts on how to overcome this so my next track day can be a clean one!!
Thank you 
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82 Locost
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 11:32 AM |
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The following is based on a X-flow so ignore if irrelevant.....
Mine uses about 1/2 litre during a race (15 mins) revving to 7500. Below 3500 it uses nothing so I assume it's related to the engine's
speed. Even with new OE rings it blows. When my oil consumption gets to 1L per race I know it's time for a rebuild!
The pressure used to cause the dipstick to sit high in the tube, allowing oil mist out of there. I now bugnee that in so it can't escape from
there.
I don't think it's too much oil pressure, as oil pressure is highest when the engine is cold. On the track my oil pressure is around
30PSi (according to the gauge).
It's worth getting a compression/leak-down test to see if the rings are working well. Is there any excessive smoke from the exhaust?
Finally, older engines like Pintos and X-flows are built to much lower tolerances that modern engines. I'd be interested to know if yours is
typical of a Pinto or suffering from a problem.
Good Luck
[Edited on 9/6/08 by 82 Locost]
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se7ensport
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 11:38 AM |
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I had a similar issue, it turned out I had been over filling since swapping the sump to an RS2000 one and didn't have the correct dipstick, the
excess oil was being pumped out of the breathers.
I've sinced drained all the oil and refilled on level ground putting in 6.7 pints (3.9 litres) including filter on level ground and cut down the
dipstick and remarked it.
Alex
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mookaloid
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 11:51 AM |
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I had my catch tank permanently plumbed into the sump so oil drained straight back in.
Some people think that they wouldn't put catch tank oil back in the sump (I wouldn't either after it has been standing for a day or two)
but if it is just going straight back in I don't see a problem.
HTH
Cheers
Mark
"That thing you're thinking - it wont be that."
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iscmatt
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 12:32 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by se7ensport
I had a similar issue, it turned out I had been over filling since swapping the sump to an RS2000 one and didn't have the correct dipstick, the
excess oil was being pumped out of the breathers.
I've sinced drained all the oil and refilled on level ground putting in 6.7 pints (3.9 litres) including filter on level ground and cut down the
dipstick and remarked it.
Alex
Is this in a Pinto?
In the haynes it states 3.75 litres of oil with filter (6.6 Pints)
This would suggest you are putting in more oil than on a standard engine? Have i got that right?
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se7ensport
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 01:57 PM |
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Indeed it is a pinto, according to the RS owners club the RS2000:
"Engine Lubrication
High efficiency mechanical pump. Full flow oil filter with renewable element. Capacity of system 6.7 pints (3.9 litres) including filter."
RS Owners Club
I've had no issues since only putting in 6.7pints.
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DarrenW
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 03:04 PM |
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I had similar issues a while back caused by wrong dipstick. Perfectly fine after i filled correctly and recalibrated the stick.
I did also change PCV valve for cortina style breather.
I made a detailed post about a year ago. Could be orth searching it. First 2 or 3 pages are the problems, later is the solution.
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iscmatt
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 09:38 PM |
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Thanks Darren, some pretty interesting reading when looking through your posts/threads!!
i've got some mods to do, though wondered why some pintos have an oil cap with breather and some without?? any thoughts on this anyone?
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nz_climber
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| posted on 10/6/08 at 04:56 AM |
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Not sure how it applies to the pinto engine, but on oil coming out of breathers on cam covers can be excess oil being pumped into the head at high rpm
and not draining back down the galleries into the sump fast enough and hence fulling up the head and then the catch can.
This is more of a problem on engines that normally mounted on an angle as they normally only have galleries to drain the head on the lower side, so
they tend to collect oil when upright in a 7
Also if you are getting blowby which pressurises the sump/crankcase then oil can be forced out at crankcase breathers, and also compound oil not been
let back down into the sump from the head. Or a combination of both, and would appear normal when driving and only become a problem at high rpm
http://aarons7.wordpress.com
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DarrenW
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| posted on 10/6/08 at 03:36 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by iscmatt
Thanks Darren, some pretty interesting reading when looking through your posts/threads!!
i've got some mods to do, though wondered why some pintos have an oil cap with breather and some without?? any thoughts on this anyone?
Just be carefull when reading my threads. The root cause wasnt determined until later on so a lot of the trials are a bit flawed. Final result that
worked was correct oil fill (you should see dipstick measurements in the posts), tube from oil cap to tank, replace PCV with cortina breather and feed
this to catch tank running the pipe vertical to head height beore entering the tank.
All in all fairly simple mods. I used 1/2" ID pipework. Catch tank is open topped. Ive not been on track since but even after hard runs dont get
much in the tank, and its normally condensed vapour type spoils rather than good oil.
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