Tech Day/ While I'm at it???

[doghows]

Well it all started out as a simple pull the pan and see what's up day until I made the "mistake" of mentioning that my brakes needed to be bled again.

Roger and Gene had made the trip over from Seattle for what was intended to be a "let's see in person how far Steve has got on his Delivery" trip.

Well Roger had Krispy Kreme's, and after the garage warmed up after a bit so we dove in.

Gene pulled all wheels off and I dove under to get the pan off the van. Roger and Gene had all the wheels and drums off and found what I really did not expect (kind of did); all wheels cylinders were leaking and all the shoes were pretty worn and soggy.

So off to the parts store I went. They had everything in stockl and off to work we went.

After the pan was off it looked pretty good in there. Not a ton of junk - just some sludge and a few small gasket pieces. So Roger took apart the oil pump to inspect it further. We did not find any obvious problem so we buttoned it back up installed an oil pressure gauge. I will monitor that system for a bit.

Got to work on the brakes and wouldn't you know it about halfway through one brake line refused to give up. Fortunately my wife Laurie was in town and she ran by the parts house and picked up a replacement line.

Got it all back together, bled out the system, adjusted the brakes and she stops on a dime.

Very BIG thanks to Roger and Gene for using up there entire Saturday for what turned out to be a long day of work. This just goes to show the caliber of people we have in this club. A day of visiting and relaxing and they busted there butts to help out another club member.

THANK YOU, I will return the favor anytime it is needed. But beware a tech day could cause the outbreak of "While I am at it"..:WHATTHE:

[Luva65wagon]

Steve - fixed a couple of typo's for you too! What a guy.

Yeah, we were not wholly there to relax and enjoy. We both came prepared when we brought along our cover-all's and shop clothes. I'd have been totally happy to "just help bleed the brakes" when Steve asked, but I'd have been remiss to ignore the statement he made about the "clunk" he heard while using the brakes.

So after asking, "Have you ever inspected the brakes on this?" - to find the answer was "no"... I could not abide letting Steve drive it without at least having a look.

Glad we did.

And of course, you are welcome.

So... the curse of "While I'm at it" lives on. Beware. :NERVOUS:

[doghows]

My typing is probably as good as my brake work. (I hate Brakes) Thanks Rogr...

[Luva65wagon]

"Stop is more important than Go."

Signed, A Wise Guy

[doghows]

If every one would stay out of my way I wouldn't have to worry so much about the stop part!!:D

I am going to drive the van to work tomorrow, I will let you know how the go part works. Thanks again for the help..[thumb]

[doghows]

OK drove the Van to work today and almost did not make it. The Van runs fine but after about 5 miles at highway speed she looses oil pressure. It goes down from 40psi to about 5psi.
Stop pull over with engine running and oil pressure slowly climbs back up to 40psi. Runs fine again and after about 3 miles did the same thing.
So my conclusion is that my oil passages are restricted and the oil is not going back into the pan as it should, thus loosing pressure and making it run like crap.
So is there an easy solution to this versus ripping the engine out and tearing it down? Engine flush maybe anybody had any luck with that stuff?
Or I could look for another engine entirely? Crap may have to park the van for a bit while I finish the delivery. Was hoping to get her running well enough to drive while I finished the delivery.
Any one got a spare 200 6??:mad::sawzall:

[Jeff W]

If you are running a Fram oil filter, swap it out with another brand. At one time the bypass valve in the Fram's had issues and will not alwas open and starve. I would like to thnk they have it resolved by now but for $4.00 it's an easy test.

[pbrown]

Pull the pan and check the pan to pickup clearance. Maybe the pan got dented up and is hitting the pickup. Replace the oil pump while you're down there.

[Luva65wagon]

Well - considering he changed the oil and filter with the inspection we did, I doubt it is the filter. There was that evidence of bearing material in the pan, which might be from a bearing spinning.

Here's some light reading:

http://classicinlines.com/OilPressure.asp

[Luva65wagon]

There was a light dent in the pan, but not enough to reach the sump. The pump looked OK, but the relief valve isn't something I checked for or inspected. It might be messing up. But yes, if you gotta pull the pan, flatten the dent and put in a new pump. You're getting good at that - and you got plenty of room to work under there.

Don't forget the drain plug gasket. :o

[doghows]

I know where there is a spare one of those now!! Thanks for the help everyone I will keep you posted on what I find. Maybe I will find another motor to put in???

[redfalken]

So maybe this is a dumb question but is the engine "running like crap" because the low oil pressure isn't loading the lifters (assuming they're hydraulic) and the valves may not open or close properly??

Otherwise low pressure would just cause long term (or sometimes short term) damage to bearings and other friction points.

Enlighten me!

And have you checked the valve seals? If they're the stock umbrella type they can get brittle and small pieces will break off. Sometimes clogging oil passages.

[doghows]

I believe that is why it runs like crap. When the oil pressure is at 40 psi it runs fine. When the pressure drops the running crappy starts.
I am going to pull the valve cover back off and look at thing a bit closer in there and see what is going on.
On the drive home last night I went the back roads and kept the speed under 50 mph and the engine rpm's low. Drove all the way home with no issue at all so I believe the oil is not returning to the pan as quick as it should. So I think you are on the right track as far as the oil passages being blocked. We will see Saturday when I pull the valve cover. Fingers crossed it is minor.

[redfalken]

If you change the seals, I think I remember seeing them made out of some material other than black rubber. Maybe viton?

Or if you plan on doing any machine work to the head, you can install teflon seals. One of mine is pictured below next to the old style umbrella seal.

[doghows]

Thanks Kenny i will check it out this weekend. Hopefully it will be minor.

[BPVan]

I took Kenny's advice to go to teflon when I had my head done and I thought it turned out great.