Oil coming up Dipstick tube

[bjandorf]

Been to Sebring, FL four times now. At the end of the day last time I had a few puffs of smoke come through the cockpit. I thought it was from locking up the brakes on a turn. Turns out somehow a little bit of oil got on the headers and that was the cause. Air in the engine bay is turbulent so I was not able to pinpoint where the oil came from exactly. There was oil on the front of the pan and it turns out the washer seal was bad and a little bit of oil was running down the frame rail bottom. I assumed enough collected, went airborn, hit the header, and there was the cause of the puff of smoke.

Went again this past Sunday....long story short, the longer I was out there the more puffs of smoke I got, only on hard right turns! Popped the hood and turns out the oil was making it's way up the Dipstick tube and dripping onto the header. Just a small amount, but that is the source. Not leaking at the block, it's leaking at the top of the tube. Should there be some type of o ring seal at the top of the tube or do I have to swap something out that mecanically seals which is better for HPDE events.

Has anyone had this issue??

Bryan

[Gordon Levy]

If you are blowing oil out the dipstick you need to vent the engine better. You are making a lot of crankcase pressure and it will try to escape the easiest way it finds. That is usually the dip stick. Clamp the dip stick closed and you will start seeing oil coming out the seals.

[Big-Foot]

I have also seen it where the dipstick tube is not supported well enough and the vibration just works the dipstick up a little ways.. Put a piece of safety wire or zip tie on the loop at the top of the dipstick to hold it in place. If it was caused by blow by (crankcase pressure) - you may see some seepage past seals or gaskets as Gordon points out.

[SwiftDB4]

Be careful if you're running a PCV to the carb. Oil at the back of the valve covers will pile up and go thru the carb with hard cornering. For track day use run large breathers (no PCV) with hoses running forward and up slightly to puke cans. These engines need a lot of breather capacity.

[AC Bill]

Your donor dipstick should have a rubber (or perhaps neoprene?) seal of sorts inside the little cap, that snugs it down against the tube top. It's not just metal to metal. Perhaps yours is missing, or worn out?

[Bailey]

Hey Bryan, any interest in running with HOD at the end of the month at PBIR?

[Cone Basher]

Make sure your crankcase breather is not pluged. I had the same problem with my old Auto-x Corvette, it used to pull oil back throught the PCV and looked like a crop duster when this occured. I disconnected the PCV and added valve covers with two breathers on each side and it solved my problem.
HTH
CB

[trevor]

My engine has a decent crankcase venting system (10AN lines and a stefs tank/breather). The dip stick does come out a little and oil will spray on the header. I usually zip tie it down to the engine and I dont have a problem.

[turbodon]

Bryan

We have had the dip stick vibrate up the tube and cause oil to leak out dip stick tube on many Challenge series cars.

We started using two rubber hoses.

1) First hose (Larger) fits over wide end of dip stick.
2) Second hose (smaller) fits dip stick tube.
3) Larger hose just fits over second smaller hose.
4) Clamp Larger hose to dip stick with hose clamp.
5) Clamp large hose over smaller hose on dip stick tube.
6) Use the small 1/4" hose clamps. Loosen the bottom clamp a little to lift dip stick and measure oil.

The dip stick will never vibrate out again..

[FFR5163]

Are both valve covers vented?