Oil in intake manifold in 1950 Woody Buick

[JC4291]

My dad has a 1950 Buck station wagon that was having problems running, so I went to take a look at the carburetor and found that there was a massive amount of oil in the intake manifold. Oil is relativity clean but it was hard to tell. I checked the coolant and the engine oil to see if there was any mixing, but really couldn't tell.

Engine is defiantly the straight eight.

Any suggestions as to where to start looking? I can provide pictures of the engine or answer any questions that may help get a handle on this issue.

[raycow]

Pull the vacuum line that goes from the manifold to the fuel pump. If you find oil in there too, the vacuum side diaphram could be bad.

The part that has me puzzled is, if there is that much oil in the manifold, why didn't you see any exhaust smoke?

Ray

[JC4291]

Pull the vacuum line that goes from the manifold to the fuel pump. If you find oil in there too, the vacuum side diaphram could be bad.

The part that has me puzzled is, if there is that much oil in the manifold, why didn't you see any exhaust smoke?

Ray

Well, the engine really didn't run long enough for me to see any obvious smoke. Additionally, any smoke present at any time in the car's history has been white which is why I suspected head gasket first.

I'm looking around for the vacuum line and can't find it on the intake manifold, only looks like there is a connection to the carbs. Where does it usually come out? If it is missing that probably isn't good.

[raycow]

I'm looking around for the vacuum line and can't find it on the intake manifold, only looks like there is a connection to the carbs. Where does it usually come out? If it is missing that probably isn't good.

This pic shows very clearly where the line is on mine, just to the rear of the carb mounting pad on the inboard side.
http://forums.aaca.org/attachments/f...ht-8-39021.jpg

However, on other engines I have seen the line on the forward side of the carb pad. If no luck at either location, look for two lines connected to the top of the fuel pump. One of these will go to the wiper motor. Disregard that one and follow the other one to the manifold. Actually, you could just as well disconnect the line at the pump. If you see oil there, it is the same problem - an internal leak in the pump is sucking oil out of the crankcase.

Please post back and let us know what you find.

Ray

[JC4291]

This pic shows very clearly where the line is on mine, just to the rear of the carb mounting pad on the inboard side.
http://forums.aaca.org/attachments/f...ht-8-39021.jpg

However, on other engines I have seen the line on the forward side of the carb pad. If no luck at either location, look for two lines connected to the top of the fuel pump. One of these will go to the wiper motor. Disregard that one and follow the other one to the manifold. Actually, you could just as well disconnect the line at the pump. If you see oil there, it is the same problem - an internal leak in the pump is sucking oil out of the crankcase.

Please post back and let us know what you find.

Ray

Thanks for the pictures, I found the line and traced it back to the fuel pump. I pulled the line on the fuel pump side only to find it bone try and clean.

Looking at the original post it would appear that I have misstated that the oil was found in the intake manifold, it was actually found in the intake plenum pre-carburetor. I took off the can only to have it dump a very clean and very thin oily mixture on myself and the floor. Any ideas on how it got in there?

Also, it would seem that if you try and start it without the plenum/can on the engine shoots a lot of gasoline all over the engine bay out of the top of the carb (I assume it is gasoline because after a few days it all evaporated, unless it was oil and dripped clean).

Any other ideas? I feel I must also mention this is the first time I've worked on an engine pre-1980 so please do not hesitate to mention any other pitfalls I may encounter while trying to sort this issue out. Any advice is appreciated.

[LONG]

oil bath air cleaner?

[JC4291]

oil bath air cleaner?

Is that a thing that used to be used? Again never worked on something this old.

[LONG]

stole this from AAC, 30w oil goes in the bottom bowl to collect dirt.

[JC4291]

stole this from AAC, 30w oil goes in the bottom bowl to collect dirt.

Well that solves that mystery.

However, engine still won't idle and fires a bunch of fuel out of the top of the carb with plenum removed. Is this normal or is there a stuck float or something else stopping the needle valve from closing.

[Buick Guy]

I'm starting to think that the timing chain and gears are not lined up properly.
Doug