oil in air cleaner

Post by **gareth** » 04 Dec 2006 01:46 pm

hi, looked in the air cleaner the other day, as carb bolts were loose and needed tightening, and there was a bit of oil in it; this sounds bad!
any ideas on the problem, and can it be fixed/should i be worried?

cheers,
gareth

Post by **redline** » 04 Dec 2006 02:54 pm

I dont think this is as bad as it seems as long as its not loads

iirc there is a breather pipe from the engine go's to the air filter .

I am not sure but I think in cold weather the oil fumes that usually pass by this way can partly become liquid again and leave a deposit in the air filter casing .

I know I have had oil deposits in the airfilter before with no adverse affects

Post by **Essex1** » 04 Dec 2006 03:20 pm

As redline says, I don't think you have a prob, but my suggestion would be to carry out an oil & filter change if you haven't done one recently and clean/check all the breather hoses, especially the little restrictor. I had a car a little while back that the oil was so dirty (when i bought it, i service my motors regularly!!), it started to break down and it looked to all intents and purposes like the head gasket had gone -white gunge everywhere, except that the oil in the sump was water and gunge free. Cleaned it all out, unblocked all the hoses, fresh oil, bit of carb cleaner, runs fine. It had blocked the one of the breathers which forced the oil under pressure into all the others. Very messy and quite scary to look at! According to the old boy, this used to be quite common on poorly maintained A-series lumps, but I guess the principal applies to all. I had a mate that thought that oil was supposed to be black and didn't change his regularly either. He broke down alot!

Post by **gareth** » 04 Dec 2006 11:25 pm

phew, was getting a bit worried! ta for the advice, oil could do with a change, anyway. -though i think my carb ventilation hose has been blocked off anyway- the old one rotted away, and i the new one just wont work right for some reason, so a mechanic chopped the end off and zip-tied a bolt in the end! has worked fine ever since

Post by **Essex1** » 05 Dec 2006 10:23 pm

Because he threw the restictor away with the old hose perhaps??? Easily done when its covered in gunk. If you don't fit the restrictor it runs like a pig cos you've effectively got a big air leak....

Post by **gareth** » 07 Dec 2006 02:23 pm

there should be a restrictor??!
what does that look like? ill have a look in the old haynes- is it easy to get a new one?

Post by **Essex1** » 07 Dec 2006 03:00 pm

The one on my car looked almost exactly like a pipe joining piece. It was only when I replaced the perished pipe with new and the car wouldn't run, did the penny drop. Peaked in the end and and it was blocked save for a tiny pin hole in the middle. Chopped new pipe and inserted, car ran sweet again. Should imagine you could pick up on real easy from the local breakers, some used to make their own using old carb jets (in the old days!!!)

Post by **Essex1** » 07 Dec 2006 03:02 pm

Disclaimer: this is assuming we are talking about the same pipe!!!!

Post by **gareth** » 08 Dec 2006 02:08 pm

true- so many pipes!......
car does run well, though, so maybe im best not fiddling for now, though it might help fuel efficiency. -whats a typical mpg/ fuel usage for a 1986 1.4 petrol? i get about 145 miles for 20 litres.
-maybe we should run a competition to see whos got the least thirsty 340!

Post by **Essex1** » 08 Dec 2006 02:17 pm

I think my fuel economy is fairly dire, only seems to do about 120 miles on £20 of V-power, which is currently 90.9 p per litre. Maths anyone?? I think this is roughly 24mpg. Car runs and cold starts really well though, decent petrol really makes a difference.
Bear in mind though that ours is a CVT and most usage is around town and in traffic jams....its much better on a journey, but still doesn't quite match the 45mpg I can get out the MR2 on a steady run.