Engine shot oil out of the fill hole... Volvo Penta D2-40

[HUFFnPUFF]

Originally Posted by skipperpete

Well , I’m out of ideas, I’ve done a lot of work on these engines in all their forms, caterpillar, Northern lights, Perkins Perama and have learned to be very wary of that intake port setup, even seen one locked up after a cylinder filled with oil during an oil change because of a missing bit of gasket under the rocker box. I can’t think of any logical way to get enough crankcase pressure to blow out the lube oil through the dip tube other than a blocked crankcase vent. Even the recent smoky D2-75 didn’t build up enough pressure to pop the dipstick, it just stopped the turbo from draining.

Well, your idea panned out. I remove the fill hole cap and did a glove test to compare the pressure on my good engine versus my bad engine. They had equal pressure. In addition both engines had the same pressure coming out of the dip stick (extremely low) when the oil cap was off.

I then removed the PCV valve and gutted it (removed the diaphragm) on the bad engine then reinstalled it. Then I closed the fill cap and tested the engine. It worked great. No pressure on the dip stick. So the PCV was the culprit. I ordered 3 new ones (replace the other side while I am at it) and should be here is a week or two.

Once I get the new PCV I will test it again to make sure I did not damage any rings or blown my head gasket. Fingers crossed.

[JimStarkey]

Originally Posted by HUFFnPUFF

So I changed my oil on both sides and replaced the oil filters.

The port engine works great. No issues. The starboard engine blew about 3 qts of oil out of its drail hole and had significant pressure in about 4 seconds... just long enough for me to run and turn off the engine. I could hear the air hissing out of the drain hole Sent the oil flying. Any ideas or suggestions?

I had a similar problem with a Westerbeke 27 a couple of decades back. The problem turned out to be the injector pump leaking major fuel into the crankcase. Oil (actually oil fuel mixture) came gushing out of the fill hole. Happily, diesel oil is sufficiently lubricating to prevent damage. With some arm twisting by Sabre, Westerbeke covered under warranty even though the warranty had expired two weeks before.

[Boatfreak]

I'm not much of a diesel mechanic, and I'm not even sure I understand the favored explaination, but i'm adding a +1 for Jim Starkey. Two years ago on my Yanmar I found a missing dipstick and more oil in the engine compartment than I had put in the engine. I refilled with oil. After about 30mins of running, it went into a runaway. The diaphragm on the lift pump had failed, the oil ignites and ejects the dipstick and oil and diesel mixture. Luckily I had all the covers off for inspection and was able to restrict the airflow and stop it before any major problems occurred.

Best check this out before running it.

[Mike Banks]

It sounds to me as though engine cylinder compression is getting past the piston, or escaping the exhaust system into the crank case. Check for a faulty EGR valve.

If that is fine, then it could be the engine cylinders themselves.

The way to find out if this is the case is to remove one of the glow plugs and spin the engine on the starter, while putting a plastic straw with a paper cup over it into the dip stick hole.

If the cup flies off, or jumps upwards, you removed the glow plug from a good cylinder. Now remove the glow plug from the next cylinder and try it again until you get one with a minimal response. That is the one where the cylinder pressure is getting into the sump--with luck as simple a problem as a blown gasket--in which case you will need to find out WHY the gasket blew, or why something got into a cylinder and destroyed a piston, or why the rings are broken--etc etc.

The next thing to check if this all works OK is your turbocharger system. Somehow, exhaust gas or cylinder pressure is getting into your sump, and if the engine itself is OK then it has to be an EGR valve or if it has one perhaps the turbo system pressure somehow getting into the sump.

[Roux]

Blocked breather hole.