ICQ>

I reported a problem several weeks ago concerning excessive crankcase pressure that was pushing the dipstick out and blowing oil all over the engine. If you remember I had checked the flame trap (it was recently changed and still clean and flowing) the oil seperator, and all plumbing associated with the crankcase breathing and found it to be open. The dipstick would blow out only when the rpm's were up in the 5-6000 range. It just didn't make any sense that the crankcase could build up enough pressure to do that even on an engine with 160K. I had convinced myself that it was an excessive pressure problem. Well it turns out I had jumped to a conclusion and had then gone chasing the cause when in reality there wasn't excessive pressure after all. I actually removed the dipstick and attached a gauge to the dipstick tube and found no pressure at all ! I thought the dipstick was fitting tight enough in the tube, but it wasn't. A service technician at a dealership in Dayton suggested I replace the O-ring ($1.00) on the dipstick. After attaching the gauge and convincing myself that there wasn't any pressure problem I installed the new O-ring (20 seconds) and sure enough the problem has gone away. It is a little embarassing to admit how far away I was on my first jump to a solution. Live and learn.....