Fuel inj distributor oil issue

[Jerry G.]

This years racing is complete. have started my winter inspection to see if anythings having a problem. It appears that the FI distributor (1961 DISTRIBUTOR) is allowing oil to get up to the breaker plate amd foaming. anyone have any ideas about how to reduce the amount of oil getting up there. My oil pressure runs at around 50 to 60 psi. The motor turns to 7300 RPM. I haven't noticed any ignition problems.
PS
it appears That the stamped rocker reliability issue is solved. I changed the cam acceleration ramps and reduced lift slightly and went with a slightly weaker beehive springs and chemically polished the rockers and balls. VOILA no more wear or broken rocker balls.

[Paul Y.]

Re: Fuel inj distributor oil issue

This years racing is complete. have started my winter inspection to see if anythings having a problem. It appears that the FI distributor (1961 DISTRIBUTOR) is allowing oil to get up to the breaker plate amd foaming. anyone have any ideas about how to reduce the amount of oil getting up there. My oil pressure runs at around 50 to 60 psi. The motor turns to 7300 RPM. I haven't noticed any ignition problems.
PS
it appears That the stamped rocker reliability issue is solved. I changed the cam acceleration ramps and reduced lift slightly and went with a slightly weaker beehive springs and chemically polished the rockers and balls. VOILA no more wear or broken rocker balls.

Jerry, I have seen people put a restrictive crimp in the line to slow down the amount of oil going in there. I would replace all of the seals before I did that because they get old and hard from the amount of heat. You can go to a seal and bearing place and find some that have two lips to seal and that might help. New soft seals might be your answer. Check your shaft also for a groove worn in it. I have found that the seals do a good job when they are new.

[William C.]

Re: Fuel inj distributor oil issue

If the shaft hasn't been damaged, seal change should fix, the pressure is well within the system's design capability with the high-pressure oil pump unless the seal has hardened to the point where the shaft is grooved. Then both need replaced as a set.

[Clem Z.]

Re: Fuel inj distributor oil issue

if you are running synthetic oil make sure the seal material will stand up to the oil

[Scott P.]

Re: Fuel inj distributor oil issue

Jerry, I filled my 63 FI distributor with some sticky gear lube grease, consistancy of wheel bearing grease, a long time ago and it has been fine. Its been down the drag strip many times, seen lots of track days and autocrosses and has been in various engines in the same car. I change the grease just cause whenever I get the urge. The grease was added because of engine oil in the distributor cap and the points didnt like it. Scott

[Tom P.]

Re: Fuel inj distributor oil issue

If oil is leaking past the seal, then of course the seal needs to be replaced. If the shaft has been grooved from the seal, it MOST LIKELY DOES NOT need to be replaced. Simply install the new seal at a slightly different position in the housing, there is plenty of room for repositioning it.

[Bruce B.]

Re: Fuel inj distributor oil issue

A way out thought:

The old 889 distributors had a problem where the oil drainback hole was to small and caused flooding of the points with oil.

Could this happen in your situation due to high oil pressure and volume along with high RPMs?

[Duke W.]

Re: Fuel inj distributor oil issue

it appears That the stamped rocker reliability issue is solved. I changed the cam acceleration ramps and reduced lift slightly and went with a slightly weaker beehive springs and chemically polished the rockers and balls. VOILA no more wear or broken rocker balls.

Glad to hear this. Sometimes just a slight reduction in valve train stress can get you under the "knee in the curve" where reliability goes to hell.

Are you still running the dual points in the dist. or an electronic switch conversion?

Duke

[Clem Z.]

Re: Fuel inj distributor oil issue

A way out thought:

The old 889 distributors had a problem where the oil drainback hole was to small and caused flooding of the points with oil.

Could this happen in your situation due to high oil pressure and volume along with high RPMs?

i was going to suggest he enlarge the drain back hole. also excess crankcase pressure could prevent drain back. we ran into this problem when using vega engines in race cars as the windage was preventing the top end oil from returning to the pan.

[Jerry G.]

Re: Fuel inj distributor oil issue

Duke. i use the Petronix and an MSD 6 box and MSD coil.
I will inspect/replace the seals and enlarge the drain hole. We'll start there and see what happens. Thank you all. i will let you know if this fixes it.

[John D.]

Re: Fuel inj distributor oil issue

Jerry, I filled my 63 FI distributor with some sticky gear lube grease, consistancy of wheel bearing grease, a long time ago and it has been fine. Its been down the drag strip many times, seen lots of track days and autocrosses and has been in various engines in the same car. I change the grease just cause whenever I get the urge. The grease was added because of engine oil in the distributor cap and the points didnt like it. Scott

Scott, Looking for the right words here but I HIGHLY recommend that FI owners do not follow the practice of using grease in the distributors. When we see this-when we see a grease fitting in the back of an FI distr where the oil line is supposed to go then in most cases the owner is in for a big buck FI distr restoration. Gears, shafts, bushings, etc.

Hi flow/hi pressure oil pumps can cause oil to get past the main shaft seal and flood out the points.
Oil pumps. Subject covered him a 100 times so I hate to repeat but use a stock oil pump please.
The key to an oil pump from other suppliers is not to have a suffix after the part number. The suffix ones are the bad guys.Ex: No M55HV and NO M55S.
Melling oil pump info: 55-57 M46
58-65 M55
As mentioned oil getting by the seal could be caused by what they said and one more.
Bubbas sometime drill out the restrictor hole in the distributor housing where the oil line fitting goes.
Old seals. Guys say well my FI distributor looks just fine. Not going to have it rebuilt. Next thing is the car is all together and oil drips on their new repro carpet.

[Scott P.]

Re: Fuel inj distributor oil issue

John, thanks for the slight pause before you told me that grease in my distributor will ruin it. I have the experience of using grease in this FI distributor and it works fine and does not seem to show bushing or gear wear. 25000 miles of driving with grease in the distributor should show problems if there was going to be any.
I did not say there was a grease fitting in the distributor I said I filled it with grease. A big difference to me.
Jerry asked for ways arround a bad seal problem and I gave him one that works for me. As much as he takes a distributor in and out of a race engine not having to deal with oil lines might be a plus also.
Thanks Scott

[Jerry G.]

Re: Fuel inj distributor oil issue

i was going to suggest he enlarge the drain back hole. also excess crankcase pressure could prevent drain back. we ran into this problem when using vega engines in race cars as the windage was preventing the top end oil from returning to the pan.

crankcase pressurization has been a problem with this motor. i've put breathers and collectors and drainbacks to finally get it under control. my oil pump is a melling 55 not the high pressure ones.

[Clem Z.]

Re: Fuel inj distributor oil issue

crankcase pressurization has been a problem with this motor. i've put breathers and collectors and drainbacks to finally get it under control. my oil pump is a melling 55 not the high pressure ones.

maybe you could use rear gear lube in the dist by plugging off the oil return and using the original oil feed line as a vertical vent like they do rear end gears.

[Jerry G.]

Re: Fuel inj distributor oil issue

Scott, Looking for the right words here but I HIGHLY recommend that FI owners do not follow the practice of using grease in the distributors. When we see this-when we see a grease fitting in the back of an FI distr where the oil line is supposed to go then in most cases the owner is in for a big buck FI distr restoration. Gears, shafts, bushings, etc.

Hi flow/hi pressure oil pumps can cause oil to get past the main shaft seal and flood out the points.
Oil pumps. Subject covered him a 100 times so I hate to repeat but use a stock oil pump please.
The key to an oil pump from other suppliers is not to have a suffix after the part number. The suffix ones are the bad guys.Ex: No M55HV and NO M55S.
Melling oil pump info: 55-57 M46
58-65 M55
As mentioned oil getting by the seal could be caused by what they said and one more.
Bubbas sometime drill out the restrictor hole in the distributor housing where the oil line fitting goes.
Old seals. Guys say well my FI distributor looks just fine. Not going to have it rebuilt. Next thing is the car is all together and oil drips on their new repro carpet.

The restrictor hole I see is in the brass fitting that the oil line connects to. There is a .150 diameter hole in the fitting. Is this the restrictor? i have checked the drain back hole. it appears clear. It drains into the spacer ring area and then back down into the block,correct?