Hi all, Thanks in advance for thoughts. Just got my 328 from a very major major. Went in last June just got back today. Did full restoration/suspension/interior/ not just service. Anyhow back to original question... Just got back from a 130 mile drive first time driven since heads off service & everything rubber replaced. Car runs like a top. On way back played around ran through gears pretty high revs all good... Knowledgeable shop did the work Get in the driveway from last run of drive (pretty good twisties before my house) get out of car & notice some oil on the engine lid, open up & a little bit evidently came out from dipstick being loose. Had to of just happened at end of drive since no smoke or that much oil in entire distance... I would guess a few tablespoons max wind blown. So I look at the hose routing to the seperator looks correct & all new hoses... nothing looks kinked. Could this just be a not stuck in all the way dipstick, or a old o-ring on dipstick issue- I guess what I am saying is, how do I confirm its not building up excessive pressure & a possible oil seperator issue... can I put finger over dipstick on high revs & know how much is too much pressure? Just trying to get an idea of what direction to go in before sending back to shop 130+ miles away... I am usually a pretty worst case scenario guy but my gut is thinking bad o-ring or loose to begin with.... If too much pressure in crankcase wouldnt 130 mile run of running through gears have produced alot of lost oil? Looked like a couple/few tablespoons wind blown at worse case.. Chris
I would play it safe.. Return to mechanic and have him do a look over to make sure oil lines are intact. I know it is a PIA but going this far with the car I would opt for the safe route. Be well R
Insert the dipstick completely, clean up engine bay, drive it some more. Stick in=OK, stick pushed out=back to shop.
Did you have the mechanic replace your oil pan gasket while you were in for your service? If so, perhaps your mechanic may have not known that he needed to remove the dipstick tube before removing the oil pan and bent it when trying to muscle the oil pan out. A bent/damaged dipstick tube is definitely something that would prevent the dipstick from being put all the way back in.
Thanks for input. Last place car was for 2 months was the paint shop for a freshen up of the nose of the car. They did a complete clean up after & was dust all over it - including engine bay, may of bumped it when they cleaned the engine bay enough to make her wiggle out of being fully in. Seems easy enough to not have full in if you just bump it out of sweet spot. Be a few days before I will know, rain heading to the south until Sunday looks like... Chris
Oil on engine lid means pressure is building up in crankcase and blowing out the dip stick. I had the same problem with my 308QV. Turned out that one of the oil return lines was routed incorrectly. Problem only showed up on the track. Trace all your oil lines and make sure there are no kinks, etc. that will prevent proper oil return / venting.
Some models are equip with PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) if this is clog the pressure inside the crankcase will build up and can push dipstick up. Some PCV usually have the flame trap built in. I don't know if the 328 has a PCV, but if it does, this is one possibility.
Well after 5 fast paced 7500 rpm shifting trips logging about 70 miles she has not moved. I put a new o-ring on her just for the hell of it, evidently when the detailer was cleaning everything before I picked up they must have knocked the dipstick out of "set" position. Almost feels like a sweet spot when in all the way. Needless to say this makes me happy Chris
