P-15 Engine Help

[DonaldSmith]

If you screwed a filter directly into the tank, would you have to drain the tank each time you replaced the filter?

[Sniper]

You could put a shut off valve between the tank and filter, but then we are getting into Rube Goldberg territory now, lol.

[Sam Buchanan]

58 minutes ago, DonaldSmith said:

If you screwed a filter directly into the tank, would you have to drain the tank each time you replaced the filter?

 

With a new tank it should be a long time before you need to change a filter. When that time comes draining the tank would be a bonus so any particulate could be washed out.

[Sniper]

If you read the maintenance schedule there is a line item for draining the tank and cleaning out the crud and water in it.  So Chrysler put a drain plug in there for that, does the aftermarket tank have one?

 

[Sam Buchanan]

2 hours ago, Sniper said:

If you read the maintenance schedule there is a line item for draining the tank and cleaning out the crud and water in it.  So Chrysler put a drain plug in there for that, does the aftermarket tank have one?

 

 

Mine does. 

[JohnTeee]

14 hours ago, 9 foot box said:

   Since you determined that the tank fitting is 1/8” npt, you could use an inverted flare fitting to pipe size. You will still have to muscle your fuel line around to get the threads aligned but not as much as putting on a filter.

 

I think you have a winning idea and what the mechanic had in mind for me to go look for. I went a slightly different route and, apparently, I don't know how to measure fittings!

 

The fuel filter that screwed into the tank inlet and the flared end fitting have matching threads. When I checked with a vernier caliper, they measure 3/8" from side to side, across the threads (I may not know the correct way to measure a bolt?). The flare fitting matches the fuel line filter.

 

So I made up a connector from the fuel line fitting and a piece of 5/15" I.D. Fuel Line.

 

Cut the flare fitting off the end of the fuel line, screwed my connector into the tank with little pipe dope on the threads, trimmed the rubber to length and slipped it over the end of the fuel line. I think it will serve.

 

In other news, my Leak Down Tester arrived late yesterday afternoon. Busted it out this morning, calibrated it and checked each cylinder.

#1 - 30%

#2 - 25%

#3 - 25%

#4 - 45%

#5 - 45%

#6 - 40%

The leakage from all 6 cylinders could be traced to the crankcase, with it heard audibly through the crankcase rebreather. I think this thing is going to get the new head gasket installed, some gas added and cranked in the near future.

 

John

 

[JohnTeee]

Regarding fuel line filter, I'll have one in-line, just before my fuel pump. Yes, the new tank comes with a drain plug.

 

John

 

[soth122003]

Hey JohnTeee,

Sounds to me like your rings might not be seated all the way just yet. When I got my P-15 the compression test showed about 60 to 75 psi across the board then with the wet test of oil they came up to about 95-100. After putting about 75 to 100 miles on it the test showed 115 across the board.

While you have the head off do a light valve lap to get rid of any light corrosion and or debris that might have started to form. Might want to use the old gasket and put 20 to 30 minutes of drive time on it and check again. Just a thought, if you use a new gasket and have to pull it later due to the same problem it could get pricey.

 

Joe Lee

 

 

[JohnTeee]

@soth122003 Morning Joe,

 

Thanks for the thoughts. Pulled the head, again (grin) last night and plan to start messing with valves this afternoon. Your suggestion on valves is similar to Snipers and I'm going to listen to you guys while I have everything open.

 

Getting new parts together in the meantime. While I'm in here and the radiator is out, new water pump, heater/radiator hoses, some gaskets and a little rear-end work (pumpkin is leaking). Winter project!

 

John

[soth122003]

As a lot of the old time knuckle draggers and wrench spinners will tell, these old cars are meant to drive. The longer you let them sit the more small problems start to appear. At least with these cars they are fairly simple to diagnose and fix with a little elbow grease, a set of sockets and wrenches and a book.  Unlike the modern cars that require a $10,000 computer and expensive specialty tools plus a $150 an hour labor to fix.

 

Joe Lee

[Sniper]

8 hours ago, soth122003 said:

As a lot of the old time knuckle draggers and wrench spinners will tell, these old cars are meant to drive. The longer you let them sit the more small problems start to appear. At least with these cars they are fairly simple to diagnose and fix with a little elbow grease, a set of sockets and wrenches and a book.  Unlike the modern cars that require a $10,000 computer and expensive specialty tools plus a $150 an hour labor to fix.

 

Joe Lee

 

No kidding, my son and I just changed the six spark plugs on my 2015 BMW, 6 hour job.  My Cambridge, maybe a half hour if you fart about doing it.

 

Now granted a portion of the time was me explaining stuff to my son, like how to read a plug and I let him do the whole job, under supervision and along with a You Tube video, but still.  He's learning to work on cars so it takes us longer between discussions on how things work and working out the issues.  Good news though, we found out my oil filter housing is leaking, that looks to be a two day job there, lol.

[JohnTeee]

Quick update . . . Started out with the valve lapping tool from O'Reilly (two tools, four valve sizes) and was having such a lousy time getting it to stay stuck to the valve surface, I ended up making my own from a suction cup and a piece of heater hose. Worked much better and I returned the O'Reilly tool. Valves are all lapped and looking good.

 

I'm working on a few other parts as I go. The installed front engine mount is in bad shape and I have a good spare that is going in.

 

Repainting a spare front engine mount to put it in with.

 

My newest concern, after reading the New oil pump seized thread and several other threads about oil pumps, was to double check oil pressure before I started putting things back together and tried starting the car. Head is still off, turned the ignition on, held the starter for several revs and watched the Oil Pressure Gauge. Nothing. To paraphrase the popular quote, "It had good oil pressure when I parked it . . ." I did just drain the pan, left it drained for several hours and went back and refilled it. Is there a chance my oil pump lost its prime? I've bookmarked the link from @Sniper for Freewheeling Smith goes through a flathead pump and the link from@JBNeal additional information - oil pump conditioning, for future reference, should I be tearing into the pump.

 

As @soth122003 said, The longer you let them sit the more small problems start to appear. The problems, they are appearing!

 

Barring any suggestions of, 'Did you try . . .' and I resort to a new/rebuilt oil pump. I could look for the rebuild parts for my existing pump, get a Melling M37 from O'Reilly, or a Sealed Power SEP 2244160 from NAPA. I don't have the machining capabilities that Freewheeling Smith has, but could do some disassembly/polishing following his lead. Just for grins, would it be worth trying to clean up and rebuild this spare, seized, oil pump?

 

Thanks again for all the help.

 

Cheers!

 

John

 

[Sniper]

Found a code for Oreilly

 

CYBER20

 

20% off

[Dodgeb4ya]

Take the pump apart..look at or rotor wear/scoring, cover wear.

 Lube it up install cover same orientation as was.

Really should replace quad O-ring...but try it out. Easy enough to see what it can do.

[JohnTeee]

1 hour ago, Sniper said:

Found a code for Oreilly

 

CYBER20

 

20% off

@Sniper Thanks!. I think that will serve for the immediate purposes of a working oil pump, and for only about $60 more than a rebuild kit. Then I can start disassembling the other two pumps at my leisure. One of those things I wanted a spare of on hand.

 

Regardless, all work is stopped for the next week to go out to SoCal and see our new granddaughter and family.

 

Quote

Take the pump apart..look at or rotor wear/scoring, cover wear.

@Dodgeb4ya I was thinking along the lines of tearing the spare down, just to familiarize myself with the pump. May end up with a working spare, or wo.

 

 

John