# oil problems



## Driftin_Z (Jun 15, 2004)

I need some help people! I drive an 82 280zx with a 4 barrel holley conversion. Now heres the problem, i checked my oil the other day and started to smell a little gas, so i smelled the oil and it smelled bad like gas. It was also real liquidy and not thick like it should be. can ne one help me out on why this is happening, i would REALLY appreciate it. Thanks


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

Driftin_Z said:


> I need some help people! I drive an 82 280zx with a 4 barrel holley conversion. Now heres the problem, i checked my oil the other day and started to smell a little gas, so i smelled the oil and it smelled bad like gas. It was also real liquidy and not thick like it should be. can ne one help me out on why this is happening, i would REALLY appreciate it. Thanks


What type of intake manifold do you have on it ?


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## Driftin_Z (Jun 15, 2004)

its says Cartech on it, i got it at a swap meet.


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

Just making sure you were using the appropriate "wet" manifold for a carb setup. I'd have to say then that the problem is the carburetor unit itself. Sounds like it's dumping a lot of un-atomized fuel into the intake , which is draining down between the pistons and the cylinder walls and into the oil. Probably also causing some extra wear to the engine , gas is not a good lubricant. Make sure the carb is jetted appropriately for the that size motor , I'd say an unmodified Holley 4-barrel carb unit on a 2.8 liter engine is total overkill. What was the carb off of originally , or is it a new unit. In any case , I hope you just didn't take it out of the box and put in on , for the above stated reasons. What size is the carb.


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## Driftin_Z (Jun 15, 2004)

its a 390cfm that i got with the intake in not exactly the best of conditions. I bought a rebuild kit for it and just kinda eyeballed the jets when putting smaller ones on. i jus looked for a pair in my freinds master set that seemed smaller than the ones on it. A few days after that i started to notice that the engine was leaning out, so i put the other ones back on. I guess mabye i need just the right jetting.


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## Bror Jace (Apr 26, 2003)

Yep, sounds like classic fuel dilution from an overly rich mixture. Short trips where the engine rarely gets up to temp are a culprit ... as are carb and leaky injector problems.

As you are getting this sorted out, you'll want to change the oil fairly frequently ... maybe even less than 3,000 miles. Don't waste money on synthetics at this point ... just any oil $1.00-2.00 per quart and drain it frequently.

Fuel in the oil usually results in higher levels of iron in a UOA (Used Oil Analysis). You can have this done for about $20+ at places like:

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

Regularly getting the motor up to operating temp usually causes the fuel contamination to flash off ... depending how bad the source of the contamination is.


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