Steam from oil cooler pipe

I had my Gran Finale out for a good countryside run today. I was doing some filming so lots of stop starts and short runs going quite quick. Each time I pulled over to check footage I popped the engine tray to let it cool for 10mins or so. After about 4 hours (not constant use) I pulled over for the last shot and when I popped the hood I noticed what looked like steam from the oil cooler pipe. Mine has a K&N oil cooler filter fitted and it was coming out of that. I know its not water steam, but basically the oil seems to have been very hot. Is this normal if its been running for a while?

Just to add mine had the original air box removed and replaced with a K&N pancake filter which is when the other filter was added to the oil pipe. I'm not happy where that sits as it's bloody hot. So I'm planning on ditching the K&N pancake and going back to the original box and reconnecting the oil pipe to it.

I think what you mean is not oil cooler pipe but crankcase breather pipe, which normally is routed into the air filter housing. In you case you have a small K&N filter on it that is meant to catch the oil from the vapor.

Anyway it could easily be steam, there is condensation inside the engine that builds up and will cook off when you take it for a good long drive. This is normal and actually good for the engine, short trips don't get it hot enough to do this and the contaminants build up and can harm the engine.

As Greg said... and... you might consider...

seeing if you have a COOLANT LOSS or OIL in your coolant, or coolant in your oil.

You could also pull the plugs and check for water and also compression test the engine.

Your oil could possibly get up to 300 degrees or more... but I think you would see overheating as well.

Having to pop your engine cover to cool down between runs is a bad sign as well. Need to make sure its VENTING well. I could go on for hours with possibilities... but check out the points above first.

budgetzagato said:

I think what you mean is not oil cooler pipe but crankcase breather pipe, which normally is routed into the air filter housing. In you case you have a small K&N filter on it that is meant to catch the oil from the vapor.

Anyway it could easily be steam, there is condensation inside the engine that builds up and will cook off when you take it for a good long drive. This is normal and actually good for the engine, short trips don't get it hot enough to do this and the contaminants build up and can harm the engine.

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Ah ok thanks a lot for that. I'll remember the name of the pipe next time. Cheers!

Black-Tooth said:

seeing if you have a COOLANT LOSS or OIL in your coolant, or coolant in your oil.

You could also pull the plugs and check for water and also compression test the engine.

Your oil could possibly get up to 300 degrees or more... but I think you would see overheating as well.

Having to pop your engine cover to cool down between runs is a bad sign as well. Need to make sure its VENTING well. I could go on for hours with possibilities... but check out the points above first.

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Tony I don't appear to be suffering any of those problems, thankfully but I will keep on eye on them.

The reason I popped the hood is I'm a little paranoid about cooling. 30mins after I bought the car (a few months ago now) it overheated. So ever since that little incident I've been a bit paranoid. Hence I was popping the hood whilst I was stopped during filming. It's going into the garage on Monday so will get them to check that the cooling is doing it's job. Might get them to compression test the engine as well.

All good. Have them pressure test the system...

as well as the cap!

Do the compression test with ALL plugs removed, coil wire disconnected, and throttle WIDE open. Ask them to do a WET test as well if the DRY test is our of bounds. You should read about 135 psi on all cylinders with no more than 10% deviation.

Post numbers here BEFORE committing to any further work for our suggestions. We'll be waiting!

Black-Tooth said:

as well as the cap!

Do the compression test with ALL plugs removed, coil wire disconnected, and throttle WIDE open. Ask them to do a WET test as well if the DRY test is our of bounds. You should read about 135 psi on all cylinders with no more than 10% deviation.

Post numbers here BEFORE committing to any further work for our suggestions. We'll be waiting!

Click to expand...

After it overheated I replaced the cap with a new one as the one on it looked tired and worn. The reason it over heated was a wire falling off the radiator fan. The breakdown guy did a pressure test on the cooling system and it was fine. Just to add mine has the standard expansion tank. I'll get a stainless one at some point.

Thanks for the tips. I'll ask them to do a check on the engine. I've got a non regular mis-fire between 3-4000 rpm which they will investigate. Probably the leads/distributor or plugs (which were done last year). Interestingly I was speaking to another x19 owner at a car show today. He had the same problem on his (he has a 1.3ltr) so got new leads and distributor. He also said he'd opened up the carb jets a smidge to fix it as he was getting hesitancy when accelerating hard. Which I'm also getting.

Anyway the belts need doing as well on mine so it's going to get a service too tomorrow. And a engine bay steam clean. The lady is getting pampered!

As others have mentioned, that's the crankcase breather..

That's some very nasty stuff - don't breathe that, and ideally plumb it back to the intake so it can be burned in the combustion chamber.

myronx19 said:

As others have mentioned, that's the crankcase breather..

That's some very nasty stuff - don't breathe that, and ideally plumb it back to the intake so it can be burned in the combustion chamber.

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Thanks Myron. Yup I'll be plumbing that back in when I reinstate the original air box. And no I wouldn't got smelling that stuff

Black-Tooth said:

as well as the cap!

Do the compression test with ALL plugs removed, coil wire disconnected, and throttle WIDE open. Ask them to do a WET test as well if the DRY test is our of bounds. You should read about 135 psi on all cylinders with no more than 10% deviation.

Post numbers here BEFORE committing to any further work for our suggestions. We'll be waiting!

Click to expand...

Ok got the car back today. List of work done includes:

1. New distributor
2. New coil
3. New belts
4. Full engine service
5. Coolant pipe leak repaired (the typical under the car metal pipe rust)
6. Coolant system flush
7. Carb clean
8. Gear stick lolly pop tightened and new washers
9. Engine bay steam clean
10. plus few other small things

The compression test came back at 180psi. Which seems high given your figures. That's what the guy said on the phone when he called to update on the work. I may have misheard him though as he's Italian and his accent is very strong. The garage are Italian specialists (repairs & body work) and he seemed to know a good bit about x19s. He said the engine was very good and very strong. When I collected the car today he was with another customer so I couldn't chat to him about the engine.

Anyway the car feels superb now! It was fine (or so I thought) before the work but I knew the misfire issues were likely distributor related and that it could perform better. He said someone had messed with a vacuum on the distributor which was causing problems. But I had no idea how much of an effect it was having. It now pulls strong in all gears with no hesitation. I always felt 1st to 2nd was meh with no beans at all. Now it just flies! I was grinning the whole way home (despite being stuck in London rush hour traffic for 1hr 15mins - normally 25min drive). So much so I took it out again this evening for a quick blast

Good news. If it's not written on the repair bill, you should make a point of asking exactly what the compression was on each cylinder, and add that info for your records.
If it were me, I would also ask for specific info on exactly where the leak was, and how (what means) they fixed it.
Same goes for "full engine service" what does that exactly include??

Lissen to Hussein... and congratulations...

I'm glad you are happy but it kinda appears to me the mechanic kept replacing stuff until the miss was eliminated.

I mean a COMPLETELY NEW distributor and a NEW COIL? Usually the leads and their terminals get LOOSE on the coil and cause an intermittentcy... But its fixed now.

180 psi is extremely high... and one would expect issues around PINGING with today's gas.

You probably could borrow or buy a tester and do it yourself... Record it HERE too, and then we'll all have a reference point to go on.

lookforjoe said:

Good news. If it's not written on the repair bill, you should make a point of asking exactly what the compression was on each cylinder, and add that info for your records.
If it were me, I would also ask for specific info on exactly where the leak was, and how (what means) they fixed it.
Same goes for "full engine service" what does that exactly include??

Click to expand...

I checked with him again and he said 180psi for the whole engine. I mentioned the 135 figure and he said no that's too low. End of the day I've only had the car a few months so don't know enough to argue whether he was right or not.

I know where the leak was. There was a bodge repair towards the front of the car where the pipe comes down from the radiator and under the car. There was a note on a previous service where " a leak" had been repaired. They said the fix was a bodge, and the pipe was rusty and leaking again. So they cut it and fitted a rubber pipe and sealed the ends. That will have to do for now. I expect down the road I'll have to cut open the stupid boxed in pipes.

What I meant by " full engine service" is I meant new engine oil, new oil filter, new fuel filter, air filter clean. Gearbox oil was also changed. The plugs weren't done as they were new last year.

Black-Tooth said:

I'm glad you are happy nut it would appear to me the mechanic kept replacing stuff until the miss was eliminated.

I mean a COMPLETELY NEW distributor and a NEW COIL? Usually the leads and their terminals get LOOSE on the coil and cause an intermittentcy... But its fixed now.

180 psi is extremely high... and one would expect issues around PINGING with today's gas.

You probably could borrow or buy a tester and do it yourself... Record it HERE too, and then we'll all have a reference point to go on.

Click to expand...

That is entirely possible. It's my first time to use this garage. Just going on an observation after a few visits there, they have a wide selection of Alfa's, Fiat's, Lancia's in for servicing, repair and bodywork. And all ages of cars as well, not just modern cars. So time will tell if they are any good. End of the day I don't have the facilities, tools or enough knowledge to do it myself.

I can't hear any noise that would indicate pinging, the engine sounds to be running much smoother.

I'd have to buy a tester as I don't have one or know anyone with a tester. There isn't anything in the service records to indicate the engine was played with to give it higher compression. But just because there's no record doesn't mean it wasn't played with.

Maybe his figure was in euros... with the current exchange rate 180 would translate to 130ish