The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum :: The Revival of Mike's "DSB" 1300

The failure was due to lack of oil. I thought this was down to a crank case seal but no... it was down to me

I forget the first rule of driving an old car for a long distance ..... CHECK THE OIL REGULARLY!!!!!
Seals & gaskets were all fine so I guess that it just burned off. When I drained the oil I collected enough to fill a cereal bowl.

I make you right Howard, I did check the oil & top it up before setting out on my adventure. I covered 427 miles before it went pop. The rings at least must need changing.
"How did it die so quickly"? It died very quickly; I was zipping down the M6 quite happily at 55mph when the oil light flickered. I had about 15 seconds between the first flicker of the oil light & all hell breaking loose.

I know it's been said before but gobsmacking that while Leyland were still putting this cast iron OHV into their cars & it was burning out rings in 40,000 miles Ford were developing & fitting the CVH.

The CVH? Now that is an oil burner

Author:	triumphtoledo [ Mon Apr 27, 2009 10:44 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: The Revival of Mike's "DSB" 1300 - PYD
Good on you mate; looking forward to see how it all pans out. R

Author:	newguy [ Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:34 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: The Revival of Mike's "DSB" 1300 - PYD
Love the look of those bent panels, gives it real character, how did the motor dies so quick, it does look almost brandnew. Good luck with the Revamp

Author:	straylight [ Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:40 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The Revival of Mike's "DSB" 1300 - PYD
nice work Mike, this car was a great find, a little cxracker and your resto of it will be great. Good work already (although not so much running with no oil ). Great stuff, looking forward to the updates. stu

Author:	Howard81 [ Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:35 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The Revival of Mike's "DSB" 1300 - PYD
Quote: The failure was due to lack of oil. I thought this was down to a crank case seal but no... it was down to me I forget the first rule of driving an old car for a long distance ..... CHECK THE OIL REGULARLY!!!!! Seals & gaskets were all fine so I guess that it just burned off. When I drained the oil I collected enough to fill a cereal bowl. If the engine has burnt that much oil then there was obviously something wrong with it anyway! Judging by how clean the car is ( ) it's going to be a cracker once finished

Author:	Howard81 [ Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:22 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The Revival of Mike's "DSB" 1300 - PYD
Quote: I make you right Howard, I did check the oil & top it up before setting out on my adventure. I covered 427 miles before it went pop. The rings at least must need changing. "How did it die so quickly"? It died very quickly; I was zipping down the M6 quite happily at 55mph when the oil light flickered. I had about 15 seconds between the first flicker of the oil light & all hell breaking loose. I had a 1975 Beetle detonate with no warning, again with new oil and perfect levels. The gudgeon pin clip and come loose... I also had a similar problem in my 1966 Beetle - that was a genuine one-owner 36,000 mile car, but had been used every week for all that time. Due to the constant short journeys, the engine had never got warm and on disassembly all of the bearings were completely scored. And now my Sprint

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Author:	mbellinger [ Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:55 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The Revival of Mike's "DSB" 1300 - PYD
Mike, Said it before but that is a lovely car. That is one very clean engine bay. When you strip the engine pay very careful attention to the oil ways. That lump looks almost brand new (look at the core plugs!!), and contrary to popular belief 1300's do not blow their bottom end without a problem or provocation, unless at much higher miles (though very short journeys may have taken a toll). I suspect that lots of short journeys without the oil getting properly warm, has led to a build up of sludge in the block that has obstructed one or more of the oil galleries. You have a decent Motaquip filter so that won't be the culprit. Check your rocker shaft for 'blueing' as this will indicate a lack of oil to the top end (it relies on a tiny pulse from the camshaft) and is usually a tell-tale sign of blocked oilways. Inspect the followers closely as well. It will be a shame if the crank is fubar'd at that mileage. Fair play to you for doing this. 1300's are my favourite in the 'long boot' range. It never ceases to amuse me that, whatever the exterior colour, they were all painted in what looks like pimento red underneath.

Author:	DoloWIGHTY [ Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:16 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: The Revival of Mike's "DSB" 1300 - PYD
This is great. I must admit I do find some perverse pleasure in finding a panel from a Sprint being used on a Dolomite 1300 - it's normally the other way round of course. That really does look a solid shell. I will follow this with interest. Great to see this and Richard's car receiving "the treatment". Excellent news!

Author:	sprint95m [ Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:17 pm ]
Post subject:	Hmmmmmmm.................
Quote: I know it's been said before but gobsmacking that while Leyland were still putting this cast iron OHV into their cars & it was burning out rings in 40,000 miles Ford were developing & fitting the CVH. The CVH? Now that is an oil burner . Oh and the timing belts break regularly too. You should always carry a spare rotor arm as these fail completely without any warning.

Author:	Purplebargeken [ Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:40 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: The Revival of Mike's "DSB" 1300 - PYD
That will be a stunning little car. Good on you. Can't wait to see it's progress. Well done mate. Ken

Author:	Reg [ Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:07 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: The Revival of Mike's "DSB" 1300 - PYD
Great work, great pics...great stuff!

Author:	Toledo Man [ Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:47 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Hmmmmmmm.................
Quote: The CVH? Now that is an oil burner I know about this from experience. My last Sierra has a 1.8 CVH lump (Ford's version of the K series) which must have used more oil than petrol. I was told by a mechanic that if the engines overheat the piston rings go soft and wear. Getting back on topic, is the wing fubar? It looks saveable and it is relatively rust free. If not then I'm sure it would yield some repair sections. I wish I could have done the same with Snowdrop but it was beyond my means so I had to cut my losses and concentrate on Brown instead. It'll be one of the nicest Dolly 1300s what it is done. They're very economical cars. I managed to get 400 miles out of a tankful of petrol before the TC conversion. I wish I could say the same with Brown.

Author:	triumphtoledo [ Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:15 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The Revival of Mike's "DSB" 1300 - PYD
Goodness knows... In my experience, number 3 big end is usually the worst. Would the oil pump be to blame at all, do you think? Valve guides can wear but I have found that this seems to affect 1500s for some reason, more than 1300s, or it may just be me. If you feel like being relieved of £200, why not convert the head to unleaded, while the guides are being changed? Just my tuppence worth. Keep us updated on this car; it looks like it will be a corker! R

Author:	mbellinger [ Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:53 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The Revival of Mike's "DSB" 1300 - PYD
Rob got there before me. This is curiouser and curiouser. It is almost always No 3 that lets go on these engines - in fact I have never seen No 4 go as yours has. This for me definitely points to an underlying issue. To state the bleedin' obvious you need to find what caused No 4 to fail. Oil starvation is an obvious answer but how and where. I urge you again Mike to inspect all the oilways VERY carefully and probe with pipe cleaners etc. The pitting on the follower is for me too extensive to have been caused during the termination. You may have had a foreign body in the engine (nut, washer, etc). The most common way for these to get in is down the pushrod tubes during tappet adjustment or similar when the rocker cover is off. At that mileage, it will be the original (good quality) bearings so the failure is all the more cataclysmic. I am pleased the bores and pistons are okay. Great detective work Mike - keep us posted.

Author:	Jon Tilson [ Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:21 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The Revival of Mike's "DSB" 1300 - PYD
So where did all the oil go? Couple of theories...one was yours I think... Out of the rear crank oil seal and into the bell hosuing and then to the outside world....its not oil tight between end plate and bell housing. But on a journey I'd expect this sort of oil loss to be obvious all over the underside... The other is more obscure... oil dilution due to petrol ingress...this could be due to a failure in the fuel pump letting petrol through the pump to the sump. The oil is thinned but still looks clean on the stick...burns out through the rings and guides in its thinned state. Petrol ingress can also be caused by carb jet failure on induction but would surely be obvious from runnig too rich and high consumption. So I think the pump model is more likely....but I'm not sure if its possible. What was the last of the oil like Mike? Jonners

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Author:	tinweevil [ Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:40 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The Revival of Mike's "DSB" 1300 - PYD
How full was it before you topped up at the start of the journey? A couple more left field theories if you added little: Sump was full of petrol which evaporated (thankfully given the alternative) Sump was full of modern, very thin oil which got past the rings and burned off.