engine floaded with gas

engine floaded with gas - 01/14/14 01:24 PM

Hi,

my car was bought in the US, shipped over and just arrived. It has an electric fuel pump. Unfortunatly the shipping company in the US left the ignition on. So in the 3 months it was pumping till the carb gave up and the engine got floaded with gas. When we opened the bolt from the oil pan we got 13 Liters (3,5 gallons) of oil/gas out of the 440.

Could there be damage to the seals in the engine?
What would you do?
Just let it dry out a bit and then put in fresh oil, let the engine turn without starting it?

Carsten

Posted By: Yellow Fever

Re: engine floaded with gas - 01/14/14 02:09 PM

I would drain it, put new filter and oil in it, pull dist and prime pump while turning engine over by hand and give it a shot!

Posted By: 63stabamatic

Re: engine floaded with gas - 01/14/14 02:09 PM

I would treat it as a new engine start-up. Pull the plugs, oil the cylinders. Change oil filter, refill with oil, pull the distributor and spin the oil pump with a drill. Spin the engine by hand or starter, change oil and filter again, put distributor back in, run it for 100 miles then change oil and filter again. You should be set to go.

Posted By: RapidRobert

Re: engine floaded with gas - 01/14/14 05:44 PM

What a terrible screwup

. When you get to that point to preoil before you pull the dist/intergear set the rotor on #8 then pull em & preoil at that position then turn the crank CW 3/4 turn till the timing marks are on TDC (rotor would have been on #6) & preoil the other head

Posted By: therocks

Re: engine floaded with gas - 01/14/14 07:26 PM

Do as stated but pull the valve covers and intake valley pan if BB.Let it sit for a day or so.Vapors can still be hiding in there.Had a GM at work that was flooded almost as bad.Guy tried to start it and the vapors went boom.Blew the valve covers off.Luckily it didnt do more damage.Rocky

Posted By: 74RALLYE

Re: engine floaded with gas - 01/15/14 02:28 AM

Along with the other suggestions, I would use inexpensive oil and change it after an hour of run time 2 or 3 times before putting the "good" oil in. I flooded my 440 once and I could smell gas on the dipstick for over a year, even after changing the oil several times.

Posted By: GO_Fish

Re: engine floaded with gas - 01/15/14 03:58 AM

does it still have the mechanical fuel pump plumbed in series with the electric fuel pump? If so, you may want to check the mechanical pump. There is a rubber diaphragm inside that can tear, and let fuel dump into the crankcase.

Posted By: Cab_Burge

Re: engine floaded with gas - 01/15/14 05:35 AM

I would drain the oil pan and leave the drain plug out and then pull the spark plugs and valve cover breathers, I would then put a small heater under the oil pan, not close enough to scorch the paint though

and let it warm the motor up for several days to help make all the gasoline evaporate

I would then, as already suggested, remove the oil filter and put a new one on(fill it with oil before installing it

) and put the oil pan drain plug back in and fill it up with oil, as cheap as possible oil, and prime it, after it has oil pressure bump the starter over a little at a time multiple times for several mintutes and then drain the oil out and see how bad the oils stinks like the gasoline over thier

If that batch didn't smell, stink, really bad I would then change the oil and filter agian and also put the spark plugs back in and try and start it

After it runs for a very short while drain the oil and change the filter again and see how that works, make sure,if it has a flat tappet cam, a non roller cam, to use oil that has a decent zinc content or use a zinc additve, before starting the motor the first time

Good luck, BTW what year and body style and motor are you working on?

Posted By: fc7_plumcrazy

Re: engine floaded with gas - 01/15/14 08:40 AM

Hi,

thanks for all the help and idears.

It is a 68 Coronet RT with a 1970 440 engine.

Carsten

Posted By: ademon

Re: engine floaded with gas - 01/15/14 09:13 AM

i would only run the new oil for a couple minutes then change it, then next time till the engine fully heats then change again. if it smells ok then run it.

Posted By: Dons Dart

Re: engine floaded with gas - 01/15/14 04:30 PM

Quote:

i would only run the new oil for a couple minutes then change it, then next time till the engine fully heats then change again. if it smells ok then run it.

Posted By: BB65Barracuda

Re: engine floaded with gas - 01/16/14 06:55 PM

Quote:

I would drain the oil pan and leave the drain plug out and then pull the spark plugs and valve cover breathers, I would then put a small heater under the oil pan, not close enough to scorch the paint though and let it warm the motor up for several days to help make all the gasoline evaporate I would then, as already suggested, remove the oil filter and put a new one on(fill it with oil before installing it ) and put the oil pan drain plug back in and fill it up with oil, as cheap as possible oil, and prime it, after it has oil pressure bump the starter over a little at a time multiple times for several mintutes and then drain the oil out and see how bad the oils stinks like the gasoline over thier If that batch didn't smell, stink, really bad I would then change the oil and filter agian and also put the spark plugs back in and try and start it After it runs for a very short while drain the oil and change the filter again and see how that works, make sure,if it has a flat tappet cam, a non roller cam, to use oil that has a decent zinc content or use a zinc additve, before starting the motor the first time Good luck, BTW what year and body style and motor are you working on?

Once you get it aired out and clean oil you will be fine.

Posted By: 70EK2Bird

Re: engine floaded with gas - 01/17/14 02:57 AM

Just a question, how did the shipping company get it to you? Did they start it to move off the boat and on to a trailer? Did they cause more damage already?

Posted By: dOoC

Re: engine floaded with gas - 01/17/14 04:59 AM

....to add ... use as light an oil as possible ... and as said above use roll the engine over with NO SPARK PLUGS in it and get full oil pressure before firing it up ...

Posted By: fc7_plumcrazy

Re: engine floaded with gas - 01/17/14 07:09 PM

Quote:

Just a question, how did the shipping company get it to you? Did they start it to move off the boat and on to a trailer? Did they cause more damage already?

AFAIK they didn't run it. But the carb was damaged, too so it might have been started and they got a back fire? Who knows?

When we got it pushed off the truck we noticed it won't start After checking the carb we knew why it won't start as it was closed. We opened it. Put a fresh battery in the car and it started. Ran bad and got shut off after 15 seconds by us. Pushed it into the garage. then we checked everything in detail and noticed the small on the oil pick up.

Posted By: fc7_plumcrazy

Re: engine floaded with gas - 01/17/14 07:19 PM

what have we done so far:

put the spark plugs out, took everything off from the valve cover so the engine could dry out a bit.

Then we took comressed air and breathed it in.trying to get the rest of gas out as well as the vapors.

We also sprayed some oil into the cylinders over the spark plug holes. Then turned the engine without spark plugs.

Now we put fresh oil in it and a another filter.

We did let turn the engine without ignition so it builds up oil pressure.

Now we started it and just did let it run in idle.
So far it sounds good

Carsten