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Ambo sump full of gas!

DesertRat

DesertRat

Just got it firing!
Joined
Sep 29, 2010
Messages
4
Location
Arizona, USA
My Ambo sat for about 3 months and evidently I had a leaking petcock. Unaware of this I rode the bike about 20 miles. It ran fine and nothing seemed off.
Coincidentally it was time for an oil change. When I opened the fill an absolute geyser of fuel/oil mix shot out of the crankcase. There must have been a couple of quarts of extra liquid.

I changed the oil and hoped for the best. Since, I have another hundred or so miles on it. Nothing obvious happening beyond some fine sludge collecting on a magnet on the dipstick that is not obviously metallic but is collecting and I might be imagining a faint rumble at real low engine speeds ( I’m not positive it wasn’t there before though). My concern is the big end bearings of course but maybe there is some engine experience out there that would give me some hope.

And I replaced the peacocks.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks in advance
 
Well, that's one way to clean out the insides of the engine, right?
I would do the following to ensure all gas/solvent is out of the engine (standard oil changes leave plenty of old fluids in the crooks and crannies and gullies) : 1) if this was the first oil change after the incident, change oil/filter using cheapest proper weight oil and drive just a coupla miles. Then change oil/filter to good grade stuff.
2) Since you already changed it (a hundred miles), just change oil and filter again (see #3).
3) Of course, listen for knocks and ticks. If that starts, maybe go to a higher viscosity oil.
4) Dont worry. If any damage was done, it was done. Dont do a rebuild, because i think if something calamitous occurred, you would already have gotten notice.

Keep us informed.
Thanks.
 
I recommend dropping the pan and get any remaining sludge out. If it is picked up it could clog an oil passage since there is no oil filter, just a screen. Then just run it with the appropriate oil, but I would do a couple early changes at about 2K each then you can extend based on condition of the oil. I good synthetic should be good for about 5K miles.
 
Even if the petcock was left on or leaked, the float needle should have prevented it from happening. Might be time for a carb refresh.

I had a customer's Eldorado that the same thing happened to - it did not end well for him. Total engine rebuild.
 
I am no seer, but i will bet you will be ok with several (2) oil changes. (I forgot in my previous comment that the Guzzi just had a screen filter. )
These engines are tough.
I would make sure you drive it a few dozen miles to ensure that any steel parts inside the engine are recoated with oil, as the solvent effect of the gas can wash everything down and make them susceptible to oxidation/rust and then particles.

If you MUST be OCD, drop the pan and inspect/replace all the bearings on the crank with same-sized bearings. The softer metal of the bearings should absorb any wear before due the harder steel crankshaft.

One last thing: It is fairly common practice among older mechanics to add 20% of oil volume as diesel fuel to engines just before oil changes (idle engine 10 to 15 minutes, then drain). This is done to wash down crud inside engine. While not exactly comparable to gas, diesel is a solvent and has the same solvent effect as gas.
 
Thanks for all the comments. I agree that the float needle should have prevented this, they seem fine but are on the list.

The 1st oil change oil looks nasty already , I used Rotella which I believe is pretty high detergent, combined with the gas wash probably contributing to the cruddiness.

Is it possible to replace the big end bearings with the engine in place?

I kind of like the suggestion to drop the sump, that and another oil change might provide some longer term clarity.
 
To replace the front bearing the engine needs to be on the bench. Also you will need to measure the crankshaft ends to determine the correct size bearing to install. It may be necessary to turn the crankshaft journals and big ends if there is damage. Hopefully that won't be necessary, but only time will tell.
 
A couple of notes and thanks again for the comments.

I dropped to pan and it was remarkably clean of sludge and no metallic debris. There were a couple small
Pieces of gravel , which was weird.
Removed the carbs and checked both float levels and the needle valve. They looked ok and worked but I’m replacing anyway.
No bad noises, found a broken generator mount, I think that was most of the rumble noise.

Of course when I got it all back together it has a nasty miss on the right bank. Oh well, weather is too nice for riding. Much better for working on bikes…
 
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