OK, I have searched over and over for this problem and it seems nobody has had it. Excuse me please if it has been covered before.

First problem is with my oil pressure; I'll start the car and the pressure will be just where it is supposed to (about 30-45 PSI at idle, according to dash gauge), but then when it warms up comes the problem. I was pulling into a parking space, and the temp was only at 1/4 (which is normal operating temp in my car) and I glanced down again to see the needle was bouncing in the red zone between 0-10 PSI.

So I turned the car off and checked the oil. Upon opening the hood, I saw what appeared to be dried up oil around the grommet for the PCV valve (I don't open the hood much with the hours I work, just to change the oil mostly). It appeared to have been there for about a week, so no sweat I thought. Then I checked the oil. I pulled the dipstick out and *POOF* this extreme smell of gas/oil at the same time! But the oil level was fine! So I let the car cool off, I went into my g/f's house, came back out and drove it home with no problems (I don't live far so it didn't get to operating temp).

What seems to be wrong with this motor? I really need this car to get back and forth to work so I need to know if smelling gas in the oil is bad or normal. I change the PCV valve every 7,000 miles, change the oil every 3,000 miles, and pretty much keep this car in tip-top shape, so PCV failure is not likely.

This motor is old though, it puffs smoke when you start it up (infamous valve stem seal leak) and in about 2 weeks it will have 150,000 miles on it. So what's going on with my engine here? Could somebody please explain?

 

Gas in the oil is due to either bad rings, or running rich. Pull a couple spark plugs, and see what they look like, it the are black, you are prolly running rich. If they look OK, do a compression test.

 

Well, I replaced the spark plugs about 5,000 miles ago before I really noticed any problems. Would that still be enough time to do anything to them?

Can you still lose oil pressure even though your oil level is fine?

Sorry for all the questions, but i'm a newb at this kind of stuff. I will pull the spark plugs and see what's going on.

 

Some of the gauges on my 91RS are not "correct". For instance, the fuel gauge reads over full for about 3/4 of a tank, the oil pressure does the same exact thing yours does, and in the event that there is not sufficient pressure in the oil system the switch will kill the motor to prevent damage. Thats what the switch is for that is above the oil filter. If it would make you more comfortable try putting in a in-line oil pressure gauge. And don't be too worried about a little fuel smell with the oil, just as Ploegi said, running rich or bad rings.

 

could be leaky injectors .

 

5k miles is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than plenty of time to read the plugs and see if they are fuel washed or not

i would not be running this engine at all until the problem is corrected, you run the risk of washing bearings in the engine


is the oil level increased due to the amount of fuel in the oil, or no ?

fuel in the oil is definitely a bad thing and if theres enough fumes in the crankcase and any flame makes it past the rings into the crankcase then youre gonna have a nice explostion of an engine on your hands if theres enough oxygen also



good luck

 

Well, I pulled a plug and it wasn't black at all. It almost looked brand new.

And I don't know if gas changes oil any specific color, but it looked like normal clean brown oil, and the level was perfectly at the top of the safe operating range bar on the dipstick.

However, the oil does smell like gas still, and I haven't gotten my car up to operating temp, just drove it around the block after I washed it and the oil pressure was stable @ about 30 PSI.