1978 type II fuel injected

[khargis]

mornin folks, was headin to work today in my 78 bus, one block from my house the oil light came on, so i turned her off and went round back, there was oil leaking from underneath, so i rolled back home and parked ol' bad danger, hopefully not for long. this is my first experience with this sort of issue and i have to say that it seems like a potential big one? can anyone offer any insight on where i should start? thanks kris

[Randy in Maine]

Clean the bottom of the engine really well so you can figure out where it is leaking from.

[Sylvester]

Egads I hope you did not drive it home with the oil light still on?

[khargis]

bottom of engine clean, will know more manana. nope, coasted her home. will report back, thanks k

[Amskeptic]

will report back, thanks k

Please do . . .

[khargis]

hello all, after the oil has been cleaned of the bottom of the engine, it appears that the leak came from just behind the fan, up above the engine support cross beam? in front of the muffler and behind and to the right of the oil filter. due to the engine support beam , i cant see to well. does this make sense?

[dtrumbo]

My first guess, which by no coincidence is the easiest to fix (I'm a lazy optimist), would be the oil pressure sending unit. Pop the engine compartment hatch (the one inside the bus) and look just in front of the distributor. There's a hole in the cooling tin where the wire for the sender passes through (it should also have a grommet to seal the hole but a lot of them have rotted away). Look down that hole and see if you see the source of the leak. In my idealistic world the sender has disintegrated which allowed oil to leak and also gave you the oil warning light. Good on ya for shutting down immediately. Hopefully no damage done.

[Amskeptic]

hello all, after the oil has been cleaned of the bottom of the engine, it appears that the leak came from just behind the fan, up above the engine support cross beam? in front of the muffler and behind and to the right of the oil filter. due to the engine support beam , i cant see to well. does this make sense?

Clean clean clean dry dry dry. Start engine briefly with oil at least registering on the dipstick. Shut it down and get under there. Repeat as necessary. There is no escape. The only way you find a source of a leak is to find the source of the leak.

As dtrumbo hopes, you may have a simple dumb leak at the sender. Then again, you might have a gallery plug leak, a filter mount gasket leak, a breather box gasket leak, ... etc.
Colin

[khargis]

not the sender! alright colin, this weekend i will get under there and do as you say. hopefully it is not raining. i have a couple more questions for ya, but i will pm ya when my list is complete. ps, the bus ran great through baja and all the way up north, i thin she was lookin out for me breakin down a block from my house! thanks to all! kh

[Amskeptic]

not the sender! alright colin, this weekend i will get under there and do as you say. hopefully it is not raining. i have a couple more questions for ya, but i will pm ya when my list is complete. ps, the bus ran great through baja and all the way up north, i think she was lookin out for me breakin down a block from my house! thanks to all! kh

These cars repay those who care ... awaiting your list.
Colin