MTFCA Forum

I'm prepping my engine for installation and encountered a problem. The lower oil petcock had some black paint on it so I touched it with a brass wire wheel on my dremel and it Moved! Imagine what would have happened if I hadn't found it and it had vibrated loose....I would have lost most of my oil!

Right now I'm draining the oil and deciding how best to re-install the petcock. After I clean the pan threads with brake cleaner, would you recommend a threadlocker, epoxy, ???

I've purchased a dipstick that attaches at the drain plug so the lower petcock will simply be decorative. Perhaps I should just put in a brass plug. Suggestions?

Tim, is the threads loose or is the open-close part loose?

If you mean, petcock to pan, it's pipe threads.
Put some loctite on it and snug it up.

If its also the open-close part, smack the end of the handle with your plier.
I do that every time anyway as the valve sticks closed in the bore, or tends to, perhaps you do too.

I did a poor job of explaining my problem. Let me try again:

• The "loose" petcock was totally loose, I could unscrew it with my fingers. When I tried to tighten it, it started to "snug" about 90 degrees beyond where it should be. I was afraid it was a problem with the pan but I determined that the petcock's threads weren't that good so I dug thru my stash and found one that seems to tighten in the correct position. I'll install it tomorrow using loctite and hope that's the last I have to deal with it.
• The top petcock was snug in it's position but upon inspection the valve spun very easily. I could push on the spring end with my finger and pop the handle out so I found a replacement for it too.

Since I had to dump the oil I went ahead and installed my new dipstick from Antique Auto Ranch Of Spokane, WA - the one that attaches at the drain plug and reads oil level all the way to zero.

A new day, a new problem to deal with....ya gotta love it

There is no need for the petcocks to screw in to any particular orientation, unless you use some kind of remote tool to turn them to check the oil levels. Just screw it in until it is firm, and work it wherever it ends up. If it is the bottom one, I don't touch it any way. If oil comes out the top petcock, you are good to go.

Allan from down under.

You don't want those things to open up while driving down the road or worse yet fall out. My top petcock worked open on tour some time after we left Dayton Ohio and just outside of Richmond Indiana and dumped 3 1/2 quarts of oil out of that little top hole in less than 50 miles. We found it after the #1 rod started hammering and most of the babbit turned to small chunks in the bottom of the pan. I just got it back together last week and drove it today for the first out of town run. Now I jump at every rattle or odd sound. You wouldn't think that much oil could ever be thrown out of the top like that but it happened to me. Someone even got a picture of me checking and adding oil in Dayton before it rattled open. I use a checkrod from the side to open and close them so hard to know if thy are loose.

Bob

that very thing happened to one of the MT 500 folks this year...he was next in line to start and the countdown had begun...I got his attention via the official starter, and pointed out that he had a STEADY stream of oil pouring out...he got out, closed it, jumped back in and started just as the starter hollered "GO!". He would never have made the next checkpoint 70 miles out if that had not been remedied.

Here is what happens when one of those little springs wont hold it closed on a 50 mile drive down bumpy roads.