Why is my sump filling up with fuel ???

[Malcolm Parker]

Apologies, I did read yesterday that you drained the contaminated oil and filled it with flushing oil.  I would probably have just drained the contaminated oil out and filled it with a cheap 20/50 mineral oil.  I have this fear that flushing oil in the engine could be much the same as having petrol in the sump?
Hope you get to the bottom of the problem soon.

[flywheel1935]

STOP PRESS; Ruby drives again ( just)
Having now complied with the wishes of the original builder of my 'new' engine, ie; plugs, timing, fresh oil, new filter, repair to the carb supplied by him, it fired up second swing !!!
Wizzed it up the road, and it accelerated smoothly, no popping, banging, farting, chuffing, etc ALL IS GOOD YOU SAY,
Well no, its sounds like an anvil in a washing machine spin cycle ????

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Why are you not taking it back to the builder?

[flywheel1935]

Ruairidh, It's already been back once before, and the problem we found first time, ie fuel in sump, was obviously not resolved correctly. Apart from the fact it's a 400 mile round trip, which I have now done 4 times in total. Having now relocated permanently in West Norfolk I have established a good pool of generous local knowledge, and several well known suppliers are on my doorstep. Once we have reached a definitive answer to the poor performance then I will decide if I take things further with regards to some kind of recompense.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Fair enough.

[circeonya@hotmail.com]

Product Liabilty Insurance. Most business over here have it. I had an experience with a dodgy rebuild on an MGB engine. From day one it had no guts and was very very tight. I complained and they had it for a couple of days but it was still tight and gutless. They activated theiir product liability insurance who paid for a partial dissmantle by an independent mechanic. First was head off and discovered one bore scoured, then sump off and the big end shells had been wrong so the rebuilder had been scraping them (believe it). Insurance company paid me the full amount. ($2400 twenty years ago)

[Bob Culver]

A major reason modern cars are so reliable is that "mechanics" and "reconditioners " dont have cause to work on.

[flywheel1935]

Circeonya , the builder in question, is not what could be called a 'business,' more of a sideline to his hobby of car resto etc , He operates from a workshop at his home and his charges are not close to commercial rates, it may even not operate as a 'sole trader' ? I am aware that he has a wealth of knowledge with A7,s and other marques, but on this occasion the rebuild has not come up to the expected level of performance/drivability that could be expected.

[daveg]

Glad to hear you have got the engine running but intrigued to know if you found out what the cause
of it not starting was and how so much petrol was getting into the oil.

Hope you get to the bottom of why the engine sounds so bad - can you post an audio clip  of it running?
Someone might know what the problem is.

[Tony Griffiths]

Product liability insurance: so many small "part-time" businesses fail to have this as they run on a sort of 'hobby-out-of-control' basis. If using one, before committing lots of money to a job, it might be an idea to ask if they have it. Of course, some traders have a bullet-proof reputation and can be relied on to stand by what they do.