Crankcase through-bolt oil leak

[kohho]

Hello,

I recently had a pre-purchase inspection done on a beautiful 81 Targa. Unfortunately the mechanic told me there is an oil leak at one of the crankcase through-bolts. Does anyone know if the crankcase through-bolts can be replaced without disassembling the engine?

Thanks in advance

Carl

[MBEngineering]

HI Carl
unfortunately you need to strip the engine to re-place the seals on the through bolts, on the other hand you may have a snapped head stud and oil could be leaking from the bottom of the cylinder base gasket, or even better it may be just a oil return tube leaking, any chance of a photo of where it is leaking??

regards mike

[911 tweaks]

I thought you could remove 1 through bolt at a time, when you are building the engine, and put the seals on if you ran out of time doing so as the sealant was setting up.
I know this is a running engine, but can this still be done = "remove 1 through bolt and replace the seals" on an already assembled engine ??
We need an expert to chime in here... great question !!
Bob

[MBEngineering]

HI Bob
I am no "We need an expert to chime in here..." BUT look at this engine I have now taken apart for you to look at!!






that was the top of the engine, and now the bottom,




never mind taking the bolts out, can you get a spanner/torque wrench on hear??

and the bolt is how long????




regards mike

[911 tweaks]

Thanks Mike !! a picture is worth a thousand words... I am no expert here... you are certainly more experienced here than me. however, I could of sworn that the bolt could clear the base of the cyls... maybe I am thinking os the earlier engines ??
Thanks for posting the pics Mike !!
Now I would say, a tear down to the long block is needed IF the through bolt is the cause... definatly need to check if the leak may be coming from some where else i.e. cylinder base gasket, crack somewhere, sensor leaking, pop off all of the valve covers and check for no broken head studs. Thats a start for now.
Bob

[kohho]

Thanks for the comments. I've asked the owner to see if he can get a few photos together.

Carl