Help with pesky oil leak please!

Groesbeck Hurricane · 08-08-2003, 05:05 PM

I am still chasing an oil leak in the front of the motor. I have an '83SC with a fairly stock 3.0L that I re-built.

There is oil dripping down the front (where the cooling fan is) of the motor. Most of the oil appears to me to be dripping down the inside of the engine mount bar. I do not know how much oil I am losing at this time.

I have replaced the gasket on the intermediate plate cover and applied proper torque. I know she was leaking from this point previously and my oil loss has greatly diminished. The backside of the pully is dry, the sides collect oil. Some oil is being thrown up into the fan and over the top of the motor. There is some oil on the fan belt.

Thank you for any ideas!

Groesbeck Hurricane · 08-09-2003, 01:04 PM

I did a 73 mile jaunt today. She ran wonderfully. Even had an idiot in a lincoln oversize stationwagon think they had to pass me on the road to prove they were bad. Hey, their ticket...

Anyway, I estimate to have lost over 2cm on the dip stick. There is a slight film of oil on the back of the car. I have about a 1" by 1/2" puddle of oil after the car sat. The drip is locallized under the fan. There is some oil blown around by the fan.

Any ideas? Thank you,

CarreraS2 · 08-09-2003, 01:36 PM

The pulley seal?

WERK I · WERK I's Garage

Try looking in the area of the oil pressure sender. A lot of times the oil can sneak out between the sender/block or the block/engine. The fan will draw oil in from the lower left area of the fan housing at engine cruising speeds. If that section of the fan housing is oil damp, that's your culprit.

Groesbeck Hurricane · 08-09-2003, 05:53 PM

Brian,

Backside of the pully is dry. I thought this was the culprit originally...

Dave,

Interesting idea! I'll take her down and replace the washers.

WERK I · WERK I's Garage

David,
Be sure and check the flange on the sender, too. Sometimes they leak.

DavidH · 08-09-2003, 06:20 PM

Groesbeck,

I had the same issue after my re-build and I think Leland (SCWDP) did as well. The news for me was not good. I used the wrong sealant and additionally had not replaced the #8 bearing (Wayne's books was not out when I did my build the first time). I must have tried everything, about six partial drops using rtv, JB weld around the bearing, everything.

Finally I bit the bullet and pulled it down, split the case. I re-sealed it following Waynes book exactly and then put it all back together, I also replaced the #8 bearing while I was there. The area around that bearing is tough to tighten as there are no through bolts right at that location. I buttered it up pretty good and used the right sealant making sure to get the halves together and tight within 30 minutes.

To date, everything is dry as a bone (knock on wood).

If I had to guess the selant around the #8 bearing is the problem. That galley sees pretty good oil pressure. I hope you can get it with some JB weld or RTV, I had to go the whole way although I only pulled one side of the cylinders off when I split the case.

Good Luck...

DavidH · 08-09-2003, 06:22 PM

Oh, By the way my pulley was dry as well, I think the speed of the pulley whips the oil around and thows it to the bottom of the engine support, that is why you see it down there...

Groesbeck Hurricane · 08-19-2003, 12:48 PM

Sorry to revive, but I finally got time to work on her and test drive this past weekend.

DavidH,

I replaced the Number 8 bearing and did both the seal and the o-ring when motor was out. I did not use Curil T but had some other stuff. Boy was that the wrong call. I got the oil pressure hoses to stop leaking and will do another partial engine drop to look around the front of the motor again. I guess I will be taking the pully off and pulling and replacing the seal. I'm just not looking forward to it...

WERK I · WERK I's Garage

David,
I take it that the oil pressure sender/block were not leaking?

john walker's workshop · 08-19-2003, 05:46 PM

support the engine on a jack, remove muffler, rear tin, engine mount, pulley and alternator housing, then fire it up and find the leak. you could reinstall the muffler if the neighbors complain. that way the whole butt end of the engine is exposed. you can clean it with brake kleen and watch the leak show up again.

Groesbeck Hurricane · 08-20-2003, 06:01 AM

Dave,

You were dead on, there were some small, slow leaks in the banjo fittings. I took them all apart and used teflon tape. Dry as a bone in their areas now!!

Big JW,

Thank you for the information. The leak is definately in the area of the pully seal and I feel it is also leaking around the gasket just below. I have the engine partially dropped right now.

My plan for the evening is to remove the pully and apply a new pully seal. I will also replace the gasket just below. I also plan on putting sealant on the out side of the case above and below the pully, just in case it might actually do something.

In remoing the pully bolt I do have some questions. I put the transmission in second before I detached the linkage. I will have the parking brake on and the body of the car is resting on the wheels, albeit that thee rear end is raised. Will this be adequate to ensure I do not cause the timing chain to slip. Should I take other precautions? Is this a really bad idea?

Groesbeck Hurricane · 08-20-2003, 01:20 PM

Bumpkin.

Any thoughts??? Thanks,