minimize oil loss?

[vash]

ok, taking out the garbage this morning, i noticed an additional oil leak under the car. about the size of a silver dollar. stuck my big head under there and noticed a hanging drop from the front of my turbo valve cover drivers side. so it is either my top or bottom valve cover. if it is the bottom one, how can i minimize the loss of my 5-10 mile old kendall 20-50? i have dumped "new" oil alot lately because of pisspoorplanning!
damn! i cant think of a way!
cliff

[CHILI]

Man, I was just saying that I've dumped a lot of fresh oil latetly because of pisspoorplanning, too. Had about 1K and dumped it to put the Carrera chain tensioners in. Drove it for about 300 miles, had my mechaninc do a valve adjustment. Go home to put the SSI's on and find out I have to move an oil line because the PO had installed in in the wrong location and it was in the way. I must have had at least 30 miles on that oil!

Did you use the silicone beaded gaskets? So far, mine don't leak. (just had the second Turbo valve cover put on).

You can jack the car way up on that side and not loose too much oil, if you need to replace the gasket, or use sealer. Have you checked torque settings?

[vash]

i get confused on the silicone valve cover gaskets. i have the blackish ones. i first set went on sweet dry as a bone! but those arent the silicone ones right? chili i have blasted you on the wasted oil move! here goes:
1. changed oil in texas prior to shipping it here
2. oil leak at valve covers, new turbo covers
3. oil cooler install
4. oil cooler install hose leak
4. valve adjust
5. now this leak
at least i was smart enough to change my gasket on the sump plate cover on #2. haha. i need a box of those crush washers!
thanks chili!

cliff "king of PISSPOORPLANNING"

[greglepore]

Check the torque on the nuts before you freak. Mine was dumping large quantities before I was ready to do a recent valve adjust, and a couple of the nuts were loose-snugging them stopped the flow. No idea how temporary a fix this was as I did a valve adjust shortly thereafter.

[vash]

you guys are right. i am still trying to get road worthy for that bay area run. hope those guys have a AAA card i will check torques tonight. no sense getting my panties all bunched up just yet.

[Early_S_Man]

Cliff,

Jack up one side of the car at a time to recheck the exhaust covers for proper torque -- use instructions down at the end

There are essentially six kinds of valve cover gaskets ...

1. cork ... obsolete

2. black/gray synthetic, woven/pressed material, looks like Perlon carpet material ... obsolete

3. shiny gray all over -- graphited gasket material, thinner than later OEM graphited material -- not recommended, as rather fragile and tend to crack on installation over the eleven studs!

4. green/gray graphited gasket material -- current German mfg -- 6 lb-ft per spec book

5. green/gray graphited gasket material with thin bead of green silicone sealant on one side -- current German mfg -- 6 lb-ft per spec book

6. Red silicone -- Real Gaskets mfg ... special torque specs 48 in-lb

Did you use new Nyloc nuts and aluminum crush washers on the eleven exhaust cover studs???

To properly torque gaskets #4, #5, or #6 to specs you must use a 1/4" drive torque wrench, as larger torque wrenches aren't accurate at those low settings!

A good method of torquing the M8 nuts without a 1/4" drive torque wrench is to use four fingers on a six-point box-end wrench, choked-up right next to the box-end ... tighten all eleven exhaust cover nuts snug, first, but not full tightness ... then tighten in a criss-cross pattern snug with just four-finger tight, but not hard enough to hurt the fingers while tightening!

[vash]

i got the gasket set from pelican, so i used all new hardware. it came in the tuneup kit. i will look for the silicon ones from PP. i guess i got #3. i used your tighten method, you mentioned it in the past (i have been printing some peoples solutions, you are one of them) thanks guys. one day i am going to EBAY my brainy pcar solution binder

cliff

[CHILI]

Originally posted by unfixed
i get confused on the silicone valve cover gaskets. i have the blackish ones. i first set went on sweet dry as a bone! but those arent the silicone ones right? chili i have blasted you on the wasted oil move! here goes:
1. changed oil in texas prior to shipping it here
2. oil leak at valve covers, new turbo covers
3. oil cooler install
4. oil cooler install hose leak
4. valve adjust
5. now this leak
at least i was smart enough to change my gasket on the sump plate cover on #2. haha. i need a box of those crush washers!
thanks chili!

cliff "king of PISSPOORPLANNING"

LOL!

I have put about 10K miles on my car since I've owned it (about 2.5 yrs) and in that time I can think of 6 oil changes.

Well, at least I know it's well maintained.