Exxon Valdez Jr.

[73TCoupe]

It all started with a loose piece of throttle linkage. I decided to remove it to fix but couldn't because the manifold tube was in the way. Ok, I'll remove the CIS replace all of the rubber and fuel lines and be back in business in no time. There is crud on everything so, I might as well clean things up while I am in there. Hmmm. Airbox drain tube is missing. All of this mess can't be just from that. Looks like a lot of oil in here. Start searching. Last night I took the fan and shroud off looking for the source and the situation quickly decended into Porsche hell. I realized there was way too much crud to be just from the airbox drain so I started digging. What I found was a lot of oil and oil based crud on the top of the engine (not fresh, had been there a while). It appears to possibly originate from the oil cooler area, but is all over the rear of the engine on top of the case. It might be the thermostat or breather base as well. I then looked underneath and found a lot of fresh oil on the case as well as the heat exchangers towards the front. I am thinking the front main seal (flywheel) has gone bad. I also noticed some leakage at the base of the cylinders. This was noted at the last service and the heads were re-torqued. I checked the main through case bolts (near base of cylinders) as well and several appear to need tightening. I plan on re-torquing everything, cleaning it up and running some to find the leak. I haven't monitored the oil consumption as of yet and it did not seem out of the ordinary but I will keep an eye on it. The history of the car is pretty well documented and the engine was rebuilt at 134,000 miles by the previous owner. It now has 205,000 miles. It is strong and runs good with only some smoke on start up. I don't think it is quite time for a rebuild. I am leaning towards the main seal. If it is that though, would there be any oil on the clutch or does it get thrown off of the flywheel first? Any ideas what might be going on? Help!

Thanks,

Steve

[Scott R]

WOW, my story is almost exactly the same as yours. In the end I pulled my engine twice, first for a complete re-seal, and again to replace a rocker bushing that was working it's way out. Good luck!

[73TCoupe]

Thanks Scott. Twice. That kind of sucks. Engine is coming out tonight for new seals.