PPI din't find this!

[dman]

So, I have had this car (83 SC) for about 18 months and there have been no surprises. I drive it drive it frequently in my first 10k miles the car has run like a champ and hasn’t leaked any oil.

Today while changing out the voltage regulator I ran across this;


When I purchased the car it had just had a top end redo to fix a couple of head studs.
Looks like JB weld, was this probably done to prevent an oil leak, or could this be a cover for something worse?

[afterburn 549]

its what some try with a weeping # 1, some times works...

[William930t]

Well it looks bad, but is it leaking oil? If not, I would just add it to the "while I am in there" engine drop R&R. Definitely keep a close eye on that area, though.

[yelcab1]

I would leave it alone and fix it when you split the case. That is the only way to fix that baby. I have the same thing, but a drop a week is not going to kill me.

[dman]

Cool, I was hoping for those kind of responses. I guess you have to expect some suprises with a 20+ year old car. I am glad it took 18m to find the first.

[afterburn 549]

There have been long threads on this kind of fix,,..sure it would be nice too tear the whole engine dwn and fix it right....but on the other hand if a gob of goo will sufice....what would you do ?? I know what I would do. !
As I understand it the problem is real common in mag casses, and some alum ones..somehow the oil slips past the "O" ring....never alot just enought to cause you to want to...put some goo on it

[redcoupe86]

isn't there some seal that is replaceable with the engine in the car threre?

[yelcab1]

Nose seals not replaceable without splitting the engine. you can replace the front seal, but that is not the problem.

[redcoupe86]

how can you tell the difference b/t the two different leaks?

[pjv911]

Originally posted by redcoupe86
how can you tell the difference b/t the two different leaks?

Yes I would like an answer to that too.

Kurt Williams

[afterburn 549]

HMM you can try the seal, and if that dont fix it then its the "o" ring to case problem or a wiggly number 7 bng..like said to fix that its ax time. If I had some kind of compulsory disorder I would split it and fix it LOL.. I Think for me I would wait till something more major came along to warrant that

[yelcab1]

Front seal is smaller, fits inside the bearing, and if it leaks you find the oil at the bottom of the seal, dripping over the bearing.

Nose bearing seal is the larger seal, if it leaks, you will find the oil on the outside of the nose bearing, dripping down toward the bottom.

It seems the previous mechanic had troubleshot it to the nose bearing seal and placed JB-weld around the outside of the bearing to stop the leak. That too is a dead give away.

You can spend half a day to replace the front seal with a partial drop if you like. Chances are, $15 buck and half a day gone for nothing. (I did, twice).

[cgarr]

Some Dow 730 would be fine around the bearing if its leaking. Nothing wrong with that until you can split the case..