Can chain covers be pulled to change gaskets without draining the oil?

[mthomas58]

Need to fix leaks and don't want to drain oil if I don't have to.

Thanks!

[Grady Clay]

Yes, if the engine hasn't been sitting for a very long time and you tip the car forward as usual when you jack up the rear.

Best,
Grady

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by Grady Clay

Yes, if the engine hasn't been sitting for a very long time and you tip the car forward as usual when you jack up the rear.

Best,
Grady

Thanks Grady

[aigel]

I would drain the oil out of both the sump and oil tank to be sure. Oil will drain back into the sump if it sits. If you want to keep your oil, there is nothing wrong with draining it into a clean container and putting it back in after you are done! 10 minutes extra work?

George

[Grady Clay]

George,

You bring up a good point, particularly with long lived (and relatively expensive) synthetics.

My concern has always been the risk of some small piece of debris (silicone oxide sand ) end up back in the car. Up ‘till 964, there isn’t any filter protection between anything in the oil tank and the bearings. Any little piece of anything that can be carried along with the oil flow can be carried from the tank to critical places in the engine. Little pieces of paint or sealant can clog the oil holes for the cams and rockers.

If you were going to do this a lot or have a large quantity, then you can make an oil recovery filter system. The simplest is a gravity flow through a good (fine) filter into a clean and sealed but vented container. So what if it takes a few hours to transfer through the filter by gravity.


On my engine dyno I had a huge oil tank, about 50 liters total capacity. It normally had about 25 liters of oil. The system had a 110 V electric gear-pump and filters that normally ‘tee’d’ into the main oil galley and was common with a large mechanical oil pressure gauge and a sender for a VDO instrument.

When not in use with an engine, the pump could drain and filter the oil into a clean container for reuse. Even when very high quality (dino) oil was less than $1/quart in bulk, I was too Scot to throw away perfectly good oil in 25 quart lots.


Mike, with an early engine (with sump plate), I never miss the opportunity to see what might be lurking in and around inside the sump plate.

Best,
Grady

[snbush67]

In addition to what has been mentioned above it will be so much easier to just lower the engine about 4-6 inches, in order to do that you will have to drain the oil, you will save time and frustration and additionally you can get a good look see at your chain ramps.

Lift the car up and put jack stands under the torsion bar ends. Then get a thick phone book on top of your jack and place it under the engine, loosen the engine mounting bolts and slowly lower it, you will be glad you did.