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Registered
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 185
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Big Oil Leak 73.5 T Help
My 73.5 T was driven last summer (2008) with no problems, then put in storage for winter.
Come this spring I found a large puddle of oil beneath the right (passanger side) bank. Finally got it up on a lift today and ran it. Lots of oil flowing out from what looks like the joint between the cylinder head and the cam housing. Location is about midway between front and rear of engine. Not really near any oil return tubes. Definitely not coming from cam cover gasket area. Is the cam housing to cylinder head joint a common area for oil leak to develop? Can it be fixed without dropping the engine? Thanks for your insights. Maze |
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Registered
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Los Alamos, NM, USA
Posts: 6,044
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The appearance of oil at the location you're describing can be coming from the top of the engine and running downward. The first thing I would check is for oil in the bottom of the air box; remove the cover and air filter and inspect the bottom for oil. If there is oil there and the air box drain line is missing or disconnected, oil from the bottom of the air box can drip onto the top of the engine and then downward. If the drain line is in place, the oil drips forward of the engine, near the starter Oil in the air box usually means there is too much oil in the tank. When warmed to operating temperature, the engine idling and the car level, the dipstick should read midway between the marks. A defective thermostat o-ring seal can also leak oil outward onto the top of the engine as can a loose breather cover, hose or defective breather cover gasket.
Another possibility is that a rocker arm shaft has loosened and shifted in it's bore ("walked" sideways) sufficiently to leak oil past the end of the shaft. This can be inspected by pulling off the passenger side valve covers and inspecting the position of the shafts. If the rocker shaft expanding fasteners were installed in the correct orientation it may be possible work one's way forward from the back of the car and reposition and tighten the loose shaft without dropping the engine. The third possibility is the sealing compound between the cylinder head and the cam tower (cam housing) has failed. Has anyone inadvertently loosened the cam tower to cylinder head fasteners? If this sealing compound has failed, the engine will need to be dropped and the heads/cam tower removed to remove the old sealing compound and then reinstalled with new sealing compound. Good luck. |
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