Oil leak question

[cdurgin]

I have a 84 911 with a 3.2. 107K miles. Runs well but when I stop, smokes off of the pasenger side heat exchanger. Difficult to pinpoint the location of the leak. I replaced the the oil tubes with no success. The area directly behind the front oil tube appears to be very wet with oil. I pulled the heat exchanger and the valve covers, I checked the torque on the cam housing to head bolts and found the front lower three to be loose, (this is the area where it appeared the oil was coming from) to reach torque I had to turn approx. 1/2 to 1 turn for each. the rest were fine. Is this common? will retorqueing the bolts fis the issue or am I pretty much screwed and will need to pull and go into the engine? any help or suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks!, Chris

[Flat6pac]

You are expecting things to hold together for 27 years. A 3.2 with 100K miles is due for a top end and a stud change. Check my "I dragged it home" on the rebuild side. 85 with 106K and the heads sounded like they were broken studs, just turned out to be loose on 2 head studs but in the shop the heads required 12 valve guide replacements.
You do need the head studs replaced on the bottom row.
Bruce

[cdurgin]

Thanks Bruce, but these are not the head studs, the car runs fine, no noise from the cylinders at all. the bolts/nuts in questions appear to be only to mate the cam housing to the the head, they are the three at the bottom right looking at the housing with 13mm nuts (pictured). The leak doesn't seem to have any pressure behind it, just seepage..I'm open to what ever it take to fix but a few years back I paid 8K to rebuild my 85 911 and I'm trying to avoid that with this one.

Thanks,

Chris

[Flat6pac]

The sealants the factory used becomes brittle and dry. Youre right, there is no pressure there just seaping. The nuts torque to about 25 ft# but I like just tight but not too tight.
If you csn snug the nuts it might stop the seaping or at least slow it down. Without disassembly there is little you can do. Wait for the need for a top end rebuild and use modern sealants as the factory stuff is 27 years old.
Where are you?
Bruce

[cdurgin]

I'm in central Illinois, Bloomington. I have the bentley manual as well as a few on rebuilding and 101 projects. I was a little confused because one if the manuals came across that the mating surface for the housing didn't have any sealant from the factory but recommended using it on the rebuild. Also, the manual said the torque was 18.4 ft#, should it be 25ft#?

Thanks, Chris

[lindy 911]

Chris,

I grew up in Lincoln. Good to see another corn fed pelican. I would hose that area down with a couple of cans of carb cleaner and get all the goop off. You might luck out with the re-torque but I wouldn't hold my breath. I assume the photo above is not your motor. That motor shows evidence of rocker shafts that weep a little oil but not the amount your talking about. If you clean it up well it'll be easier to locate the leak. Another spot to check is where the chain box and cam tower mate. There is a circular fitting that has both an o-ring and a gasket to leak. It's the piece next to the cam and the valve cover in the photo.

Let us know what you find.

Lindy

[cdurgin]

So after the re-tourque I didn't see much change. the area in question appears to be the area surrounding as well as above the front oil tube (backside of cam housing). I again pulled the lower valve cover and did see oil on the head surface above the head bolts so it appears that the oil is coming from above the area. I pulled the upper valve cover and it was pretty wet with oil inside the open area which should be oil free. I cleaned all inside surfaces of the cavities. After putting it back together, I took the car out for about 20 miles and then removed both valve covers, the area on the bottom of the head showed oil along both sides (picture attached) the upper area showed oil on the left side and had oil pooled in the recess for the shaft on the #5 intake rocker. Basically, it looks like the shaft is leaking and the oil is running down the back of the cam housing and ending up on the heat exchanger (poor quality pic). It doesn't appear to be a large amount of oil, just enough to make the exchanger smoke for a couple of minutes after I turn it off. Is it possible to pull the rocker with the engine in the car and put shaft seals to stop this leak? Thanks for the help!

[cdurgin]

Problem solved, found the #5 intake rocker shaft was leaking quite a bit and running down the back of the cam housing, all it took was re-tightening the shaft and the leak stopped.
Now I can get back to enjoying driving the car without it looking like its on fire when I stop.....not bad for a $5500.00 car...thanks for the help.