Mystery Oil Leak - near cooler

[penp]

Sorry the posts lately, got a t race next weekend and the ulcers are kicking in....

Car developed oil leak last time out, dripping oil. Certainly was not high volume of oil according to the levels, but placement is bad – –*it was dripping on to the header pipe on pass side and makes a smokey mess. It was actually filling up cabin with smoke through the rockers! The tech guys were not amused either.

The oil is coming either from the oil cooler itself (the stock mounted cooler), or some oil connection above it. Top of the VC gasket?

Don't have a lot of time to turn this one around - I have a race this weekend at Cal Speedway. Damn these motors are hard to work on with all the tin-work!

How hard is to just take the damn cooler and block it off off since I'm also running a remote Setrab as well?

Any thoughts? Much appreciated!

Thanks.

[penp]

[hardflex]

there are rubber seals under the cooler that can be changed out from underneath. I did it once but can't remember the exact procedure.

[penp]

Could it be cracked oil cooler? And how the hell do access these things - pull the engine?!

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

To get the cooler out, you have to remove the fan shroud and the right side tin. I don't think it's physically possible to get the shroud out of there without dropping the engine.

You can replace the seals with the engine in the car; you loosen things up so you can shift the cooler forward just enough to pull the old ones out and put the new ones in.

Oil pressure sender leaks can look a lot like cooler leaks, and they are a lot more common. Take a look there, and also around the distributor, to see if the oil could be dripping down from that area.

Spray-can lids fit very well over the heater duct inlets in the rocker arms, and can at least help keep some of the smoke from getting in the cabin.

--DD

[penp]

Dave, love the spray can top trick - I can't believe I didn't think of that last time I raced the car. That time, I went to a hardware store and got some rubber 2" plumbing end caps and topped off the all four holes outside and inside holes. Went from driving a rolling steam bath to a Lexus. Of course, the better option would have been to either (1) actually repair the damn oil leak, or (2) park the car since small oil leaks can turn to big oil leaks.

But now it is clear that the cooler is cracked or the cooler seal to motor is compromised. (oil pressure seal is fine - I'm not that lucky...)

So no Fontana for#49 this weekend.

I was thinking I could dremel the tins on that side to create a new access panel, but the most that would accomplish would be to maybe see where it's leaking (and where to slather on the JB Weld!!), but it wouldn't help me replace the cooler since you need access to other side of the fan housing for the bolts, right?

Damn!

[penp]

By the way, after I did what I could on my own do eliminate the more obvious – and accessible – areas of leakage, I got a pro involved. I tried Dutch Treat in Lawndale, and I gotta say I got great service, follow-through and advice, and all in a spotless, uncluttered new facility.

Also very straightforward and upfront about inspection pricing. And they gave me what seemed like a decent price to yank the whole engine/trans out of the car and put a new cooler on.

Robert runs the place, seems like a great guy.