help with my oil leak
- Thread starter cearly
- Start date
Michael Mayben
IHPA Tech Moderator - Retired & No Longer Online
The oil filter adapter is warped.
Those castings are very fragile and will easily distort if the fasteners aren't tightened gently in steps and in a cris-cross pattern.
Remove the adapter and check with a straight edge, you will easily see what I mean. That is why so many of these were re-installed using rtv, which then plugged the inlet and outlet holes when it squeezed.
I resurface the adapters on a simple large platen belt sander. An alternate method would be to draw-file using a 12" bastard file (not a mill file). Trying to work one back flat on a piece of 180 grit emery paper is also viable if it's done on a piece of ground granite (like your kitchen counter!) or a surface plate, a piece of glass is not "flat".
I should have given you a "fresh" one with a gasket when you were here last week!
Those castings are very fragile and will easily distort if the fasteners aren't tightened gently in steps and in a cris-cross pattern.
Remove the adapter and check with a straight edge, you will easily see what I mean. That is why so many of these were re-installed using rtv, which then plugged the inlet and outlet holes when it squeezed.
I resurface the adapters on a simple large platen belt sander. An alternate method would be to draw-file using a 12" bastard file (not a mill file). Trying to work one back flat on a piece of 180 grit emery paper is also viable if it's done on a piece of ground granite (like your kitchen counter!) or a surface plate, a piece of glass is not "flat".
I should have given you a "fresh" one with a gasket when you were here last week!
I should have discussed this problem but it is just one of many. I did have the housing surfaced and it was not out of spec. Put it back on and still leaks out of the front top corner.. Am thinking maybe the front cover is the problem and the fan is moving it around the corner since the leak shows up at the same place. What do you think?
Michael Mayben
IHPA Tech Moderator - Retired & No Longer Online
Most certainly could be blowing around the corner! Likely suspects...
1) front crank seal behind the crank hub, crank hub May need a speedee-sleeve.
2) pan gasket where it meets the timing cover. A seal/timing cover gasket set includes a short segment of the pan gasket to use to replace the part ya gotta remove when the timing cover is removed.
3) remove/clean/use a sealant on the four front pan bolts that thread into the timing cover rail. They are blind holes but one of 'em May have a void (casting blow hole) allowing oil to leak past the threads.
4) use sealant (like permatex #2) on each filter adapter mounting bolt to prevent oil wicking past the threads.
5) dipstick tube is tight in the block???
6) oil droolin' down from the front of the lifter chamber cover under the intake manifold.
7) oil leaking past the base of the distributor, I replace the oem gasket on distributors with an "o" ring.
Powerwash the front of the engine, especially from underneath. Then spray "powder"-type foot spray all over the suspect area. The oil leak points will be real obvious as they appear through the "flat" dry powder.