oil leak
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Mar 2010
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oil leak
Hello! New guy here. I have an 82 c3 with an oil leak. With the engine running, on level ground, I get oil out the rear of the pan, and down the oil filter. However, if I park on an incline with the front pointed down hill it doesnt seem to leak. I retightend all pan bolts which were very loose and still leaks. Am I looking at a rear seal here or just a deteriated pan gasket. Any advice would be appreciated.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
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From: Crossville TN
Actually, it is quite likely to be a leaking valve cover--left cover at the rear. When that leaks, it just runs down the engine and off the filter. P.S. You cannot seal gasket leaks by overtightening the bolts. The additional stress will just deform the pan rail and it will leak more. If the bolts were loose {as you mentioned} and you tightened them to spec and got them to seal, great! If not, you will likely need to remove the pan, flatten and straighten the pan rail, clean everything with solvent to remove all oil/grease, install new gasket and set bolts to torque in stages (1/3 of torque spec on all bolts; then 2/3 of torque on all bolts; then all bolts set to final torque).
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Mar 2010
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Yeah. I am thinking the thing to do is just replace all the gaskets, valve cover, pan etc. and since i will be in there, the main seal also. the car is going on 30 years old and it is probably just time to do it. thanks
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2008
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Have an 80 that I bought 3 years ago. There were oil leaks all over the engine. Took everything but the heads and manifolds off the engine. Replaced all gaskets and seals. Painted the parts while they were out. Added some chrome pieces to dress it up for car shows. Spent a couple months on the project but it was well worth it
