Help on Oil Dye Results
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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 80
Likes: 1
From: Atlanta GA
Help on Oil Dye Results
Ok I did the oil dye test, here is what I found. Keep in mind, a gargage told me that every gasket was leaking and should replace them all asap.
I have a 95 coupe LT1 that I bought a year ago. It had 157k miles when I bought it. No history.
1. The intake manifold area showed no dye,
2. Ditto on the value covers,
3. There was a little on the rear value cover screw on the driver side,
4. Nothing around the head gasket,
5. The front and back of the engine was clear of dye,
6. The oil pan gasket was clear.
Now, there was yellow (the dye) along the bottom of the oil pan and going up an inch or so on both sides. There was yellow near the top of the oil pan on both sides. Both on metal protector plates that had yellow on them.
I am going to guess that I may need a new front and rear main seal gasket in the future. Also, one of the sides may have an oil sensor of some type. No clue on the other side.
The Helms manual was not real clear for me on this.
The oil leak is very light. In a year of checking it twice monthly, the oil level never moved from its full position.
My own thinking is below, and here is where I welcome other views:
1. Unless the oil leak worsens, the rear and front seal work can wait until I have the money to repair it. I have kids, the college fees, etc to pay for - LOL.
2. I should see if I can tighen up the oil sensor switch,
3. Clueless on the thing on the other side, leak is very minor.
Now, there is a lot of gunk on the engine, front and back of the engine. I am wondering if this is a collant leak. I track that as well, and there is limited collant loss from a year of checking.
Ok, I am open to the valued input form the board here. Thanks for the dye suggestions. It was great. Saved me a ton of money and stuff on repairs (replace intake manifold gasket) that I dont need.
I have a 95 coupe LT1 that I bought a year ago. It had 157k miles when I bought it. No history.
1. The intake manifold area showed no dye,
2. Ditto on the value covers,
3. There was a little on the rear value cover screw on the driver side,
4. Nothing around the head gasket,
5. The front and back of the engine was clear of dye,
6. The oil pan gasket was clear.
Now, there was yellow (the dye) along the bottom of the oil pan and going up an inch or so on both sides. There was yellow near the top of the oil pan on both sides. Both on metal protector plates that had yellow on them.
I am going to guess that I may need a new front and rear main seal gasket in the future. Also, one of the sides may have an oil sensor of some type. No clue on the other side.
The Helms manual was not real clear for me on this.
The oil leak is very light. In a year of checking it twice monthly, the oil level never moved from its full position.
My own thinking is below, and here is where I welcome other views:
1. Unless the oil leak worsens, the rear and front seal work can wait until I have the money to repair it. I have kids, the college fees, etc to pay for - LOL.
2. I should see if I can tighen up the oil sensor switch,
3. Clueless on the thing on the other side, leak is very minor.
Now, there is a lot of gunk on the engine, front and back of the engine. I am wondering if this is a collant leak. I track that as well, and there is limited collant loss from a year of checking.
Ok, I am open to the valued input form the board here. Thanks for the dye suggestions. It was great. Saved me a ton of money and stuff on repairs (replace intake manifold gasket) that I dont need.
Slingshot
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,817
Likes: 24
From: Charlotte NC
Try a clean up....
Why don't you pressure wash the block and lower parts of the engine to remove the junk, grease, grime and road tar to see if you can better identify the source of these slow leaks? 
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 12,263
Likes: 86
From: O'Fallon Missouri
