This... is my dad's 85 corvette. its in rough shape.

i'd personally like to get it fixed and rather functional again (the video will demonstrate just how well it idles) and in the mean time, i might as well learn to work on an engine (whats gonna happen, it runs worse?)

but for that to happen, we need to learn whats wrong or possibly wrong with it?

Symptom 1: Just listen to the idle
Symptom 2: Leaking oil (see the pics)
Symptom 3: Something is up with the radio that causes issues... i'll get more specifics on that later, but its annoying.



Passanger side of the engine:

Drivers Side:

Closer View of leak one: (basically down from the PCV valve)

Other side, about 8 inches to the right of the first one (not to mention all the smoke coming from whatever that is in the middle)

The other side (passanger side closer view) the oil looks less viscous(like its been sitting there for a while) but its presense is still noted

Link to the Video of it running at idle. zooming in on each major oil leak (no-one was in the car... it revs up and down like that all on its own)
http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w...t=P1030207.flv



Now, a couple years back, he paid $1,000 to a local corvette performance shop, to have said problems fixed.... and it was leaking oil pretty much when he got it home. They pulled the engine and worked on it, but apparently didn't fix anything.

To me, its obviously gasket(s) that need replacing, but would this require pulling the engine, or just taking a bunch off the top and getting down to the problem?

I also recommended running seafoam through the car (mostly as a joke) but i'm almost positive those leaks would start gushing oil if he did. as it stands, he just leaves little drip puddles around. nothing HUGE, but its definitely hindering performance, and its quite annoying..


well... hints, tips, how tos, anything?


--------------------------------------------

(posted this in my olds forum, just to get a basis... hence how it "typed" it out so quickly. ) We did attempt to work on this, and got stuck. We replaced the passanger side Valve Cover Gasket. The driver's side is where we got stuck. If it were my car, i'd gladly start tearing things apart, but being his, he didn't want to start removing other parts, when the lip of the VC would pull straight out, after strickly loosening the bolts.

So how would we go about getting that out? it seems to be where the majority of the oil leak is. What needs to be removed to get that off? that 1/4" lip is REALLY annoying.

secondly, would throwing a can of seafoam in, be advantageous? I'd love to, i'm sure i'd clean the engine right out... but i'm afraid it'll cause the engine to leak from ever possible location.

lastly, he bought this a couple years ago, and it appears that the owner wasn't much of a car fan, its never really ran well.....

 

Video does not work and you should relay to us where you live. You may find a CF member willing to take a look at it for you.

 

doh! i apparently deleted that video... i'll have to take another sometime later.

the big thing it shows, is the engine reving up, then falling... again and again, with no-one touching it. i'm guessing tps sensor?

and i'm in lockport ny.

 

My first advice would be to get a shop manual (FSM) for your car. Just looking at your pictures the oil seems to be coming from the valve covers. The oil will drip down onto the manifolds and start to smoke. You definitely do not need to remove the engine to replace valve cover gaskets! They're fairly easy, though getting them out sometimes takes some finangling.

As for the idle rising and falling, I would check all those little vacuum hoses for any leaks. Check the lines for holes, cracks, dissconnections, etc. That's as good a place to start as any. I'm sure others will chime in with more advice (and more experience!) than I can offer.

Good luck!

 

we do have a haynes manual, but it basically starts with "now with the VCs removed..." and i'm flipping back through to see what i missed.... it just skips over important steps like.. HOW those were removed... and if anything else needed to be removed to get to that point...

i'm almost positive that the oil pan is also leaking, which just needs a new gasket, but he refuses to let me do it (as well as the oil change) i think he'd rather pay the $75 per hour for the same quality work.

 

Yeah don't get too critical of him; some guys are just really nervous when working around this stuff. Before I went off to tech school my father didn't want to touch a car....now he loves watching me tear them apart! I would try to locate a real factory service manual. They are light years ahead of the Haynes stuff and only cost you around $100 I think. Start with the valve cover; remove what ever you need to, and yank it up out of there. Everything you have to take apart and put back together you can do with hand tools so dig deep, ask questions if you need and I will help out.

 

That's right near me, bud. Send me a PM and I can send you to a great mechanic right nearby.

 

Removing the valve covers on a '85 is easy.

1. Remove air tube and coolant hose from the throttle body (passenger side).
2. Remove 4 bolts on passenger side cover (1 on each corner) and remove the cover.
3. On the driver's side remove the windshield wiper cover from the motor.
4. Remove the 4 bolts on the cover and wiggle it around all the wiring and be careful not to hit the exposed wiper motor. It might get caught up on the AIR pump but you should be able to get it by.
5. If the above step didnt work, then try loosening the bracket holding the AIR pump so you have more room.

Just be patient and it wont take long. Also use a rubber gasket instead of the cork ones cause they're crap and dont seal well. You can shell out some bucks on the Fel-Pro Permadry ones that are layered rubber and steel that you can reuse, cost about $30. Good Luck

 

ha. thanks demonic.... but unfortunately we already got the cork ones. But coating them in plenty of RVT should give a good seal, right?

i'll be sure to give it a try this weekend. (of course, i have him out there helping me)

and as for master shake, which mechanic are you referring to? if you do have an issue, i wouldn't take it to the corvette performance place down transit... they did $1k worth of repair work on this car already(couple years ago) and it left the shop leaking oil and running on 7 cylinders.... yeah. won't refer them to anyone. But as for this, we can't possibly HURT the car anymore...



and i just found out right now, as we're talking about this... the rev'ing issue, is a KNOWN issue. the catalytic converter is completely hallow... so there is absolutely 0 back pressure. apparently its the original cat. anyone know if that will be an issue to remove? i know its 2 flanges on each side... but whats the chance we're gonna be able to NOT torch those off?


....but the oil leaks are problem #1.

 

Honestly I would take the cork ones back or throw them in the trash. Yeah I really hate them

If your still going to use them, yes use some black RTV.

 

Yeah the cork gaskets are not what you want to put in there.... I refuse to use them on anything I build.

 

Which shop? I'm referring to the one down Park Ave. near Candlelight cabinetry. That the one or do you mean the one in Amherst?

 

i mean the one in amherst.... maybe its williamsville, or clarence (not sure where the dividing lines really are)

are you referring to Housels? I've heard good things about that place, they are just ALWAYS really busy.

 

It's called Doug's Unique Auto. Might be the same place, but that's what I call it anyway. It's listed in the phone book under the yellow pages.

Give them a call and see if they can help. They're the ones working on mine right now.

If you talk to Doug himself, tell him the kid with the "exhaust scraping the ground" told you to call. He'll remember.



Long story, involves Monro muffler slaughtering my y-pipe setup.

 

well... we're working on it now and ran into this issue with the wiper motor... (view looking at wiper motor, with camera right tight against the driver's side valve cover, looking back toward windshield)



Can't get to hex bolt 1 ( on mid left) due to the intake manifold being too close to get a tool on it.
Cant get to bolt 3 (bottom right-ish) because small inflexible metal tube 2 is in the way, and prevents a connection with a socket.

so..what am i missing?? there has to be an easier way to get this off, so we can get the valve cover off...

 

I've never had a problem pulling the wiper motor. 1/4" drive socket and a u-joint always works for me. There are three bolts/screws holding it onto the firewall. It's just a PITA to wiggle it out of there.

 

yeah... that little metal bar labelled #2, has eaten 3x10mm sockets. just trying to line them up, that bar pulls the socket off, and then it falls into the abyss of wire harnesses underneath that. which i've only assumed goes to the top of the tranny, since we've only gotten 1 back, and the other two are MIA.

is there anything holding the wiper motor in, other then the fact that it goes into the firewall a little, and 2x4 wire clips?? we got the bolts out... but the motor wont come out.

 

The wiper motor is attached to the wiper arm shaft. You will need to remove the screen to get to it.

 

Had the same exact issue on my 85 last weekend. Previous owner did use the rubber gaskets, but my valve cover bolts weren't torqued evenly at all. I do want to take mine off to put a little bead of sealant on there though, still leaking a small tad on my passenger side.

 

I got the valve cover off. that wiper motor bolt was the part i was missing. sweet



now before the gaskets go on... (since we have the cork ones) i know we're gonna give it a coating of the RVT stuff. should we coat that and let it dry, then put it on, or coat it and apply it while still wet?