well I just drove the car a little after changing the seal on the oil pan. Something is still freakin leaking! I have about had it. I hate leaks worse than anything. I thought for sure I had it licked. Were the heck could it be coming from? I don't have time today or tomorrow and then I will be away for 1 week on business to take a look at it. Its really got me pissed. The only thing I can think of is the from main seal were the harmonic damper fits through. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. It so hard to see anything, even up on a lift. You expert oil stopper please pipe up and give me some advice. THanks

 

My front crank/timing case seal gave me fits all last summer. This spring I have replaced my demonic balancer with a new one, and the seal again (4th time). This time I used permatex non-hardning aircraft gasket sealer around the outside of the seal, and was extremely careful pressing the new seal in and pressing the balancer on. Well oiled etc. Over the winter I fabricated a seal installer and balancer installer. I can now replace the seal in about an hour. My leak only occurred at upper rpms, and the resulting oil drippage would run back along the passenger side. When it hit the exhaust, I would get smoke, but only visible when stopped. You would see a blue cloud rising up through the wiper slot between the hood and the glass. I finally located it by putting the car up on stands and lying under it while a helper ran the engine up and own the rpm range. Hot and noisy. With a light I could just make out the oil seeping out of the seal at rpms. I am now making short test runs to see if I got it fixed.

 

If you really hate leaks that much...

http://www.ontool.com/store/product/3109

 

You may have addressed these points in a previous post, that I missed. And you may have addressed all these points during your install, but I'll run through them in the hopes that it helps. A glob of RTV is a good idea where the corner of the pan meets the block. There are two different thickness of rubber gasket where the pan seals to the timing cover. The difference is only about 1/8th of an inch. Got the right one? The old seal could have worn a groove in the seal surface of the damper. If it won't polish easily, a "Speedi-Sleeve" can make a repair. A filler is supposed to be used to fill the groove before the sleeve is installed. If the timing cover is tighted down before the damper is installed, there is an excellent chance that the ID of the seal won't be concentric with the OD of the damper. It's a good idea to leave the timing cover loose until the damper is at least installed far enough to center the seal over the seal surface. Maybe you've covered all these, but it's better to say it twice than not at all. I feel for you. I've been there. Good luck.

As an after thought. If there is any kind of groove or slot running the length of the crank snout or the ID of the damper, a smear of RTV inside the bore of the damper couldn't hurt.


[Modified by CFI-EFI, 5:46 PM 3/23/2002]

 

Guys,
Hey thanks for the tips. I covered all the mentioned except the one suggestion of leaving the timing cover loose till the balancer in installed. Excellant idea. That very well might be the problem. I gooped more RTV sealant around everything than I thought was possible. Everything looked so good, I thought I had her. I bet the leak is coming from that front seal as stated before. Man I do not want to have to rip all that poopie off again. :mad
I guess I will have to wait and see when I return, perhaps the gremlins will fix it while I am away. :rolleyes: