oil leak tracer?
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 11,672
Likes: 20
From: Lake Wylie SC
oil leak tracer?
Before I tear my front of the engine off my 92 LT-1, I want to see if I can find the exact location of my oil leak. I bought a lttle bottle of GMs Gas Engine Oil Fluorescent Tracer Dye. I have no idea how to use it. Does it require a special light to see it? Do you just dump it in an run it for a while? I need help on this one. Thanks
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Racer
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 321
Likes: 0
From: Birmingham AL
Re: oil leak tracer? (Strick)
I used it and just bought a black light bulb at Lowes. If your leak is too severe, I would not recommend driving it as the leaking oil will move all over the place. I found it helpful to turn off the basemant lights and the leaks were clearly visible with the balck light.
Jim
Jim
Former Vendor
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 7,204
Likes: 6
From: St Marys PA
Re: oil leak tracer? (jimswhite92)
Just put it in and start the car, don't rev it to get it mixed. It only has to run ~5 sec to fully mix.
Then look for leaks with the UV light. I pulled the dipstick out and looked at it frinst to see what I was looking for. Its pretty obvious though. If you can't see any with that little bit of run time, try to start it up and let it idle for a while, see if that prevokes the leak. If it doesn't then have someone rev the car while in idle up to ~2500-3000RPM in a cyclic manner, again watching. If that doesn't do it then you may have to take out and run it hard. The problem with that is it goes everywere and once again is hard to find the source.
I found my leak in about 5 minutes using the above mentioned scenerio. I would have never never found it without the dye, it great stuff. If it does get all over, have some brake cleaner around, it will degrease the area and you can start over. You'll find it with the dye, don't worry. Hopefully its was as easy to fix as mine too. Missing bolt :D :bb for an unused accessory mount location.
Good luck, let us know how you make out. If you get a UV light,don't look into the light, and tape off the back of the bulb, closest to your face at a minimum...or get the glasses that block UV light. :eek:
Then look for leaks with the UV light. I pulled the dipstick out and looked at it frinst to see what I was looking for. Its pretty obvious though. If you can't see any with that little bit of run time, try to start it up and let it idle for a while, see if that prevokes the leak. If it doesn't then have someone rev the car while in idle up to ~2500-3000RPM in a cyclic manner, again watching. If that doesn't do it then you may have to take out and run it hard. The problem with that is it goes everywere and once again is hard to find the source.
I found my leak in about 5 minutes using the above mentioned scenerio. I would have never never found it without the dye, it great stuff. If it does get all over, have some brake cleaner around, it will degrease the area and you can start over. You'll find it with the dye, don't worry. Hopefully its was as easy to fix as mine too. Missing bolt :D :bb for an unused accessory mount location.
Good luck, let us know how you make out. If you get a UV light,don't look into the light, and tape off the back of the bulb, closest to your face at a minimum...or get the glasses that block UV light. :eek:
Racer
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 253
Likes: 0
From: Strongsville Ohio
Re: oil leak tracer? (Strick)
We use it frequently in the shop, don't know of anything better. It is also available for the cooling system, transmission, and air conditioning. We buy it at NAPA for about $ 5.00 a bottle.
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 11,672
Likes: 20
From: Lake Wylie SC
Re: oil leak tracer? (Stingray1970)
We use it frequently in the shop, don't know of anything better. It is also available for the cooling system, transmission, and air conditioning. We buy it at NAPA for about $ 5.00 a bottle.
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