snakepitt1

I need to check for oil leak points on my 1973 911T, 2.4L MFI. I just installed a new MFI cam seal and believe that this was the only leak point. BUT, once I install the heat exchanger, this area will be covered. My question is this... If I start the engine with out the right side heat exchanger installed, and run the engine this way for a couple of minutes to either verify no oil leaks or find the source of an undiscovered leak, will this damage the engine? I just would hate to get everything bolted back up only to find that the leak still exists or is coming from another spot covered up by the heat exchanger.
I am finishing up the work this weekend.
Thanks,
Scott
Bessemer, Alabama (just outside of Birmingham)

Peter Zimmermann

Scott: Put it together BEFORE you start it.
Pete

snakepitt1

I am not proposing to run the motor for more than one ( 1 ) minute. This is how long it took before for the oil leak to start. I simply need to circulate the oil to recheck for leaks which would not normally be visable behind the heat exchanger. I also thought about putting in that special dye into the oil that makes finding leaks with the special light and tinted glasses easy. Anyone ever try this stuff? I do not believe it would cause damage to the engine or weaken the oil. Once the leaks (if any) are found the oil would be changed anyway.

DGaunt

If you are talking about running the engine w/o any exhaust on one side, i would be concnered about where the hot gasses would exit the engine compartment, perhaps buring some paint/wires on the way. I did start my 2.7 'bare' after a rebuild to check for leaks, but did not drive it. It was on stands and we ran it for about 5 minutes and looked for leaks. That seemed to be OK.

RoninLB

I'm with Pete on this one. No exhaust = a good chance of burned exhaust valves.