Oil leak at tensioner
 

MY: 1990.
I have a VERY small, oil leak that appears to be coming from the tensioner where it attaches to the block. It is so innocuous and perhaps is not worth addressing. Oil travels from the tensioner, to the rear vertical bolt of the AC bracket and will sometime end up on the bottom of the oil pan.
it manifests itself into a few drops on the floor every month.

about a month ago, I took each tensioner bolt out separately and put some thread sealant on the bolts, but that did not work.

I know this is trivial, but I still don't like it and if there was an easy way to replace the tensioner gasket, assuming that is the issue, I would do it.

ideas?

Could be the oil in the tensioner leaking past the gasket behind the tensioner.

Would it be possible to replace that gasket easily? Because the leak is so minute, it would be easy to ignore for now.

WP/TB and tensioner was done Jan 2016, so I shouldn't have to get into that arena for a while.

I'd leave it alone, till next TB/WP job. It's easy to fill, with the bleeder screws at the front. Just keep an eye on it, so it doesn't become dry.

It can not be serviced w/o removing the tensioner and re-tensioning the T belt.

It will stop leaking once the tensioner is empty :)

So what was used to seal the gasket to the block and tensioner, if nothing, they all leak after time ;)

Leave it alone.

once it stops leaking refill it with STP oil treatment,
it will leak for a longer period of time,
but also hold oil for a longer period of time

Is leaking oil from where the tensioner bolts to the block, or from the oil tensioner itself?
is the oil in the tensioner self contained?

and....how do you add oil to the tensioner? thanks

The tensioner is open at the back, the gasket is what seals it when it's bolted to the engine block. At the front of the tensioner are 2 bleed ports sticking out on each side. Crack them both, and use a cheap oil pump can with plastic tubing, and pump in the oil, STP, till it runs out the other bleeder. Remove the tubing and close the bleed screw. They look sorta like the bleed screws on a brake caliper. Very easy!

why STP? what properties of STP are attractive for this application? why will it leak longer and hold oil longer??

STP, is a lot thicker than gear oil.

I like to put the STP into the tensioner with a visene bottle with the tip drilled out .

I once used an oil can to fill a tensioner and it blew the inner C clip off the sealing area,
and then the oil started running out of the inner boot seal.

Yep take it apart and start over.

The best way I have found to seal the tensioner gasket is with Hondabond 4 or Dribond,
the tensioner will move just a bit on its mounting pad after a few heat cycles.

To fill the tensioner remove both of the bleeder screws, and fill from the port thats closest to the right side fenderwell,
once the oil comes out the port closest to the crank its full,
let it sit for a few mins then install the bleeder screws

What Stan said... and also bear in mind what Dwayne said in his “encyclopedia” TB/WP guide...that it’s easy to blow out the tensioner to block gasket seal with too much fluid pressure while filling. Been there :rolleyes:
Use less pressure and plenty of time while filling.

1. should I open the bleeders and drain off whatever is in there?

2. sounds like "forcing" oil into the bleeder is a bad idea

3 Stan, your visine approach requires squeezing the bottle to force STP into bleeder? but gently?

4 can I just set up a tube from about and gravity feed the bleeder?

It also depends on what year 928, early ones do not have bleeders ;)

I use an old water bottle with a clear plastic hose attached and another clear plastic hose on the drain bleeder into a jar.

Fill and suspend the bottle from the hood (like an IV bottle) and let gravity do its thing, you will need a small hole in the middle of the bottle to let air in (you don't need much oil) no need to fill the bottle up. ;)

Guess it would also work for STP, I just use whatever oil i'm using in the engine.

Dave K