jarroyo

Well during the next couple of weeks I'mm going to be performing some basic maintanance and repairs that have been neglected by the P.O. . One of them being making my engine hold the oil I put in it. I was wondering what everyones experiences have been with oil leaks, where they commonly come from and what to look for in particular. Also am interested in any tricks to keeping them to a minimal. Thanks in advance.

Richard S

Pulling the motor? Cam towers (gasket to head and rear camshaft cover gasket) are notorious leakers, as well as the oil pan gasket. Can be done with motor in, but much easier with it out. Front seals (crank, oil pump, camshafts) easy when changing timing belt. Also check oil filler neck, this can leak oil into valley.

Rich

SharkSkin

I bought myself a little time on the oil pan gasket by gently torquing all of the bolts, watching to make sure I didn't squeeze the gasket too much. If you're lucky, you can get it to hold together until you need to get in there for something else.

jarroyo

Ummm yeah, pulling the motor is not an option here unless absolutely necessary.

Richard S

OK, then the easiest gaskets to get to are the ones on the rear cam towers and the oil filler neck. As mentioned, if you do the timing belt do the front seals. If you are brave, you can remove the cam towers (if they are leaking of course) when you do the belt. It can be done with the motor in, but is a bitch. I can do it in a weekend, but it sucks. Did I mention it sucks? I know the pan gasket can be done with motor in car, but I have no experience with that. If you decide to do the cam towers, there is a lot of info posted here, do a search or ask for help.

Rich

jarroyo

Thanks alot, My bastard boss is making me work sunday night so I'm gonna be a day short on working on the car this weekend. Looks like th eoil leaks will have to wait till next weekend. But I will be able to do the trans flush, and finish my one-piece dash. So the weekend isn't a total loss.