Fabio421

I have a MAJOR oil leak that appears to be coming from behind the harmonic balancer. It's hard to tell exactly where it's coming from because of the amount of stuff in the way. I can barely see a black plastic piece with two things thatg look like scres. The oil seems to be coming from there but its really hard to say for sure. What is this black object? Is it just part of th ebelt cover?

The oil leak will happen if you crank the car over for a few seconds or run it for a second and it keeps leaking for a moment after you stop cranking. This is leading me away from the front main seal and more towards the oil pump since the pressure built by the pump would keep it leaking for a moment. The pump is further to the right but it could be running along the top of the flange where the block meets the pan. Does anyone have any detailed pictures of the things in this area so I can start to study how it is laid out?

Thanks.

Fabio421

Thanks Sterling. I'm not running it this way. I drove the car yesterday for less than 2 miles around the neighborhood and lost about 3 1/2 quarts. Theres no way I can drive it this way. It looks like I'm pulling the it apart.

Shark Attack

If it is for sure coming from behind the HB it has to be the main seal. and if you are losing that much. IMO it has to be coming out the pump, main seal or the tube that goes up the front of the 16V engines, but that tube is one the outside of the covers. Good luck... $5 part 10 hours of labor!

linderpat

Now how do you know that Kyle

David L. Lutz

Not sure this pic will help but it does show the locations;

tailpipe

i had the same problem with my 79 gold euro i did all the front seals main oil pump and cam seals last night bought the kits from 928 international new timing belt also took me about 4 hrs to do
does anyone know what those little studs under the HB at the bottom r for i had one that was really loose i just seated it back in the casing didn't seem to do anything except hold that lottle plastic piece?

Adam Geist

The two studs behind the harmonic balancer and under the crankshaft are for the lower idler roller assembly. It's held on the studs by two small washers and c-clips. Depending on the year of your engine, you may have one or two rollers attached to the assembly.

Fabio421

Thanks. This sounds about right.

Does anyone have any info on this tube? Is it steel or plastic? Does it have a fitting on the end or is it some sort of push lock? I won't get a chance to tear it down until later in the week due to a family emergency.

Thanks for all of the responses.

Landseer

When you are inside, take off the cam gears and the covers behind them. There is a seal and big O-ring around each cam shaft, plus, a few thick O-rings in oilway areas that look like the silicon slicks we used to run on the back of Aurora HO slot cars. These can leak a fair amount and can stream down behind the cam covers and emerge near the front main seal. Maybe not so much as you are experiencing, but enough to make a mess themselves.

Also, base of distributor, seal.

If you are going in so deep, consider the extra $30 for these seals.

Shark Attack

the tube is ** I think ** just the oil return tube from the top of the engine. Sometimes the seal leaks at the bottom where it attaches to the top of the oil pan. I doubt this is your issue becasue of how much you are loosing. My money is on the main seal.

Sailmed

Whats behind the harmonic balancer - you ask....

The engine!


You might want to consider a TB party - to be followed by a kart race!

Give me a call if you want a hand......

Sailmed

BTW....
This thread is useless......



without pics,,,,

The tube is simply attached to the hose with a hose clamp - loosen the clamp, pull the hose off, remove two bolts at the base.... You will find a tube that goes into the pan which is sealed with an o-ring.... On G's car - someone had replaced the o-ring with sealer - once we installed the proper o-ring the leak stopped... Of course we changed the front seal too...........

Fabio421

Oh I see. Yeah, I know about that tube. It's not coming from there. I'm sure of that. I would love for that to be the leak but unfortunately it's not. I'll post more when I get into it tomorrow night.

Thanks for the help guys.

Mike, thanks for the offer. I can see this job balloning into a whole bunch of "while you are at it's".

heinrich

front main seal

Sailmed

Fortunatly those "WYAI" only take an extra couple of hours and I've got a $h!t load of proper tools.....
I just have no idea how to use them...