mtnman82

I've had a fairly serious oil leak since I bought my toy (one of a few surprises ... not a real honest seller - hi Mike if you're out there). I'm finally making some time to take care of it(them), and am planning on posting pics and such to help others in need down the road. The pics below are of the mess underneath just from getting it up on the ramps n the driveway; and a couple after I degreased and then parked on the ramps in my garage.

It would appear I have two leaks. One leak is coming from right below the crakshaft (so somewhere above that) and another that seems to trace back up to somewhere around the housing the oil filter screws onto.

I was planning on following the Clarks Garage manual for replacing the timing belts to get to the front seals. I was going to look at/for the leak by the oil filter after I've got the rest of that stuff off. Would this be the correct approach?

I'm also going to replace the belts while I'm there too (done ~24K miles ago, so what the hey ...). Should I just go ahead and get front end reseal and belt kits? Or find the leak, fix just that and leave the rest of the seals alone? Where's the best place to get seal/belt kits?

On the note of belt jobs, I have an '89, and I've read I have an automatic tensioner. Is this correct? Going through the receipts I have, it looks like the belts have been replaced 2 (maybe 3, don't remember) and the receipts mention having the belts re-tensioned in 1000-2000 miles. Is this necessary? If so, I was thinking of getting one of the tensioners from Arnworks(sp?). Any comments on those (I've read a few positive comments)?

I've got a lot going on(pretty full schedule and 3 kids), plus I still need to order/receive all my parts, so I know this isn't going to get done in short order. BUT, I want to minimize down time, so hopefully this won't take months. Ideally I'll be up plenty before Christmas, so I can ask Santa for some Vitesse goodies .

..

35thSLP

Whe I bought my car I replaced the belts, water pump Thermostat, front seals, and rollers all at once. You will be in there, getting there is not pleasant and you won't want o treturn anytime soon. do it all while you are there. the only ting I regret not doing is the oil cooler seals. I shold have doen them at the same time. Mine aren't leaking, but as soon as they do I will be sick about it.

Techno Duck

I just recently did the belts on my n/a 944. But all is relative in this area pretty much.

I bought everything through Paragon-Products.com . Great prices. They have everything you need to do the belts and waterpump. They also have a front end reseal kit for about $80 i think.

Your '89 car does have the automatic spring tensioner. This is only useful for setting initial tension. You should defenetley check the tension of the belt still using the Porsche tool, or the Arnnworx tensioner you mentioned. I ended up just checking the tension using the Kricket gauge which is a bit cheaper, but i will likely get ArnnWorx's other gauge for peace of mind in the future.

The belts need to be retensioned at 1500 and 15000 intervals due to stretching of the rubber belts.

And i agree with 3thSLP. Get everything done while you have the front end apart. You dont want to take everything apart after 500 miles to replace the oil seals you neglected. Or like my first time having to take everything apart because i didnt torque down the waterpump correctly. I had everything back together...filled with antifreeze and it leaked pretty much everything i poured in out. Stupid me!

Clarks-Garage is a great resource for the belt job, its what i used my first time around. In total it took me about 13 hours the first time doing it. Most of that was spent taking my time and dropping nuts nad bolts into hard to reach places. I have since done this 3-times and have it down to about 6 hours.

35thSLP

Yep I agree with Techno Duck, Arnnworx is the source for the tools and the latest belt tension tool he makes is great!

mtnman82

Thanks guys. Hopefully I'll be adding to this thread before the end of the week - meaning that I've torn into it enough to warrant more pic's.

I am curious: The metal housing the oil filter screws onto looks like it is bolted to the engine assy. Is this the oil pump? and I assume there are seals between it and the engine, which might be the source of that leak?

35thSLP - you mention oil cooler seals. Isn't the oil cooler up in the front of the car, w/hoses running to it? Are you talking the seals (o-rings?) for the hoses at the engine end? Or are these other seals I should be replacing (like around the oil filter)?

If I'm going to be replacing everything, should I just go ahead and order the kit(s)/parts now, while I'm taking stuff apart? Just call Paragon and tell them I need the timing/balance belt kit, water pump , & front end re-seal kits? Is there anything else I'll be needing? Any special water pump I should be getting? Or special anything for that matter - I usually like to get the 'good stuff' if there's a choice.

Thanks again for the help!

theedge

The oil filter housing youre referring to is usually called the oil cooler. Mostly a leftover term from the N/As, since they had a little heat exchanger in there that cooled the oil with coolant. For 951s, the oil goes to the air/oil unit up front. The housing that has the oil filter is still a frequent source of leaks and aggravation. The reseal kit for it is $50-60USD, so it would be a good idea to just do it proactivly since it should be easier to get at while doing all the other seals. Order the OPRV Alignment Tool as well, its about $18 and itll make it easier to align the valve.

Looking at your pictures, id say the lower balance shaft housing is DEFINATLY leaking, and the crankshaft is probably leaking.

Another thing to get is some new front sway bar bushings. In the first pic the one on the left is looking pretty swollen (oil leaks cause that) and it will start falling apart at some point. The bushings are pretty cheap. Other things to order will be a new drive gear for the oil pump. It sits behind the big bolt on the crankshaft. Also the two spacers for the balance shafts. Those three things each have an oil seal that spins on them, so they can eventually get a little groove worn in them, and result in an oil leak even with new seals. None of them are very expensive. What im saying will make more sense once you see them, dont worry

Big E

Make life easy on yourself and call Paragon and just tell them you want to change the belts, reseal the front end, etc. Waa-laa, a few days later a box will arrive with all the parts you need and none that you don't.

Techno Duck

I would wait until you get all the parts to take it apart. Sure you may save some time, but you also may forget how everything goes back together! (though its all pretty straight foward).

I forgot to mention, i defenetley recommend buying the other tools that Arnnworx makes, such as the 23mm offset wrench, pin wrench and flywheel lock. You could do without the 23mm offset...but honestly it makes life so much easier setting the balance belt tension. The pin wrench is almost absolutley necesary also to get those sprockets tensioned again.

Another tool you are going to need that is not exactly common in every tool box is a 23mm or 15/16 deepsocket for the crank pulley. You will need that to set TDC. A breaker bar is very helpful to take that bolt off as well (its torqued to like 150+ lbs). The last thing i can think of is a gear puller, not everyone needed it, but i could not have gotten off the crank pulley without one.

Eyal 951

the oil cooler housing reseal kit is more like 30 bucks, not 60. worth doing while you are in there, however it is most likely not your source of the leak. Coolent is a lot more likely to lean from there. I would go a step above, to something thats quite common for leaking, the cam tower gasket. take a look at that, its probably your source.
Just some patience and cussing, I've done all those jobs.
~Eyal

Slider 951

As long as you're re-sealing the balance shafts etc. check the seals at the rear of the balance shaft housings. Mine were so loose they actually rattled when touched. Not much of an oil leak, but a huge vacuum leak causing C.O. readings off the charts. This job is a Huge PITA with the engine in the car but now's the time... if it's needed. Good Luck.

mtnman82

Slider - does that involve pulling the torque tube/clutch assy?

Anybody else with tips/suggestions on parts/tools? I'm driving kids on a field trip from o'dark in the morning to o'dark in the evening tomorrow, but I'm making a list of stuff from this thread and will order stuff from Paragon and Arnworx on Friday.

I saw Tom M'Guinn's post on the 'oil leaks near oil filter' thread - that might come in handy. Looks like quite a pain to get that housing off to reseal..... Thanks for the write-up Tom!

35thSLP

Does not involve pulling the torque tube / clutch assy.

mtnman82

So, I asked about where to find the OPRV tool on another thread (should have done it here) and got several suggestions, including Baum tools. When I went there, I found some other tools that look like they migh tbe needed to do this job - namely the seal pullers/drivers. Do I need these, or can I get by without them? If I don't have them, what's the best way to pull/install the seals? FYI - in the other thread wher I asked about where to get the OPRV, it was suggested that I contact Arnnworx directly, as they may have it, just not on their site. And another suggestion was ZDmax. Little behind the curve here on ordering my parts/tools, but I intend to have it done this morning. Hopefully I'll have parts and start pulling things apart this weekend .....

Sam Lin

No need for the pullers or drivers if you have a decent assortment of picks and sockets. Some of them it's easy if you have a 90-degree drill head so you can drill a small hole in the seal and thread in a coarse screw, and yank the seal out by using pliers on the screw and pulling. I've never damaged a seal face or marred any part drilling, but it could happen.

Incidentally, the OPRV tool isn't really necessary if you have a sense of feel for how the valve is oriented when you're tightening the filter mount bolts.

Sam

hosrom_951

If you are going to chage the oil cooler seals, i would spend an extra $50 or so on a new oil cooler thermostat.