I have a 95 with 109k miles. I have had an oil leak - only a few drops everytime I drive. I cleaned the gunk from under the engine and tranny and noticed the bolts that run down the center of the engine (looks like they hold 2 halves of the aluminum crankcase) were loose. I proceeded to tighten them by hand and it appears to dramatically cut down the rate of oil loss. Now I have a leak close to the trans to engine interface (maybe main bearing seal?) but much smaller than before. I need to know what torque to set these 13 mm bolts. I get real nervous with steel bolts in aluminum for good reason.

Also, on the drivers side near the back of the car, there is what appears to be a black plastic tank that feeds what I presume is oil into the crankcase. Can you help me identify what this is (heat exchanger?) and what torque the 10 mm bolts should be that hold this together? I notice these are loose as well.

Maybe wishful thinking, but Im thinking that this may - at the very least - postpone dropping the engine - especially since it runs so well!

 

You're lucky I had my manuals sitting on my lap.


You need 18 ft/lbs on those badboys.

Hope this helps slow your leak. I wonder how they came loose? I'd go buy new loc-nuts and put 'em on.

 

Thanks! The bolts were not as loose as I originally thought. I over torqued them by hand. I backed them off and set the M13s to 18 ft-lbs. The result was that the bolts were tighter than original, but not by much.

Any idea on the M10s? I have no idea what the housing is, but its on both sides of the block and the leaking one is on the drivers side.

Thanks,
TJ

 

Could you take a picture, I'm trying to visualize.

 

The M10 bolts are shown in the pic. The "tanks" are located on both sides of the ctrankcase. They are located toward the rear of the car just above and ahead of the exhaust manifold. Each M10 bolt have some elastomeric washer that fasten a plate to oil tank of some sort. After running the engine these plates get very hot. I tightened them down and now they are not leaking like before.

Can you tell me what these are called?

Thanks for all your help before. TJ90

 

Those are your timing chain covers. Be careful in trying to tighten them any more than they are, especially if they are as dry as they appear. Sometimes best to leave them alone.