Finally no more oil leaks!
Finally no more oil leaks!
I could not get belts today since the stores were closed, but I needed to replace the alt belts which were in very rough shape, fortunately I had some good belts on another engine.
Atleast I did not spend my entire 4th of July working on stuff, I actually had a "normal" day with family and friends.
Question- how the hell do you lock the crank when dealing with the balancer bolt?? I saw no mention of any special tool, the Haynes said to "Hammer in a punch". I was able to to do it with a big prybar lodged in a way that was somehwat safe, but it did not feel good - definitely not the right way to do it, glad i did not break anything 200+lb is alot, took a big cheater bar to loosen the damn thing.
Should these bolts be checked? are they prone to loosening?
Now that is a sound I can do with out!
GileadGarage
07-05-2009, 09:32 PM #1I noticed that my oil leak problems did not "heal" while the car was off the road for 6 mo. After trying to locate the leaks while the car was on ramps in the shop last night, I decided to dive in to the front main seal job at 11 PM. I had the new seal in and balancer back on by 3AM, then staggered back out to finish the job the next morning. Everything went OK and finally it seems to be leak free after repairing numerous leaks over time (none of which easy with the engine in the car!). Hopefully I will not have the oil film on my tailgate after a long drive anymore.
I could not get belts today since the stores were closed, but I needed to replace the alt belts which were in very rough shape, fortunately I had some good belts on another engine.
Atleast I did not spend my entire 4th of July working on stuff, I actually had a "normal" day with family and friends.
Question- how the hell do you lock the crank when dealing with the balancer bolt?? I saw no mention of any special tool, the Haynes said to "Hammer in a punch". I was able to to do it with a big prybar lodged in a way that was somehwat safe, but it did not feel good - definitely not the right way to do it, glad i did not break anything 200+lb is alot, took a big cheater bar to loosen the damn thing.
Should these bolts be checked? are they prone to loosening?
Now that is a sound I can do with out!
(07-05-2009, 09:32 PM)GileadGarage Question- how the hell do you lock the crank when dealing with the balancer bolt?I use a prybar on the flywheel theeth for an automatic and put the tranny in 4th for a manual.
Quote:Should these bolts be checked? are they prone to loosening?Definitely yes! Check it after the first day of driving and then the next week. Loctite should have been used too. A loose dampener will trash the crankshaft in short order.
Now that is a sound I can do with out!
ForcedInduction
07-06-2009, 12:03 AM
#2
(07-05-2009, 09:32 PM)GileadGarage Question- how the hell do you lock the crank when dealing with the balancer bolt?I use a prybar on the flywheel theeth for an automatic and put the tranny in 4th for a manual.
Quote:Should these bolts be checked? are they prone to loosening?Definitely yes! Check it after the first day of driving and then the next week. Loctite should have been used too. A loose dampener will trash the crankshaft in short order.
Now that is a sound I can do with out!
(07-06-2009, 12:03 AM)ForcedInduction(07-05-2009, 09:32 PM)GileadGarage Question- how the hell do you lock the crank when dealing with the balancer bolt?I use a prybar on the flywheel theeth for an automatic and put the tranny in 4th for a manual.
Quote:Should these bolts be checked? are they prone to loosening?Definitely yes! Check it after the first day of driving and then the next week. Loctite should have been used too. A loose dampener will trash the crankshaft in short order.
Now that is a sound I can do with out!
Good to know, Thanks. I'd like to avoid destroying the crank. I know that happens on VW's alot.
My Oil leak persists - I drove it to work today and noticed some spots on the ground, pissed me off like crazy. I already did the turbo drain tube Orings/grommet but it still looks like it is on that side. Maybe its the VC leaking down, but I sure do not know why, it on there tight and right as far as I can tell, and has a brand new gasket. Maybe it's something with the breather tube into upper pan? I'm not sure if these use a similar grommet. The oil all ends up under the bellhousing area, wind always plays tricks when diagnosing oil leaks, but who knows maybe it does need a Rr main seal.
This car has leaked since day 1 . I did pretty much every seal/gasket I could with the engine still in car. I was trying to hold out untill I put the other (completely resealed) motor in, but it'll be a while till that happens so I'm gonna go after the leak. I'd really like to try a smoke machine, I'm running out of tricks here. Atleast it is pretty clean underneath now so I may be able to better see where its from. I'll go through all the oil leak posts again, I can't be the only one with chronic oil leak problems.
I thought I had it too!!!
GileadGarage
07-06-2009, 07:03 PM #3(07-06-2009, 12:03 AM)ForcedInduction(07-05-2009, 09:32 PM)GileadGarage Question- how the hell do you lock the crank when dealing with the balancer bolt?I use a prybar on the flywheel theeth for an automatic and put the tranny in 4th for a manual.
Quote:Should these bolts be checked? are they prone to loosening?Definitely yes! Check it after the first day of driving and then the next week. Loctite should have been used too. A loose dampener will trash the crankshaft in short order.
Now that is a sound I can do with out!
Good to know, Thanks. I'd like to avoid destroying the crank. I know that happens on VW's alot.
My Oil leak persists - I drove it to work today and noticed some spots on the ground, pissed me off like crazy. I already did the turbo drain tube Orings/grommet but it still looks like it is on that side. Maybe its the VC leaking down, but I sure do not know why, it on there tight and right as far as I can tell, and has a brand new gasket. Maybe it's something with the breather tube into upper pan? I'm not sure if these use a similar grommet. The oil all ends up under the bellhousing area, wind always plays tricks when diagnosing oil leaks, but who knows maybe it does need a Rr main seal.
This car has leaked since day 1 . I did pretty much every seal/gasket I could with the engine still in car. I was trying to hold out untill I put the other (completely resealed) motor in, but it'll be a while till that happens so I'm gonna go after the leak. I'd really like to try a smoke machine, I'm running out of tricks here. Atleast it is pretty clean underneath now so I may be able to better see where its from. I'll go through all the oil leak posts again, I can't be the only one with chronic oil leak problems.
I thought I had it too!!!
(07-06-2009, 07:03 PM)GileadGarage The oil all ends up under the bellhousing area, wind always plays tricks when diagnosing oil leaks, but who knows maybe it does need a Rr main seal.
Thats not a fun one. The first two steps are 1: Remove engine. 2: Remove crankshaft.
No joke.
ForcedInduction
07-06-2009, 07:18 PM
#4
(07-06-2009, 07:03 PM)GileadGarage The oil all ends up under the bellhousing area, wind always plays tricks when diagnosing oil leaks, but who knows maybe it does need a Rr main seal.
Thats not a fun one. The first two steps are 1: Remove engine. 2: Remove crankshaft.
No joke.
How common is a Rr main leak? I don't recall hearing much about it.
I wonder if any of that oil leak stop crap is worth a try so we can use the car through the summer, and put off the seal replacement for now (if it does turn out to be a Rr main). When I get home tonight from work (at around midnight), I'm pulling it in the shop, I don't care what feel like tomorrow at 7AM. I need to know what my fate is. I cleaned the engine well, so I think I'll be able to see any other possibility. Always something lately, I've been cursed.
I love how the manuals make it sound so easy!
THX for the reply,
GileadGarage
07-06-2009, 09:31 PM #5Yea, I know. I'm still optimistic that I am missing something else, like maybe the turbo drain set up is leaking again playing tricks on me (the other motor will be getting a hose made up, maybe I'll get on that now). Unfortunately though, I get alot of oil dripping from the bellhousing and I can't really see how the hell it could get in there by wind.
How common is a Rr main leak? I don't recall hearing much about it.
I wonder if any of that oil leak stop crap is worth a try so we can use the car through the summer, and put off the seal replacement for now (if it does turn out to be a Rr main). When I get home tonight from work (at around midnight), I'm pulling it in the shop, I don't care what feel like tomorrow at 7AM. I need to know what my fate is. I cleaned the engine well, so I think I'll be able to see any other possibility. Always something lately, I've been cursed.
I love how the manuals make it sound so easy!
THX for the reply,
(07-06-2009, 09:31 PM)GileadGarage I wonder if any of that oil leak stop crap is worth a try
Thats exactly what it is.
ForcedInduction
07-06-2009, 09:33 PM
#6
(07-06-2009, 09:31 PM)GileadGarage I wonder if any of that oil leak stop crap is worth a try
Thats exactly what it is.
(07-06-2009, 09:33 PM)ForcedInduction(07-06-2009, 09:31 PM)GileadGarage I wonder if any of that oil leak stop crap is worth a try
Thats exactly what it is.
Yea, I thought you'd think so, nobody likes it, I don't either but I'm getting desperate.
GileadGarage
07-06-2009, 09:36 PM #7(07-06-2009, 09:33 PM)ForcedInduction(07-06-2009, 09:31 PM)GileadGarage I wonder if any of that oil leak stop crap is worth a try
Thats exactly what it is.
Yea, I thought you'd think so, nobody likes it, I don't either but I'm getting desperate.
Yea, I know. I'm still optimistic that I am missing something else, like maybe the turbo drain set up is leaking again playing tricks on me (the other motor will be getting a hose made up, maybe I'll get on that now). Unfortunately though, I get alot of oil dripping from the bellhousing and I can't really see how the hell it could get in there by wind.
How common is a Rr main leak? I don't recall hearing much about it.
I wonder if any of that oil leak stop crap is worth a try so we can use the car through the summer, and put off the seal replacement for now (if it does turn out to be a Rr main). When I get home tonight from work (at around midnight), I'm pulling it in the shop, I don't care what feel like tomorrow at 7AM. I need to know what my fate is. I cleaned the engine well, so I think I'll be able to see any other possibility. Always something lately, I've been cursed.
So I replaced the breather drain tube O ring, it was leaking there (I obviously should have replaced this when I did the turbo drain).
It appears that the oil was going back along the upperpan and making its way to the bottom of bellhousing. I may have a small Rr main leak, but I am finding oil from above and forward so I'm not going to get worried about it yet.
Even with the oil leak I noticed at work, it did not have the film of oil on the back the way it did, it did need the Fr main seal so atleast that job was not in vein.
My commute to work is 45 miles, and I'm usually running late driving the hills flat out 75MPH, if there is a leak I'll know when I get to work.
If any leakage persists, I'm gonna try mounting a pan under it and line it with some sorbent pads, just untill I have the time to do the swap.
.
GileadGarage
07-07-2009, 12:33 PM #8[quote='GileadGarage' pid='4588' dateline='1246933878']
Yea, I know. I'm still optimistic that I am missing something else, like maybe the turbo drain set up is leaking again playing tricks on me (the other motor will be getting a hose made up, maybe I'll get on that now). Unfortunately though, I get alot of oil dripping from the bellhousing and I can't really see how the hell it could get in there by wind.
How common is a Rr main leak? I don't recall hearing much about it.
I wonder if any of that oil leak stop crap is worth a try so we can use the car through the summer, and put off the seal replacement for now (if it does turn out to be a Rr main). When I get home tonight from work (at around midnight), I'm pulling it in the shop, I don't care what feel like tomorrow at 7AM. I need to know what my fate is. I cleaned the engine well, so I think I'll be able to see any other possibility. Always something lately, I've been cursed.
So I replaced the breather drain tube O ring, it was leaking there (I obviously should have replaced this when I did the turbo drain).
It appears that the oil was going back along the upperpan and making its way to the bottom of bellhousing. I may have a small Rr main leak, but I am finding oil from above and forward so I'm not going to get worried about it yet.
Even with the oil leak I noticed at work, it did not have the film of oil on the back the way it did, it did need the Fr main seal so atleast that job was not in vein.
My commute to work is 45 miles, and I'm usually running late driving the hills flat out 75MPH, if there is a leak I'll know when I get to work.
If any leakage persists, I'm gonna try mounting a pan under it and line it with some sorbent pads, just untill I have the time to do the swap.
.
GREASY_BEAST
07-07-2009, 03:12 PM #9I had a dead bug under the valve cover gasket way in the back. The oil ran down the back of the block, through the bell, and out the bottom. It wasn't much oil, but enough to be annoying. I swore it must be a rear main seal and believed it too until the next valve adjustment. Are you 100% its not a valvecover gasket leak?
(07-07-2009, 03:12 PM)GREASY_BEAST I had a dead bug under the valve cover gasket way in the back. The oil ran down the back of the block, through the bell, and out the bottom. It wasn't much oil, but enough to be annoying. I swore it must be a rear main seal and believed it too until the next valve adjustment. Are you 100% its not a valvecover gasket leak?
I will quadruple check, but i looked up at it today from the bottom while running and could not see any leakage. You know how it goes though, those VC's are really hard to seal sometimes. When you install the VC, how the heck do you get all the oil off the gasket surface? I;d wipe it away and it'd just come back before i could get the vc on. Probably does not matter much, but I'd think it should be dry.
I have never had so many oil leak problems, with an MBZ or any other car. it had them since day 1.
I think I'm doing OK, progress has been made. Its hard to see any leaks in the pouring rain today, but the rainbow is alot smaller now.
Are you sure that bug was dead?
I'll know more tomorrow.
GileadGarage
07-07-2009, 08:56 PM #10(07-07-2009, 03:12 PM)GREASY_BEAST I had a dead bug under the valve cover gasket way in the back. The oil ran down the back of the block, through the bell, and out the bottom. It wasn't much oil, but enough to be annoying. I swore it must be a rear main seal and believed it too until the next valve adjustment. Are you 100% its not a valvecover gasket leak?
I will quadruple check, but i looked up at it today from the bottom while running and could not see any leakage. You know how it goes though, those VC's are really hard to seal sometimes. When you install the VC, how the heck do you get all the oil off the gasket surface? I;d wipe it away and it'd just come back before i could get the vc on. Probably does not matter much, but I'd think it should be dry.
I have never had so many oil leak problems, with an MBZ or any other car. it had them since day 1.
I think I'm doing OK, progress has been made. Its hard to see any leaks in the pouring rain today, but the rainbow is alot smaller now.
Are you sure that bug was dead?
I'll know more tomorrow.
I also have a continuous leak from the valve cover gasket. I had so much oil running down the bell housing that I thought my diff was leaking as well, the entire underside of the car was completely soaked with oil. On the plus side, it will never rust, a good thing where I am, and one of the reasons I have never cleaned it off.
It was really frustrating because sometimes it would leak a LOT, then stop when I refilled it. After I owned the car for a bit it started to show up in cycles, like every 2000 miles it would dump quarts of motor oil, especially on road trips with continuous driving. It was so bad a couple of times I had a thick sheen on the rear window.
From what I was told by an old school benz mechanic, the car has a little bit high rate of blowby, pressurizing the valve cover, and the oil crank case ventilation setup was not handling the increased pressure properly. Every time I opened the oil cap to refill it after leaking, I relieved the pressure and it would stop leaking. Drove me insane trying to figure out what was happening.
His suggestion and my practice has been to open the cap every time I stop for fuel which has almost eliminated the leak for the last 12000 miles. Its just down to the standard couple of drips over 12 hours instead of a quart in 2 hours.
Probably unrelated, but I did go through about 6 valve cover gaskets trying to stop the leak.
1974 240D 617 turbo swap, W201 5-speed, in the works project
1983 240D 616 stock, DD
1989 Chevy Astro, 617 turbo swap, T5 5-speed, 4.56 diff, work van
Whats the mileage on the car?
I also have a continuous leak from the valve cover gasket. I had so much oil running down the bell housing that I thought my diff was leaking as well, the entire underside of the car was completely soaked with oil. On the plus side, it will never rust, a good thing where I am, and one of the reasons I have never cleaned it off.
It was really frustrating because sometimes it would leak a LOT, then stop when I refilled it. After I owned the car for a bit it started to show up in cycles, like every 2000 miles it would dump quarts of motor oil, especially on road trips with continuous driving. It was so bad a couple of times I had a thick sheen on the rear window.
From what I was told by an old school benz mechanic, the car has a little bit high rate of blowby, pressurizing the valve cover, and the oil crank case ventilation setup was not handling the increased pressure properly. Every time I opened the oil cap to refill it after leaking, I relieved the pressure and it would stop leaking. Drove me insane trying to figure out what was happening.
His suggestion and my practice has been to open the cap every time I stop for fuel which has almost eliminated the leak for the last 12000 miles. Its just down to the standard couple of drips over 12 hours instead of a quart in 2 hours.
Probably unrelated, but I did go through about 6 valve cover gaskets trying to stop the leak.
1974 240D 617 turbo swap, W201 5-speed, in the works project
1983 240D 616 stock, DD
1989 Chevy Astro, 617 turbo swap, T5 5-speed, 4.56 diff, work van
(07-09-2009, 10:07 AM)dropnosky Whats the mileage on the car?
I also have a continuous leak from the valve cover gasket. I had so much oil running down the bell housing that I thought my diff was leaking as well, the entire underside of the car was completely soaked with oil. On the plus side, it will never rust, a good thing where I am, and one of the reasons I have never cleaned it off.
It was really frustrating because sometimes it would leak a LOT, then stop when I refilled it. After I owned the car for a bit it started to show up in cycles, like every 2000 miles it would dump quarts of motor oil, especially on road trips with continuous driving. It was so bad a couple of times I had a thick sheen on the rear window.
From what I was told by an old school benz mechanic, the car has a little bit high rate of blowby, pressurizing the valve cover, and the oil crank case ventilation setup was not handling the increased pressure properly. Every time I opened the oil cap to refill it after leaking, I relieved the pressure and it would stop leaking. Drove me insane trying to figure out what was happening.
His suggestion and my practice has been to open the cap every time I stop for fuel which has almost eliminated the leak for the last 12000 miles. Its just down to the standard couple of drips over 12 hours instead of a quart in 2 hours.
Probably unrelated, but I did go through about 6 valve cover gaskets trying to stop the leak.
My car does have some blowby, always has, but the breather is connected back to the intake pipe (have a K&N filter setup), positive crankcase psi should be minimal as a result(?).
Yea, the bottom of my car has been soaked too, which is good where I live as well (but it's no longer used in winter now anyway). The leaks are much better now, at an acceptable level until I install the "new" motor. I'll know exactley how much better when I park it on my Inlaws new asphalt after a 7Hr drive! I usually bring an old floor mat to put under the car, which helped for about 2 feet of the drips! Its alot better now though.
I'll check the VC again, They sure are touchy, I don't understand why, it must come down to proper torque and cleanliness, but it sure is hard to clean the gasket area! There is some oil coming from drivers side which appears to be IP, but its no big deal - I believe the major leaks or fixed well enough for now, it did need the Fr main seal and drain tube seals.
To date I have replaced the following to stop the leaks: Vac pump gasket, oilfilter housing gasket, vc gasket many times, turbo drain grommet/orings/check valve, breather tube orings ,fr main seal, breather hoses, pan gasket.
So you have been cracking the filler cap and the leak would stop? I had to open mine frequently given the mileage I drive and the leak I had, and it did not seem to have an effect.
246K, was a well maintained car (and still is) Maybe it was overheated or run low on oil at somepoint. It does have more blowby then I think it should. Sure runs well though.
One time I bought a 79 TD (Ebay disaster) from NC. I was driving it back to VT 6 mos later (long saga) and it pissed out about 10 gallons of oil on the 1000 mile trip! it was pouring rain the whole way and people behind me were pissed!
GileadGarage
07-09-2009, 06:39 PM #12(07-09-2009, 10:07 AM)dropnosky Whats the mileage on the car?
I also have a continuous leak from the valve cover gasket. I had so much oil running down the bell housing that I thought my diff was leaking as well, the entire underside of the car was completely soaked with oil. On the plus side, it will never rust, a good thing where I am, and one of the reasons I have never cleaned it off.
It was really frustrating because sometimes it would leak a LOT, then stop when I refilled it. After I owned the car for a bit it started to show up in cycles, like every 2000 miles it would dump quarts of motor oil, especially on road trips with continuous driving. It was so bad a couple of times I had a thick sheen on the rear window.
From what I was told by an old school benz mechanic, the car has a little bit high rate of blowby, pressurizing the valve cover, and the oil crank case ventilation setup was not handling the increased pressure properly. Every time I opened the oil cap to refill it after leaking, I relieved the pressure and it would stop leaking. Drove me insane trying to figure out what was happening.
His suggestion and my practice has been to open the cap every time I stop for fuel which has almost eliminated the leak for the last 12000 miles. Its just down to the standard couple of drips over 12 hours instead of a quart in 2 hours.
Probably unrelated, but I did go through about 6 valve cover gaskets trying to stop the leak.
My car does have some blowby, always has, but the breather is connected back to the intake pipe (have a K&N filter setup), positive crankcase psi should be minimal as a result(?).
Yea, the bottom of my car has been soaked too, which is good where I live as well (but it's no longer used in winter now anyway). The leaks are much better now, at an acceptable level until I install the "new" motor. I'll know exactley how much better when I park it on my Inlaws new asphalt after a 7Hr drive! I usually bring an old floor mat to put under the car, which helped for about 2 feet of the drips! Its alot better now though.
I'll check the VC again, They sure are touchy, I don't understand why, it must come down to proper torque and cleanliness, but it sure is hard to clean the gasket area! There is some oil coming from drivers side which appears to be IP, but its no big deal - I believe the major leaks or fixed well enough for now, it did need the Fr main seal and drain tube seals.
To date I have replaced the following to stop the leaks: Vac pump gasket, oilfilter housing gasket, vc gasket many times, turbo drain grommet/orings/check valve, breather tube orings ,fr main seal, breather hoses, pan gasket.
So you have been cracking the filler cap and the leak would stop? I had to open mine frequently given the mileage I drive and the leak I had, and it did not seem to have an effect.
246K, was a well maintained car (and still is) Maybe it was overheated or run low on oil at somepoint. It does have more blowby then I think it should. Sure runs well though.
One time I bought a 79 TD (Ebay disaster) from NC. I was driving it back to VT 6 mos later (long saga) and it pissed out about 10 gallons of oil on the 1000 mile trip! it was pouring rain the whole way and people behind me were pissed!
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