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Engine inspection opinions

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spyderdrifter

10+ Year Contributor
5,267
711
Jul 11, 2009
Somewhere in, Colorado
First off, I just got home from school and gotta be up in 4 hours for work, so please excuse me for not doing a search, although I don't think a search would get me the opinions you guys could have. Please don't beat on me for it. First off, a week ago or so, I noticed coolant seeping from my head gasket area. It wasn't fresh, but more of a build up from a slow leak. But it has traveled all the way down the block. I'm thinking maybe yet another HG :( I will be double-checking for flatness across the block and head decks to see if thats a problem. Second, I have an oil leak now that I can't pin-point. The front case area is covered in a film of oil to include the OFH, OF, and the entire driver side suspension assembly. The oil pan has a little on it as well as even the subframe. Water pump area too. There's no oil coming from the cam seals, I did replace those and have double checked for signs of leaks and found none from those seals. My oil pressure on the stock gauge has been consistent. I know its not as accurate as an aftermarket one like I got, but I don't have the adapter yet to install the sending unit to th OFH so its not operational yet and can only go off of stock for now. I had my car up on the alignment rack at school tonight which is how I got to see the extent of these leaks. I intend to pull the engine out on Saturday so I can thoroughly inspect the engine and find out where this is all coming from. What I'm wanting is opinions on everywhere I can look. I probably overlooked something and need fresh thoughts. Nothing was leaking until after I got over 1,000 miles on the rebuild. I now have almost 2,000 miles. Thanks.
 
first thing I would do is,

wash engine bay down.. go to main spots you notice leaks with coolant/oil,, inspect carefully after cleaning to pin point where actual leaks are coming from.

You say you see certain areas that have leakage well, just start from there. I don't see a sense in asking what other areas to look at right now if you say that there are certain areas with leaks already. Fix those first, than move on.. Especially if that WP is failing
 
The leak area I have noticed having a start point is the coolant. As for the oil, I have no idea where its coming from. The WP better not be failing, its got as many miles as the rest of the new parts. Washing is a good idea though. Will do that first and see how it goes. Also if I wash the engine before pulling it out, should I worry about covering the alternator or justclet it get washed too?
 
Did you check that your water pipe o-ring isn't leaking at the water pump?

Your oil leak could be a couple things. For example, the freeze plug for the front balance shaft, the bolt where the bs tensioner was (if removed), your castle plug o-ring, oil pump pulley seal, ofh gasket, timing cover gasket, the front crank seal.
These are just general ideas. Like mentioned above a quick wash of the area would help.

Did you put a new oil pump/front case on, or reuse the one you had?
Did you port your ofh pressure relief valve for the bse?
 
All o-rings, seals, and gaskets from the head gasket down were replaced. It has a new front case, BSE, rear main seal, front crank seal, etc... The only thing I can think of being a problem is the balance shaft tensioner pulley since I left it in due to not finding a suitable replacement to eliminate the pulley. I made sure the from BS freeze plug was set it well and added rtv to help seal it. I haven't ported the OFH because I didnt know about that prior to installing everything. Will be taking care of it soon though.
 
Oil leaks are frustrating on brand new parts. I used a shorter bolt with rtv where my bs pulley was. The only other thing that would be leaking is the cam seals. I know you said there not, but when they do leak its on the timing belt, and then slings oil everywhere down in that area! Not to mention the oil also destroys your timing belt. Clean up the area with break cleaner and run the car to look for a leak. Good luck lets us know how it works out!
 
Hmmm..... I've seen oil on the timing belt before, bit that was the old belt when my oil pump went out. So far there's none on this one, but I won't rule out the possibility. I'll give everything mentioned a try before I go and needlessly rip the engine back out again.


I know I've read on here somewhere about the specs for a replacement bolt for the BS tensioner pulley. Anyone know where to find this or have the thread pattern/ bolt length handy to post on here?
 
You are awesome my friend. I still got that page saved in my phone and forgot about it. Since re-reading the section for the tensioner bolt, I know I didn't put rtv on it so that itself may be the culprit. If this is true, would it be the reason for oil up on the water pump too?


Well that size is at least a good start.
 
If the oil is coming in contact with your timing belt then yes. The exhaust cam seal also leaks oil on the water pump. I know this cause mine is leaking after a fresh rebuild. I wanted to replace them before I put the timing belt on, and somehow it slipped my mind.:ohdamn:
 
It too slipped my mind right after my rebuild, so the last time I swapped the HG I took advantage of the opportunity and swapped out the cam seals. I'll check the ribbed aide of the t-belt for oil, didn't cross my mind to check that out before. Just looked at the smooth side.
 
Check all your front cover bolts. I had a few that were loose on the car I got now. I used carb cleaner to clean all the oil off. I don't like spraying water all over my engine.
 
Since you did a BSE, I would check the tention on the timing belt.

If it is too tight, you can tweek the oil pump stubby shaft and deform the lip seal there.
 
Just to throw this out there, but when you have an oil leak, look for the CLEANEST area around the leak, and that is where your leak is coming from. Find that, and you will find your oil like.
 
Sounds simple enough, although my experience with oil leaks is the leak is oily too. Regardless, I'll look around more before the engine wash and make a mental note if there is a spot like that and compare after engine wash.
 
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