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7.0 Fixing oil leak turns into much more

As of 2019, I am in my senior year. I took the summer off from school but kept working my day job. At last I had plenty of free time to tear into the Talon again.

I didn't really have the funds to fix the transmission so I decided to finally address the oil leaks that the car had had since the first day I drove it home. It was never enough of a leak to form a puddle or drip drip drip, but enough of a leak that oil spray coated everything on the timing belt side and dirt and sand steadily built up. Every once in a while I'd jack the car up and wipe everything down. I'd had enough of this mess and decided to tear things apart around the front case to try and see what the root of the problem was.

The cam shaft seals are a usual suspect in this region, but mine were bone dry and still holding strong from when I rebuilt the head a few years back. So I traced the dirty trail piece by piece on the block. The oil filter housing (OFH) was coated in gunk and so was the lower section near the balance shaft belt. Obviously oil was weeping from somewhere and being flung all over the place by the belts and pullies and/or a gasket was bad somewhere.
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The more I pulled apart, the more difficult and uncomfortable it was to work on. With how big the mess was I finally just decided to yank the whole motor out. So my girlfriend fronted me the cash to buy a Harbor Freight engine hoist and stand (cause she's awesome) and I got to work. Aside from kinking one metal coolant line, the engine removal went smoothly.

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Through it all, I was never able to pinpoint the true oil leak culprit. The timing belt was moist (I love that word) all the way around on its inner side, so it was likely the cause of the spray on places like the water pump and the OFH areas. The balance shaft belt was clean though.
Several spots looked to be the actual leak source. The area behind the tensioner pulley arm was the highest point I found 'wet' oil. Also high on the list of suspects were the two bolts on the right side of the front case. Both bolt's threads were soaked in oil and even farted out a bit of oil when I removed them.
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In addition, the front case gasket was damp with oil all the way around. It was hard to tell if this oil got on the gasket during my disassembly or the gasket had indeed failed and was also leaking oil.
Lastly, the oil pan. Whoever put this on last just globed on the grey RTV. It wasn't sealing or the pan was warped, or maybe both. To get the pan off I used a spackle tool and a mallet. You don't have to go crazy here, use light taps and work your way around slowly to avoid gouging anything.
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7.1 Engine Tear Down, Measuring, and Cleaning
So now I was at a crossroads. I knew the car had some blow-by from the low compression numbers I got every time I tested it.

Test results I got on a hot motor in 2018:
Cylinder #4 - 107
Cylinder #3 - 101
Cylinder #2 - 117
Cylinder #1 - 112

Using .86 to adjust for Colorado elevation I got:
Cylinder #4 - 124
Cylinder #3 - 117
Cylinder #2 - 136
Cylinder #1 – 130

And I always suspected that excessive crankcase pressure was a factor in why there was oil seepage in so many locations. Oil was literally bursting from the seams. The piston rings probably weren't sealing perfectly and running higher than stock boost was probably making it worse. I worried the car would start leaking all over again if I didn't fix the crankcase pressure problem. The previous owner had given me some paperwork showing that the motor had been rebuilt.
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I was always a little skeptical about the rebuild though, as the paperwork said Estimate, the price seemed outrageous, and there was no red PAID stamp anywhere. The vehicle mileage on the estimate is 105k, and it had 168k as of 2019. Also, the block matches the VIN of the car, so who knows?
But, I figured since I had the motor out, why not crack it open and solve these mysteries. The pistons did have the expected carbon and grit buildup along with some evidence of blow-by. The wetness is oil.

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Using a borrowed bore gauge and micrometer (thanks dad) I spent a few hours inspecting the block and recording measurements. This was a slow process for me as I didn't want to rush it. I took probably a hundred measurements in the locations specified in the factory service manual (FSM) and made sure I could repeat results.
Bore measurements concluded that all the cylinders were pretty close to the stock 3.3465" (85mm) range. But cylinders 3 and 4 were out of spec for taper and cylinder 3 was also not in spec for out-of-round. Top to bottom differences were about .0008" instead of the .0004" the FSM states as the limit. This is consistent with my compression test results.
From what I've read, cylinder 3 and 4 are usually in worse shape than 1 and 2 given their distance from the oil pump. Low oil pressure on older cars doesn't help either. I never had an oil pressure gauge to establish a bench mark of what pressure I had, but after 168k miles, I wouldn't be surprised if it were on the lower side.

So I probably could have gotten away with just throwing on some new piston rings, honing the cylinders with a dingleberry hone, and bolting it all back up. The rings would probably never quite seal and I would have blow-by again eventually.
Instead I decided to go with a mild overhaul that would include:
  • Bore out cylinders to the next size 3.3662" (85.5mm) and hone
  • Hot tank block
  • Use .020" oversize pistons on the old 6 bolt rods
  • Balance rotating assembly (crank, pistons, rods, flywheel, clutch PP, and harmonic balancer)
  • New main journal and rod bearings
  • Balance shaft eliminator kit
  • All new seals and gaskets
So in preparation for the machine shop and while I waited for parts to arrive, I measured out the crankshaft journals. The hardened nitrate coating on the journals had held up as the crank was still in spec.
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Also spent a couple hours detailing the block using degreaser, some mineral spirits, soap/water, a butter knife, and a wire brush. The block had a thick coat of oily grit all around the base. It took some extra effort using a compressor, a Harbor Freight sprayer, and a half gallon of mineral spirits. With this super duper parts cleaner that works on a budget (thanks to Jafro for the idea) I got it looking passable. I know the hot tanking process will remove all of this, but I'd rather just get it now, rather than have my block floating in it later.

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My always enthusiastic helper

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If your measurements are correct, I'd skip the 0.020 over. Especially if there is no ridge. You might not make it any better.

There's no ridge on the cylinder wall that I can feel. Hard to see in this photo, but the top area is as smooth as the rest of the cylinder. But won't just doing a hone and no rebore when the taper and out of round are out of spec cause the rings to never seat properly, or is that not the case?

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Since you have the tools to measure the bore. Id go ahead and do .020 over and remeasure the bore after its done to make sure its in spec. If its not in spec after the shop bores it, id have a word with the shop about how much of a crap job they done. But thats just my opinion. Ha
 
Good food for thought! I already got the oversize pistons though, so I'll speak with the machine shop about the tight 4G63 tolerances and see what input they have. If it makes more sense to reuse the old pistons with new rings, I might just have them do a hone.
 
7.2 More cleaning while waiting for parts

While I waited for the block to get back from the shop I spent time cleaning things and also slowly buying up the parts I need. I used a lot of brake cleaner, mineral spirits, wire brushes, and old tooth brushes to at minimum get the old oil and filth off a variety of parts.
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Removed all the old RTV from the oil pan and tried to straighten it out as best I could using a piece of wood and a mallet. It's more even than it was, but using a straight edge, I can see its still a little warped. Hoping the grey RTV will fill in the gaps :pray:
Used a dremel with a wire-brush attachment to get all the rust off and finally threw on some enamel paint to add a final touch.
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The car's tag renewal is due at the end of November, which also means it needs to pass emissions by then. So I've got my deadline and the work cut out for me. As soon as all the parts arrive in the mail and I get the block back from the shop, I can start reassembly.
 
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7.3 Rebuild and measurements

Wow. It’s been almost two years exactly since the last update. Time flys! Short version is, I did get the car rebuilt. The long version is below….

While the block was at the machine shop, I started getting in my parts. Which were as follows:
New flywheel bolts $20
Plastigage and assembly lube $11
King main and rod bearings $39
NPR pistons (.20 over) $177 (put onto the old rods)
NPR piston rings (.20 over) $77
Front case, new head gasket, new t-belt, misc seals and gaskets $560
Balance shaft rear bearing $27
ARP lube $11
Front case oil seals $64 (which I didn't end up using ‘cause I deleted the balance shaft)

With the machine shop labor, the total rebuild cost came out to just under $1,600. Not too terrible. However at the time, when I was already a broke college student working as a valet, it pretty much cleaned me out :cry:

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After a lot of deliberation, I chose to remove the balance shaft belt and its assorted parts. The car already has no A/C and poly motor mounts, so I figured I'd keep trying to make the car as uncomfortable as possible. I know Jacks Transmission put out an article recommending DSMers KEEP their BS in the car, but my old FWD Talon didn't have the BS for many many years and it worked fine. I suppose if I do have a catastrophic failure, I'll be rebuilding it once again.

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When I got the block back, I measured EVERYTHING with my micrometer and feeler gauge. I checked all four cylinders three times each and averaged what I got. According to the FSM, everything was in spec short of cylinder #2 and #3. These two cylinders were just slightly out of spec by about 0.0010". I had my neighbor measure out the problem areas (he rebuilds diesels) and he didn't think it'd be an issue. My step dad, who has built a lot of motors in his day agreed it probably wouldn't lead to any serious issues. All the new rings were in spec as well.
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7.4 Reassembly

Now came the part of throwing it all back together. This was my first completely solo rebuild of a motor so I followed along with the factory manual religiously. A big shout out to the user bastarddsm, and everyone else who answered my questions, and offered advice and expertise.
So my 50 year old garage was less than clean, so I erected a sort of clean room to do the rebuild in. From the rafters I hung that plastic you lay down in your yard as a weed barrier. Spent a lot of time trying to keep things as clean as possible. This meant wiping down all tools and parts, as well as wearing non-fibrous clothes. Wasn't perfect, but it hopefully helped.
Almost everything went together smoothly. I did break one piston ring using one of the sleeve compressor tools. I had to buy a new set and wait a week for them. Lesson learned!

I also hacked off the bracket/motor mount that the power steering pump is bolted to. My poly motor mounts don't have the arm that fits over the two studs so they just hang out awkwardly.
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7.5 Emissions and some clean-up

After getting her all buttoned up, some fresh 10-30W conventional, and a new battery, the moment of truth came.... She started no problem but then would not idle unless I gave it some throttle. I dicked around with the car for quite a while before realizing my global deadtime was wrong and the car was running rich as hell. I fixed this in ECMlink and it idled no problem. I was really bummed that the motor's first 30 minutes of life were me feathering the throttle on a really rich tune. It didn't seem like the best way to break in the car or the rings.

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Regardless, I took it out for a spin. I've read all kinds of theories as to the best way to break in a motor. Some say drive it hard, others say baby it. For the first dozen or so miles I drove it moderately. Not full boost all the time, but definitely not grandma style either. I tried to vary the RPMs and engine brake often. There was no major smoke screens (except for when I first started it), no leaks, and no weird noises...thank God! :pray: After 50 miles, the oil looked good. No shavings or significant filth. So I changed it out for some more 10-30W conventional and kept on trucking.
So for those of you who missed the previous post, I was still using that POS transmission where 5th and reverse were locked out, and 2nd and 3rd gear ground like hell. It wasn't ideal, but I didn't have a choice at the time. And for the record, I could go into reverse if I shut the car off, put the car into reverse by hand using the mechanism mounted on the transmission bell housing, then started the car back up.

My main concern now was passing emissions. I had about two weeks before I needed to renew the tags. This normally wasn't a concern, but I had moved to a new county that required an emissions test. I dusted off my old catalytic converter and EGR to start. The cat was a bi*** to make fit with my homemade exhaust, but it went on with some brute force. I cleaned the EGR over and over with carb cleaner and scraped out all the built-up carbon. Then I routed all the vacuum lines according to the hood diagram and crossed my fingers.

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So I get to the emissions place and they won't accept the car because it doesn't have the stock sized wheels and tires on it. This wasn't an issue with my Ford Taurus, which has non-factory wheels/tires, but whatever. So I drove all the way home, switched to the stock setup, and went back. It passed no problem. In hindsight, I don't know what I was worried about. Fresh rebuild, E-85, cleaned EGR, and a cat. But anything DMV or emissions related gives me anxiety.

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Celebrations didn't last long though. An oil seepage trouble spot began to develop around the CAS. Turned out the old CAS o-ring was no good. I replaced that and bought two extra o-rings just in case it needed to get done again. Below is a photo of the old and new o-rings circled in orange.
Next, down by the alternator and oil filter housing there was some wiring that was soaked with years of oil. Plus, the positive wire was exposed down there, so more then once I'd caused a spark with a wrench. I stripped back the old wiring until I reached clean copper wire and spliced in new sections. Also cleaned the connectors that were caked with ancient insulator gel and filth.
Lastly, the wiring underneath the thermostat housing was a mess too, so I soldered in some clean wiring and made some actual connectors for the thermostat housing tabs. For both trouble spots I tore out all the old factory electrical tape and looms and wound in new protection.

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7.6 Car Catches on Fire and COVID Happens

So aside from the janky transmission, things were looking good at the end of 2019. Car was running smoothly with about 200 miles on it, I was in my last semester, and the world was great. The biggest issue I was having was the power steering pump was beginning to leak. I had sourced a manual steering rack out of a 1.8L DSM, so until that arrived, I just kept cleaning up the power steering pump.
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Then, when cruising down the highway, the car starts acting a little funny. Sputters, misfires, and smell of burning. There was literally no shoulder at this section of highway so I pull off as soon as I could. I get to the top of the off-ramp and the traffic light is red and there was a line of cars. There was still nowhere to pull over and things are getting worse. At this point I'm expecting the thing to burst into flames any second. So I do what any sane DSMer would do and drive past the line of cars half on the sidewalk. I get to the boulevard and cut off a city bus and coast down to the next intersection where there is a large dirt shoulder. I hop out and pop the hood. Sure enough, flames. So I grab my old hoodie and snuff the crap out of those flames.
I waited there for a while and let things cool off. From what I could see, it looked like the fire started from wiring around the CAS and intake elbow on the manifold. I was on my way to meet my family and was really late now. I could have taken an Uber at this point, but I didn't want to leave the car at that spot. It's a pretty shady area and the Talon is easy to steal. I decided to try and get it back home, which was four miles away. Someway somehow the car started and idled, sort of. I limped it home and there it sat.

Below is a photo of where the fire was. The intake pipe is removed and this is looking right above the bell housing. The thermostat is in the upper right and the throttle body elbow is in the upper left. Using my amateur fire investigation skills, it seems to me the wiring loom somehow caught on fire. Not sure if it was from a wiring short or if oil got in the wires and they were hot. Or maybe the plastic loom itself got too hot.
There were little puddles of fluid on top of the bell housing too, so maybe an oil leak somewhere.
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So I cleaned up the mess and replaced all the wiring in this area. I wrapped all the wiring with care and tried hard to track down where the oil came from, but never quite came up with a conclusion. One thing I did know now, was that the new motor had some serious crankcase pressure. The dipstick had popped several times and oil was seeping from the valve cover. This was never an issue with the old motor, but 22-25psi on this new motor seemed to be overwhelming the stock PCV. Not to mention I got rid of the balance shafts, so oil pressure is even higher than before.

Within the same week of the fire, the old ratty transmission with no reverse or 5th broke completely. Awful sounds came from inside it and it didn't shift at all. I didn't have any spare 5-speed transmissions and funds were tapped out, so a rebuild was out of the question, and then the COVID happened.

::cue somber music::
We all have our own stories of how we were affected by the pandemic. Needless to say, a lot of stuff was put on hold, and my DSM was more or less forgotten about. Over the next year and a half I'd occasionally start it up and let it idle for 15 minutes, but that was it.

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8.0 New Drivetrain

For me, COVID wasn't the end of the world but I did get let go from my hotel valet job. I was able to get a gig with my buddy who was starting a landscaping and property management business. This paid the bills at least but didn't leave anything for the DSM. So fast forward- I graduate and land a job. After a few months with some decent income rolling in, it was time to get back at that old DSM.
First step was to make the thing drivable. Of the three transmissions I had amassed, two were NQBK (out of GVR4s with the weak 1st gears) and the other was an NPXV from a 1991 Talon (the one I had with no 5th or reverse gear). So after some advice from the forums, I decided the NPXV (which was currently in the car) was the best candidate for a rebuild. I pulled the trans and handed it over to Jacks Transmission in Colorado Springs. One month later, I had a nice shiny 5-speed.

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The report from Jacks was as follows. Aside from the front diff bearings being ruined and in need of replacement, the trans was in good shape. The 5th/reverse shift fork was of course VERY worn (shocker). Also, a hairline crack had developed on the bell housing which Jacks welded up. Also upgraded to the stronger 300M output shaft. Wouldn't you know it, this transmission also had a stripped motor mount hole. So tapped new threads and replaced the old bolt with a grade 5 equivalent.

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Once everything was in place I took it for a spin. Shifting at high RPMs led to a painful feeling grind. I returned home and tried the clutch drag test (clutch pedal in, put it in 1st gear, rev it to redline with clutch pedal held down, and see if the car moves at all). Sure enough, the car jerked forward at 7,000 RPMs. I had clutch disengagement issues :cry:
I had put about 8k miles on this South Bend clutch on the old crappy transmissions. Those old transmissions were in rough shape so I didn't care about the clutch drag, but I didn't want to destroy this brand new unit. Most of the clutch related parts were relatively new from my first round of clutch troubles, so I bled and rebled the hydraulics, but it didn't help. I tried a 3000GT slave cylinder for the heck of it, but still no luck.

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I relented that it was either the clutch pedal assembly or the flywheel step height being out of spec. So for probably the 12th time, I tore out the transmission. Somehow the CV axle boot had torn since my last install as well. I sent the clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel off to South Bend in Indiana so they could 100% verify the unit was working.
Also, I ground down that little edge near the passenger side control arm. Every single time I pulled a trans, that little edge would cause me a headache. I ground it down with extreme prejudice :f-u: Not sure why it took me so long to do that.

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While waiting for the clutch I got antsy and couldn't keep away from the Talon. The turbo oil drain had also become a leaker. This was my fault though, as I'd never replaced the o-rings on the two bolts that hold the oil drain in place. If this drain leaks again, I'm going to an -AN line. I also took this opportunity to replace all the oil pan hardware and add in four studs to make resealing the pan easier in the future.
 
8.1 Continuing Clutch Issues

South Bend was easy to work with. They reported that my clutch was disengaging fine and that my flywheel's step height was definitely in spec. I had to assume it was something in my car's hydraulic system. Short of the clutch fluid lines, nearly everything on the clutch system has been replaced with OEM Mitsubishi parts.
  • Throw out bearing
  • Release fork
  • Pivot ball
  • Slave cylinder
I've scoured the forums searching out all the tricks and proper methods for bleeding, so I didn't think it was air stuck in the line. One of the last things to do was the clutch pedal itself. The lever at the end of the clutch pedal rod tends to wear out, leading to play in the pedal. However, my pedal was solid, with no play. I really didn't think this was the issue, but there wasn't much left to try.
So, out came the clutch pedal assembly. From what I read, I was preparing for the worst job ever and a lot of cursing :mad:
It wasn't too terrible though. I had to pull out the driver's seat and the steering column to make room to work. I've read of people not removing these things, but they must be built smaller than me or be more flexible.
Anyway, after the ultimate test in finesse to get the assembly out, it didn't look bad at all. The clutch arm lever was barely worn at all. It all looked original though, as in, the pedal had never been removed. I got one of those brass bushings and brought it to the local welder. They made me a new clutch arm lever that fit snugly, lined it all up, and welded it on there. I've read in several posts that the weld fails after 10k miles and is a waste of time. Guess we'll see. At least now I know the process to get it all out of there.

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Praying and hoping this fixes the clutch drag. If it doesn't, I'll get a brand new OEM Mitsubishi master cylinder and possibly steel braided lines. If that still doesn't help, I'll try shimming the pivot ball a millimeter or two (I know that's a "band-aid" solution). And if all that fails, I'm giving up on the South Bend clutch and going back to an ACT unit.
 
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Awesome thread! What a life this thing has had.

What machine shop did you use ? Would you recommend them ?
Thank you my friend! It's been quite the journey so far.

I used Greeley Automotive Machine off of 8th Ave up in Greeley. I got the feeling their expertise was mainly domestic stuff, but the guy I talked to was open to what I wanted done and the specific specs I was after. They seemed to know their tools really well, which is what I was looking for in a machine shop. And I thought the price was fair- just over $600 for bore and hone, hot tank, freeze plugs, crankshaft turn, piston assembly, etc.
 
8.2 Master Cylinder and Steering

Quick update on things. I finished getting the clutch pedal assembly back in. Definitely easier to get it back in the car. But it was still a lot of twisting and turning while lying on your back in a cramped space. I figured since the car was down, I would replace the Rockauto clutch master cylinder with a genuine Mitsubishi unit. Maybe it'll help with my clutch drag, maybe not.
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In other news, I finally ripped out the power steering system and installed the manual steering rack. Should have done this a long time ago! Lose about 10-12lb, simplify things, and cleans the bay up. Haven't gotten it out on the open road yet, but even turning in the driveway is pretty easy with the manual rack. It's four turns from end to end with the manual, versus two with the powered. I’ll update with some better thoughts on the manual rack in a future post.

Pictured below is the manual rack and its associated parts.
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Timing for this swap worked out well because the inner tie rod ball of the remanufactured power steering rack was loose in its socket with a very slight amount of play. The rubber boot was still good, so there was still plenty of grease, but whatever tie rod they used wasn’t great quality. In addition, they obviously just painted over a rusty old core. Annoying, considering I got this remanufactured power steering rack in 2015 and it has just a few thousand miles on it. Maybe the loose inner tie rod would have been fine, but who knows? The brand was AAE off of Rockauto. Buyer beware I suppose.

This is the AAE remanufactured power steering rack that was removed.
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