Oil leak after rebuild

[cmjdskates]

I rebuilt my engine for the first time. I brought it to a machine shop and had all the proper machining done to it. I assembled it the best I could and have it running pretty smoothly. I have fixed oil leaks by replacing the front main seal and just last night I removed, cleaned and reinstalled the oil pan. I'm left with a much less leaky dsm but it's not perfect. Under full boost (about 19psi from a SBR-G60) I'm oozing oil from somewhere. I thought it was the oil pan but I think I've eliminated it as a possible source. The front of the engine from the valve cover to the oil drain line for the turbo is clean. I'm going to crawl around under the car tomorrow with a flashlight and take a look but I don't think it's going to be an obvious find. I can't just start the car, let it idle and find an active leak because if I clean up the oil and go for a drive out of boost there's no oil under the car when I get home. Any suggestions to point me in the right direction would be great.
Thanks

 

[cmjdskates]

Any thoughts are welcome.

 

[Boost92awd]

So where do you see it leaking from? Back of motor? left of motor? right of motor? I need alittle bit more information so I can narrow it down.

 

[romeen]

There are quite a few seals on the front (driver's side) of the motor that could leak but you haven't provided enough detail to be able to help you out much. On the bottom of the motor, where is the oil actually collecting and dripping from? Are you sure it is motor oil and not tranny fluid?

You may want to invest in a UV dye leak detection kit. It makes leak identification quite easy. I got mine for $50 off ebay. Once you have the kit you can get small bottles of replacement dye (if you ever need that much) for less than $5 at NAPA. The kit can pay for itself pretty quick. This is the one I got:

eBay Motors: Tracer Products TP1121 UV Leak Finder Kit Only $44.95!! (item 300265313147 end time Oct-16-08 22:56:53 PDT)

 

[cmjdskates]

The oil (motor or tranny) is collecting and dripping off the transfer case. I'll look into that UV dye kit. I wasn't able to get a good look tonight but it's not coming from the turbo side of the motor or the timing belt side. Thanks for the replies. I'll try to get a better look tomorrow and post what I find.

 

[MidShipCivic]

The oil (motor or tranny) is collecting and dripping off the transfer case. I'll look into that UV dye kit. I wasn't able to get a good luck tonight but it's not coming from the turbo side of the motor or the timing belt side. Thanks for the replies. I'll try to get a better look tomorrow and post what I find.

blcknspo0ln experienced a leak like that it was from an oil galley plug in the block on the transmission side. The machine shop PROBABLY removed yours and it's not sealing like before.

 

[cmjdskates]

blcknspo0ln experienced a leak like that it was from an oil galley plug in the block on the transmission side. The machine shop PROBABLY removed yours and it's not sealing like before.

Can you see this plug with the tranny on? Where exactly is it?

 

[MidShipCivic]

Can you see this plug with the tranny on? Where exactly is it?

No.

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From his build thread.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/151343260-post11.html

 

[blcknspo0ln]

Glad to see someone remembered my nightmare. The leak was most visible dripping off of the slave cylinder. It also worked its way down the middle side of the tranny and dripped where the flywheel inspectoin plate is. Which side of the transfer case is wet? There is a strong possibility you ripped the axle seal if it is dripping on the passenger side of the xfer case.

 

[romeen]

Tranny fluid smells different than motor oil, kind of a burnt smell. See if you can get a better idea of which one it is.

 

[cmjdskates]

When I had the transfer case off a couple days ago I had the flywheel inspection plate off to remove the oil pan bolts and everything appeared to be dry behind the plate. I'd hate to have to remove the tranny to fix this leak so maybe I dodged a bullet here.
As for which side of the transfer case...I'm not sure, the bottom of the case is where the oil collects. I'll check that and see if I can identify what type of oil I'm seeing, but if it is transmission fluid then why does it seem to be a boost dependent leak? Thanks to everyone for helping me track this down.

 

[blcknspo0ln]

I think it's time for some UV dye.

 

[MidShipCivic]

Why don't you smell it ? It does smell different.

 

[romeen]

When I had the transfer case off a couple days ago I had the flywheel inspection plate off to remove the oil pan bolts and everything appeared to be dry behind the plate. I'd hate to have to remove the tranny to fix this leak so maybe I dodged a bullet here.
As for which side of the transfer case...I'm not sure, the bottom of the case is where the oil collects. I'll check that and see if I can identify what type of oil I'm seeing, but if it is transmission fluid then why does it seem to be a boost dependent leak? Thanks to everyone for helping me track this down.

IF it is tranny fluid leaking from a bad axle seal then you do not have to drop the tranny. It's fairly easy to pop out an axle and replace the seal. The fact that you didn't see oil when you had removed the flywheel inspection plate doesn't rule out an axle seal leak (it wouldn't show up there).

As far as it being a "boost dependent leak," this might suggest the crankcase is being pressurized under boost although that usually shows up at the VC gasket, dipstick or oil cap.

 

[cmjdskates]

Glad to see someone remembered my nightmare. The leak was most visible dripping off of the slave cylinder. It also worked its way down the middle side of the tranny and dripped where the flywheel inspectoin plate is. Which side of the transfer case is wet? There is a strong possibility you ripped the axle seal if it is dripping on the passenger side of the xfer case.

I seem to have 3 leaks now, and they have all gotten worse. I was finally able to get under the car today and take a look. I got some UV dye at Napa and a black light bulb from a hardware store. Went through the whole process and found fluorescent oil leaking from the lower timing belt cover and from exactly where blckspoon described above. The third leak is from above the transfer case and is not fluorescing. It doesn't smell different but it's definitely thicker then the motor oil so I assume it is tranny fluid.
I've got my work cut out for me.

I may need to remove the new front main seal to apply sealant but after removing the old one I imagine I'm going to ruin the new one while taking it out. Any suggestions?

 

[blcknspo0ln]

I seem to have 3 leaks now, and they have all gotten worse. I was finally able to get under the car today and take a look. I got some UV dye at Napa and a black light bulb from a hardware store. Went through the whole process and found fluorescent oil leaking from the lower timing belt cover and from exactly where blckspoon described above. The third leak is from above the transfer case and is not fluorescing. It doesn't smell different but it's definitely thicker then the motor oil so I assume it is tranny fluid.
I've got my work cut out for me.

I may need to remove the new front main seal to apply sealant but after removing the old one I imagine I'm going to ruin the new one while taking it out. Any suggestions?

The one that wasn't showing up with UV and is above the Tcase is most likely the driver's side axle seal. The lower timing cover is either one of the seals on the front case, the front case gasket itself, or just the oil pan (most likely). The last one is either the galley plug or main seal. DO NOT use rtv on the main seal. The gasket, a nice straight (or new) main seal, new oring and proper torque sequence will seal it.

 

[LiquidGS-T]

I don't wanna make anything seem worse , but i had an oil leak in my head gasket on the front side of my new motor that was dripping down the inside of the timing cover and coming out the bottom, then just running all over the place. That also was a cometic head gasket tho. Make sure your valve cover isn't leaking into the timing cover. Oh and did you remember to put cam seals on? I agree about the main seal and axle seal being your other leaks. Its so easy to make them leak without visible damage

 

[cmjdskates]

Last night I removed the timing belt covers only to find everything perfectly dry. The leak on the timing belt side seems to be coming from the oil pan. I'm going to remove the transfer case tonight and see if maybe my second engine oil leak is also coming from the oil pan.
While I was looking around last night I again notice non-fluorescing (added fluorescing dye to engine oil) oil dripping off the transfer case (probably from the axle seal as mentioned above) but also from pivot arm that the slave cylinder pushes against (can't remember the proper name). Is it possible that trans fluid from the leaking axle seal above the transfer case is making it's way to the pivot arm or does this suggest another trans oil leak?
Thanks