Damn oil leak!

[hemi8]

Finally, after 2 months of oil spewage I figured out what was wrong. The 2 bolts holding the crank sensor bracket on were the culprit. I did not put any sealant on the threads because they were not going into the water jackets. On thing though, there is oil splashing around in there and it was racing by the bolt threads, spewing onto the driver's side oil pan rail, crusing down the oil pan rail and collecting at the back corner of the oil pan and dropping onto the crossover. It looked exactly like a oil pan gasket or a rear main seal. I did trace it to the front cover but could not figure out where it was coming out. Anyways, hope this helps someone. Lesson learned, coat ALL the bolts for the timing cover, not just the ones that go into the water jackets, but what do I know, I was just following what the BUICK Power manual said to do.
Mike
86 GN

 

[chrisgarrett]

I might have the same problem. You put sealant on the two crank sensor bracket bolts and the oil leak stopped?

 

[rob350]

I never put any sealant on mine either...

 

[chrisgarrett]

You shouldn't need sealant. The gasket should prevent leaking around all those bolts.

 

[JimP]

Excellent tip, I may just have the same problem but to a lesser degree. I have replaced the oil pan gasket, rear main seal, valvle cover gaskets and still have that small elusive drip. I have yet to see a TR that doesn't leak or sweat a bit but I am darn close. Hopefully this is it.

Thanks!

 

[chrisgarrett]

Excellent tip, I may just have the same problem but to a lesser degree. I have replaced the oil pan gasket, rear main seal, valvle cover gaskets and still have that small elusive drip. I have yet to see a TR that doesn't leak or sweat a bit but I am darn close. Hopefully this is it.

Thanks!

Not likely. Check the back of the intake manifold. Put your hand under the coil back on the top of the engine and see if it is wet. This is one of the most common places for oil to leak.

 

[Bad Boyz]

Same thing happened to me 1 of the bolts came out I must of pulled every hair out of my head before I found out what it was Thats why I dont have much hair left

 

[hemi8]

Yes, put sealant on the 2 bolts and that fixed the problem, could have very easily been mis-diagnosed as a front seal leak also. The engine is brand new with 100 miles on it so I knew everything was right, thats why it took me awhile to figure it out.
Mike
86 GN

 

[87NAT]

Very sweet engine. Do you have pics of the car. It looks nice.

 

[Steve V]

Thank you! I crawled up under mine today and I have the same leak. I just happen to be building another,so it's getting all those thread sealed. What type of sealent?

 

[chrisgarrett]

Hey Hemi8, nice looking engine. Where did you get the lifting strap?

 

[hemi8]

Thanks, if anyone lives in the DC area and needs a machine shop I have someone who I can highly recommend. Bill Coleman in Maryland is the finest machinst I have ever run accross and he knows turbo Buicks. He is working on engines for Felpro to develop head gaskets, not for the turbo Buick but for other high-horsepower boosted engines. The machine work was dead-on perfect, and I checked Everything. The hardest part of this build was the grinding of the block for the Eagle forged crank, the counterweights hit the block in 6 places. Other than that it went real smooth. Lifting strap can be had from Mcmaster Carr (is there anything they don't sell), all forged internal parts purchased from DLS. Its nice to buy from DLS, he checked everything before he sent it to me, he didn't just send me parts, he sent me parts he could sign his name to.
Mike
86 GN