Tweet
I thought I'd pass along something I just learned, though since almost no one visits the Pond any more, it may not help anybody.
On another thread, I talked about my Muncie issues. That's done, but in the process of crawling around under the car for many hours, I traced an oil leak mystery source to the back of the oil pan. I knew it wasn't the rear main, because the front of the flywheel was bone dry. So, OK, oil pan removal is relatively easy on my coupe - no crossmember or axle to deal with. Pretty much a straight drop (after having to remove one engine mount for clearance).
You know the drill. Scrape all the old gaskets/sealant residue off the block and pan, clean up all the bits and pieces. After doing that, and rinsing out the pan, I noticed a very minor half moon shaped scar on the inside bottom surface of the pan. Yup, you guessed it. Apparently the oil pump pickup was ever-so-slightly too low, and was in contact with the pan. And I am figuring that was preventing the back end of the pan from snugging up tight to the block, thus the leak.
Fortunately, I had not done the old hot rod trick of spot welding the pickup tube to the pump, so a couple of taps with a mallet to move it up slightly and then re tighten into its hole was all it took.
My lesson learned is not to just eyeball the pickup placement and assume "level" will work. Best to actually check clearance with a bit of clay. In my case though, until pan bolts were tightened, I'll bet there was no contact. It was that close.
On another thread, I talked about my Muncie issues. That's done, but in the process of crawling around under the car for many hours, I traced an oil leak mystery source to the back of the oil pan. I knew it wasn't the rear main, because the front of the flywheel was bone dry. So, OK, oil pan removal is relatively easy on my coupe - no crossmember or axle to deal with. Pretty much a straight drop (after having to remove one engine mount for clearance).
You know the drill. Scrape all the old gaskets/sealant residue off the block and pan, clean up all the bits and pieces. After doing that, and rinsing out the pan, I noticed a very minor half moon shaped scar on the inside bottom surface of the pan. Yup, you guessed it. Apparently the oil pump pickup was ever-so-slightly too low, and was in contact with the pan. And I am figuring that was preventing the back end of the pan from snugging up tight to the block, thus the leak.
Fortunately, I had not done the old hot rod trick of spot welding the pickup tube to the pump, so a couple of taps with a mallet to move it up slightly and then re tighten into its hole was all it took.
My lesson learned is not to just eyeball the pickup placement and assume "level" will work. Best to actually check clearance with a bit of clay. In my case though, until pan bolts were tightened, I'll bet there was no contact. It was that close.
Comment