I just got a 1983 camaro sport coupe The paint job and interior are picture perfect ( aside from the dash pad) but the engine has an oil leak. I want to find where its coming from, but I need to clean it first. Its a 2.8l 5 speed. I need to know what exactly to cover in there so that it don't get wet. I know the carb does but what else? After that, any ideas where the most common oil leaks came from on this engine? just kinda a start point for me when hunting. Just changed the oil in it today, had the same oil in it for 3 years, but never went 1000 miles, probably drove 5 miles in the last 2 years til I got it. Also I got it drove it around the block, then home when bought and it sounded great, but on a trip out today a new noise came from it. Hard to describe the sound.....slightly higher pitch than the engine whine, sound seems to move with RPM, can't hear it after about 2k RPM could just be the engine volume drowning it out. Any help with these little issues would be great.

 

Most common are the valve covers, rear main, oil pan gasket. Check those. Might wanna find the leak first then clean?

 

or clean it and then track where the new oil comes from... I always try to avoid the distributor, coil and alternator. Hard water on these areas can be bad. The throttle position sensor if I remember right is one you dont want to spray hard direct. Just try to not hit electical wired areas hard with a sharp stream.

Stick to simple green to avoid doing caustic of damage to finishes. Hard areas might need purple power or the like. Might also take some scrubbing. Be patient though and understand it will take a few spray downs with degreaser and rinse downs with water to get 99% off.

Might want to jack it up solidly on jack stands and spary under too. Wear safty glasses!

 

would a bad belt make a "chattered" slipping belt sound? like squeak, squeak, squeak in like 1.5 seconds? if so I think I found my mystery sound

 

do you have v-belt? if so my fiero made a flappy squeaky noise the day it threw a v belt. Make sure the adjustable pulleys have not slipped. If they are tight it may be that the belt is old and stretched. But that very well might be the noise.

 

Tightened up all the belts yeah Its a Vbelt and it is older with a few cracks. thanks

 

When you change that belt don't throw it away. Stick it in your trunk and the next time you throw a belt you'll be glad you did!

 

great Idea thanks I'll do that.

 

I had a time with the fiero when it threw its belt... out on the highway trying to lean over the back of it with not tools sorting out why it threw it to begin with.

Called my wife and had her bring tools since the old belt was whole and onlt had a few 100 miles on it. Turned out to be an issue with the way the alternator bolt was held in. It kept slipping. Previous owner rigged it. So now I keep a set of tools just for that alt adjustment. Though I'm finally upgrading the alterantor so fingers crossed I can fix the darn thing the right way! Might be going to the bone yard for new top bracket.

 

use some brake parts cleaner and spray down the old oil. Use it in the shops all the time...

 

Very good for oil build up, but some stronger versions with make the cast aluminum parts get that white finish on them, so stick to the build up areas!

 

True, but it helps to find leaks. after you fix the leak, and want to clean it up better, you can use Simple Green and Engine Brite cleaner, then follow it with CD2 which gives it a good finish.

 

right away thats all i am after is finding the leak, but its so slow that I know Im going to have to have it all clean to even have a chance. So I think I will try the brake parts cleaner first, once I find it and cure it, then on to the simple green.

 

I used Castrol Super Clean after i bought mine to get the engine cleaned up so i could inspect for any leaks and it worked great. Diluted it a little with some water and used a cheap spray bottle to cover all the surfaces i wanted let it set for a minute then rinsed with water no scrubbing necessary however you do not want to get the stuff on your paint.