Ok, for some reason, when I fire up the motor, the temp gauge will slowly rise to the top of the gauge (i dont let it ge that high of course), even with the fan on. The radiator is hot and so are both hoses, so I am to belive that there is water flow, i'm wondering if there is enough water flow. I have a stock replacment long water pump, does it turn the same direction as the crank, could I have gotten a reverse flow by mistake? I have a modine aluminum radiator, should I have gotten a bigger rad?

Also, while breaking in the cam, I was revving about 3k and all of the sudden, a hot liquid blew all over me, it hit the fan and sprayed. It looked like antifreeze, and we did find a leak in one of the ports I plugged in the rad (didnt seal right), but on the timing tab, there was oil. That was the only spot. Yesterday I wiped the motor down and tried again, but I didnt get anything, BUT I did notice there was a tiny puddle on the ground right under the balancer. I couldnt tell what it was, the asphalt had absorbed it already. Any idea what might be going on?

I am planning on draining the rad in the next few days so I will check for oil in the coolant.

 

So, I'm betting that the smog pump is hacked off the car now, but there's no bolt in the upper of the 2 bolt holes for its bracket.

Gotta be the #1 most common new-motor mystery oil leak, especially by inexperienced builders. I remember the first motor I built, had that; took me about a year to find it. I thought I was going to take it out in a field and shoot it, and then felt REAL STUPID when I took it to the car wash, and saw the oil dripping right out of there; because I already knew I could use a longer bolt in that hole to hold the fuel pump rod up while changing out the pump.

Look into that hole; you will see the fuel pump drive rod. If you don't have a fuel pump rod, you might even see the crankshaft.

Do I get a cookie for calling it?

 

i dont know where the bolt holes are, I'm sure the donor car had a smog pump, but I ripped the motor apart so fast I didnt notice. If that is the case, would it be a slow leak and wich side of the car would it be on?

I'm using electric pump with regulator, no mechanical pump, it's blocked off and there is no oil or liquid at all around that area. No rod either, sold the set on ebay

Alos, if you have ever seen my engine pics, there is NOTHING in the engine bay except a motor, freshly built

 

This is the hole that needs a bolt in it:

 

thanks for the pic, I willg et that plugged up. But now my question is, how did oil get on my timing tab?

 

Doesn't matter whether the "donor car" had a smog pump or not. Those bolt holes have been there since 1955. They were originally the motor mount bolt holes.

Yes it will be a slow leak, at least slower than leaving the oil filter off. It would be a faster leak than no leak at all, so by that definition it's not a slow leak. More importantly, it's a GUARANTEED leak, and it's the leak (or at least, a leak) that YOUR MOTOR has.

It's where the smog pump belongs, and the fuel pump rod is. Pass side down low on the front. Upper one of the 2 bolt holes there.

If you choose not to believe that you have a bolt hole there that goes RIGHT INTO THE CRANKCASE, that's your own problem. Doesn't matter to me. My motors don't leak, because I put a bolt there in all of them. Sooner or later you'll get a clue and actually look at it and realize that I was right. Or not, maybe. In which case your motor, and every other SBC you work on that part of, will leak until the day they die (or somebody else fixes your mistake).

A motor that leaks at the spot in question won't look "freshly built" for long.

Sorry to hear that everything else got hacked out of your engine bay. I'm sure glad I don't do that to my cars. I moved to California once, and my car passed inspection there; my A/C blows nice and cold; and it still beats nearly everything else on the street. Lack of hacking doesn't seem to have caused me or it any troubles.

 

First of all, i'm not arguing, so you dont have to treat me like a jerk. as I said, I will plug the hole. I'm asking how the leak from that hole would have oil on my timing tab, thats all.

Also, I'm not sorry I hacked everything out of my car, I did it for several reasons. I dont use AC and I hate california and will never live there again, but that isnt the issue.

Well, i'm going to assume that the oil spot is right under that hole then, i didnt get a great look about what it was under, so that is my fault. I'm going to assume that the drops from the hole were blown by the fan on to the balancer and then from the balancer to the timing tab... makes a bit more sense to me that way vs me trying to find a mysterious leak that is there on the driver side of the car.

Thanks for the info, I will be sure to plug that bad boy this weekend.

 

Don't worry, I hacked the crap out of my engine bay. It got filled up just fine.

 

next year it will be filled with urbo stuff assuming I can afford it

 

The oil drips down the front of the motor, and onto the back of the damper; and from there it gets slung and blown everywhere. Once you get the car back to where it drives, you'll find that it will mostly coat the right side of the block and oil pan and the frame and suspension on that side, and the bottom of the exhaust as well (smokescreen). It rarely appears in any great quantity on or around the hole itself because of the action of the damper. Which of course is how it gets onto the timing tab as well.

I didn't invent the failure mode; I merely report it. It's not my fault that it happens that way.

 

That is what I said above, I assumed it was being picked up by the balancer. How is this failure mode? By making that statement, you accuse everyone who has a valid question about a problem of being in "failure mode", I dont understand why you are bashing me because I didnt know about that hole.

Anyway, thanks for the help, i have my answer and it will be fixed, nuf said.

 

wish I had a pic like that when I was looking for the mysterious oil all over the damn place leak. I was getting oil EVERYWHERE. I plugged that bolt and it doesn't leak anywhere now

 

what about the steadily rising temperature? Is it possible that my sender isnt compatible with my gauge? how should I start to trouble shoot this? it heats up pretty quick.


Also, when I start it up cold, it will run for 5-10 seconds then cut off, is this a problem with the choke? If I rev it up for a second or two, it stays on. it idles at 1500 now.

 

could be a bad sending unit, I'd goto the parts store and get an analog temp gauge that plugs into the thermostat housing or head. i used the sending unit out of a 79 350 and it indicated a lot hotter than what my actual temp was. a good 40 degree difference.

 

btw what's the guage say at the top? I've heard that 220ish isn't uncommon and actually the correct temp for f bodies? Mine runs around 165

 

Well, the gauge is the stock gauge, reads from 0 to 260. The sender is brand new, supposidly for an 85 motor, and it is plugged into the head, not the manifold.

I'm wondering, is it a problem that only the belt only covers 1/4 of the pulley? I dont have the v-belt for the crank, p/s and w/p yet, so only crank, w/p and alt are on the serp belt. I have bbk under drive pulley's BTW, has 5 rib serp and a v-belt setup.