I have a pretty substantial leak on my Z. Its dripping right in the front under the harmonic balancer. Its either the front of the actual oil pan or front seal, which i think is the case because its slinging a little bit of oil around while running, thus i figure it must be hitting the balancer.

So, my options:

1) Run some stop leak through the system and give that a try. (in which case, what would you suggest, product wise?)

2) Replace the front seal myself (never done it, how much labor are we talking about here?)

3) Take in into the shop and just let them deal with it. (how much you guys figure that'll cost me?


Thanks guys!

 

you're missing the most obvious option

take to a shop and ask for an estimate to fix your oil leak. Let them tell you what they think it is.

 

haha, thanks man! I am planning on doing that this afternoon, but am in the middle of studying right now, so figured I would throw up a thread and see what i could find out.

 

Replace the seal yourself. Not hard - worst part is getting clearance for oil pan to subframe.

1) Drive front of car onto ramps
2) Loosen and remove motor mount bolts - 1 each side.
3) Remove Dist Cap and rotor button
4) Place jack under tranny, remove transmission crossmember bolts tranny will come down, thus motor front will raise so you get clearance needed.
5) Drain oil!
6) Remove oil pan bolts, and timing chain seal bolts - wiggle oil pan out
7) Clean oil pan gasket surface, timing chain cover gasket surface, etc.
8) replace gaskets, put back together
9) REPLACE OIL!!!

Should take you maybe 3 hours max in the driveway.

 

I'm guessing this started right about the time the smog pump got hacked off?

I thought so.



This bolt hole goes RIGHT DIRECTLY INTO the crankcase. In fact, in some block castings, you can look in there and see the crank. You can tell from the pic that the fuel pump drive rod is directly behind it.

Put a SHORT bolt in that hole with a drop of silicone on the threads.

If you still have a leak, THEN AND ONLY THEN start worrying about oil pans and shops.

 

Yeah, im just worried because i have NEVER pulled a transmission or anything close to that, so I kinda dont have a clue. Completely willing to learn though!

?? Have no idea how that is relevant. This only just started happening after it got out of the body shop.

 

It's relevant because if that bolt isn't there, oil comes out, drips on the damper, and gets slung EVERYWHERE under the motor down the pass side.

See my signature for help in understanding seemingly complicated auto pehnomena.

 

well true, but i still have my SMOG pump so its not in my situation

Thanks though!

Yes, i love that sig. Seen you around on the forum before and always liked it.

 

Well, your not pulling the tranny, so no worries! Tranny stays attached to engine, engine stays attached to car. All we are doing is removing the motor mount bolts and the tranny crossmember bolts so we can pivot the motor/tranny assembly on the forward tranny mount, and thus get wiggle room to get the oil pan and timing cover gaskets out and replaced.

Grab a $20 Haynes manual any auto parts store, and it'll show you step by step - not that hard - all you need is normal tools, jack, ramps.

 

Get an estimate at a shop, but I'm telling you right now they are probably going to charge more than you want to pay. Theres a lotta liabilities working on a car that old.

 

On the what?

 

Well, never hurts to check that bolt... it's AHELLUVALOT eeeeeezier and cheeeeeeeper and kwikkker to put in a bolt, than to mess around with a bunch of oil pans.

 

Is there enough room to remove the oil pan out from under the car on a 90 Iroc? Dont you also need to remove the crank pulley, and the balancer with a puller in order to replace that front oil seal?

How about changing out the timing chain/gears while you are at it...since you have already gone that far.

About how many miles does a timing chain last for until it starts to strech out?

Thanks

 

I hear ya! I appciate it though!

Gonna jump into that mess probably next week. I am trying to finish up my clear coat sanding and polishing. Then I'll be working on the engine compartment (cleaning and painting) and I'll deal with this leak then... Pretty sure I am gonna attempt to fix it myself. Might take an afternoon but I would rather spend an afternoon doing it and learning something then spend my money!

 

I heard someone allude to this above, but two things you will need if you replace the front crank seal are a harmonic balancer puller, and a harmonic balancer installer. I hear what camaronewbie is saying about dropping the tranny, but I've done many front seals and never touch the engine/tranny mounts. If clearance is tight, I remove the radiator. You'll need to pull the fan anyway or it will be in your way. You will want to remove the torque converter dust cover so that you can use a flywheel holding tool to hold the crank in place while a helper breaks the front crank bolt loose. This bolt torques to 85ft/lbs and won't come easy.

Once you have the balancer out, check it for a groove where the front seal runs on it. If the groove is deep you may need to install a redy sleeve to restore the sealing surface, otherwise the new seal will leak too. If the groove isn't bad, clean the sealing hub with scotchbrite. Take care removing the front seal not to bend the timing cover. I have always found it easier to do the seal with the cover on a bench but you cant remove the cover without removing the pan so that's not an option for you. Use a big socket or piece of pipe to drive the new seal in. It hepls to lubricate the outer ring of the seal with a product like Permatex B.

After cleaning, coat the sealing hub of the balancer with assembly lube or motor oil before installation. Use the installer to reinstall the balancer. Do not hammer the balancer back in as this can damage the crankshaft thrust bearing.

 

ive got the same leak on my car, it only drips a few drops after ive used the car then stops when its cooled down.

ive had the car 7 years now and its always done it, i just top the oil up once a year, its getting annoying now and i want a leak free car so i might have to get into removing the pan etc to do it.

my smog pump was disconnected when i got the car, but i only got around to actually removing it this year, im wondering where this bolt is that oil comes out of if removed ?

 

I used some stuff called White Shepherd that worked pretty good. But it is still leaking. I just scheduled a local shop to get some maintenance done on the car next weekend. So no more oil leak and bouncing, squeeking speedo

 

ive tried the STP stop leak additive in mine but it hast worked, which is specifically for bringing oil seals back to life, so mine must be too far gone and needs replaced.

 

In the pic I posted, it's in the center of the green circle I drew.