Hi guys,

ok, so my car has got an oil leak, and its had it for years, its either coming from the timing chain cover seal, or the oil pan seal where it meets the bottom of the timing chain.

I was told a while ago i would have to raise the engine up, or take it out to get the oil pan off to change the gasket, and also for clearance for the timing chain cover.

However after actually having a good look, im not sure. I was thinking of deleting my oil cooler anyway, and the 2 metal pipes for that run right infront of the timing chain cover, so thats some clearance straight away, and im sure ive heard of people getting the oil pan off without moving the engine at all anyway ?

It would be easier if i didnt have to take it out ! so im just wondering if anyone has done these two things with the engine still in place, does the oil pan just involve a lot of wiggling to get it off or something ?

Thanks

Scott

 

It can be done in the car with jacking up the engine. But I find it much easier to just pull the motor and re seal it.

 

Ah right, ive never took an engine out of a car before so its quite a scary prospect as theres so many wires to unplug and things to disconnect etc.

Do you take the engine and transmission out as one or does the trans unbolt from the engine ?

 

I did it by just jacking up the front of the engine. was a bit of a trick to do, but sure was easier than pulling the freakin' motor haha. If you do opt to go with jacking it up though, MAKE SURE YOU POP THE HOOD FIRST! Trust me, this is from personal experience. Got in too much of a hurry, started jacking it up, and pushed the whole motor right into the hood. I'm hoping it's just out of allignment and not damaged
If you do pull the motor, just replace all the seals. I mean everything. A whole seal kit is around $200, at least the last time I checked it was. That also included head gaskets. You could probably get a kit without those for cheaper. Relatively cheap insurance in exchange for not having to pull it the next time it springs a leak. and it will. they always do lol. I personally unhook the trans myself, But that's just because I've never pulled the whole thing out before and it kinda scares me lol. Frankly though, it would probably be easier to do in the end. Those trans bolts are a HUGE pain when they the engine is in the car already.

 

I bought a felpro blue sbc set for the whole motor and it was only $62, why pull the motor in a few years again?

 

I've pulled the motor in my car twice and replaced an oil pan with the motor in the car once. I'd say using either method is about the same amount of work. My preference would be to pull the motor to replace the pan or the gasket. Working on my back wrestling to get that thing out of there was a real pita. And you have to get the motor really high - like bell housing touching the tunnel high. You'll also have to turn the motor over by hand to get the crank counterweights lined up just right or else there won't be room to get the pan out.

 

hrmmm... maybe I'm not remembering the price right then, it was a felpro kit as well, and came with everything. Regardless, $60 or $200 is a small price to pay for the reliability that comes with a freshly sealed engine.

 

It's not that bad when you have it on a lift lol. One of the good things that come from having a parent in the military is most bases/posts around the country have a nice shop with lifts, all the tools you can imagine, and free advice from some very knowledgeable people.

 

hmmmm, i might pull it out then guys thanks for the info.

I need to replace the injectors i know that much so the TPI unit needs to come off anyway, and like people have said i might aswell do all the gaskets while im at it, and i also wanted to paint the engine bay as my car was originally white, and a previous owner has gone over with black rust proof paint with a brush and it looks terrible.

 

well, keep us all informed! pictures are always fun too. good luck with everything

 

Before you get all worked up about whether to pull the motor or not, ....

Smog pump gone off of it?

 

Yeah ive removed all the emissions and AC

I put the bolt back in where the smog pump was though if thats what your getting at in regards to my oil leak ? its not that, i wish it was, would of been much easier ! lol

 

I did mine just by popping the motor mount bolts out and disconnecting my trans mount. I left the crossmember bolted up. I also had to pull my HEI cap as it was nearly hitting the wiper cowl as it sat normally. I then just lifted the motor up a little bit using a carb lift plate (front hole) to get a good angle. Itll give you just enough room to make it happen. If your intentions are just the timing cover and oil pan you can make it happen with the motor in, just lifted up a little. If you plan on running it a while yet, just pull it and go through the whole thing.

 

You don't have to pull the engine.

Remove the oil cooler, then just unbolt the front half of the pan bolts so that it'll drop enough to remove the timing cover. You'll have to remove the accessories too of course.

REPLACE THE TIMING SET WHILE YOU'RE IN THERE!

Clean the timing cover well, and use a little high-temp RTV where the timing cover meets the pan.


Remember to let the RTV cure before you fire it up!

 

The AC compressor and AIR pump can stay connected to the brackets, same with the alt and power steering pump.

You'll also need to rent the balancer puller. Otherwise giddy up!

 

Rob,

If I were assembling that accessory drive system, I'd go from the crank pulley to the WP to the PSP to the alt to the tensioner to the AC to the AIR and back to the crank. Basically make the belt loop over the PSP (high power draw, 3/4 wrap of belt contact) and slide past the AIR (very low power, doesn't need the loop). The tensioner would probably even work better done that way.

 

cool pics thanks for that.

Mines a non serpentine setup and my AC and emissions crap are long gone, dont need em over here in the UK !

 

can anyone thats replaced all their gaskets etc recommend a decent kit ? ive got the rubber gaskets for my valve covers and they are really good, i was hoping to get something like that for the oil pan so it will last quite a while.

 

Agreed 100%. Now I just need to get the passenger injectors to fire and I'll be set! This is the L98 from the other Tech thread that won't fire it's passenger injectors.

 

Just get a timing over and 1-piece oil pan gasket from rock auto or Summit.

 

Might get an Oil pump too if they are easy to replace ? theres like a million different versions of the same part on Rock Auto so sometimes ive got no idea which one i need