Did some searching and read up about the RMS leaks but not sure on this one...

Hit a roadblock on my 87 TA. Noticed an oil leak under the car after running for the first couple times this weekend. Lifted up the car and found that the oil was dripping from near the back of the pan, specifically from the corners and bottom of the center.

Strange part is it only drips AFTER the engine runs and is shut off

The engine was assembled with all new gaskets and seals and has maybe 20 mins run time. Block is an 89 with 1 Piece RMS and 1 Piece pan gasket.

I could really use some help since I am lost on this one

in advance

 

First thing to check is this.



If there's not a bolt in that hole, put one there. Needs to be a SHORT one, ¾" max. Put a drop of sealer on the threads.

 

There is a bolt in that hole since I am using the 89 serpentine brackets I had. There doesn't seem to be any oil that far forward on the engine. Also there isn't any very far "up" on the engine when I look from underneath.

 

My freshly rebuilt 89 is doing darn near the same thing but haven't had a chance to look at it.

 

One reason I am leaning away from it being the RMS is that it is dripping from both corners of the pan as well as straight down but this is the first 1 piece RMS block I have worked with, usually had older ones.

 

Check your Oil Pressure switch on the rear-top of intake. If it leaks, it runs down as you describe.

 

I looked at that as well, the top of the engine behind the china wall area or around the pressure switch and both are clean and dry.

I appreciate the help guys...feel like im chasing my tail at the moment

 

Did you put the gasket behind the RMS housing before you bolted it all together?

 

Yes, I remember putting the gasket in place but installed it dry, I don't know if that would make a difference or if it needed black permatex

 

Dry is fine. Just wanted to make sure it got installed at all.

Did you get the rear main seal installed in it's housing the right way around? It can be installed backwards, it just won't seal up.

Are the oil pan bolts tightened down properly? I.e. until they hit the "crush collars" built into the one piece oil pan gasket and stop turning.

Cause after that you're down to weird stuff like the oil pan seal being torn or pinched somehow, cracked RMS housings, wrong oil pan, etc. Oddball stuff.

 

I believe that the RMS was installed the right way but was the first one I installed so I hope I didnt mess it up

I checked the oil pan bolts with a torque wrench and verified they were all tightened correctly as well.

 

Reviving this thread since I pulled the engine out of the car and wanted to share what I found so far for anyone now or in the future










The sealer in the pictures that looks smeared on is what I tried to do from under the car but couldn't get very high above the pan with the flywheel on.

From the pictures is looks like the pan may be bent and the gasket isn't sealed all the way.

 

Does look that way. Have you pulled the pan to check it?

Most likely it was leaking while running. But, it was probably being whipped up by the flexplate and then dripped down while not running.

 

Planning to pull pan saturday to get a better look.

 

Well I pulled the pan off and can't really tell if the edges are bent on the pan or not. One issue I think I found is that the rear main seal housing has a "shoulder" on the back 2 bolts. The holes in the gasket I took off do not seem big enough to actually fit around these shoulders to sit completely flat on the block and housing.






The second photo shows the shoulder.

Has anyone noticed a similar issue with the pan gaskets? This was the first pan gasket I had installed on a 1 piece RMS block

 

I'm having the exact same problem, did you ever find a solution? I've tried 2 different gaskets and even replaced the oil pan. I torqued the bolts and nuts to the proper specs. FYI, the 1st gasket said to put rtv in that general area, which I did, and the 2nd gasket specifically said not to use rtv.

 

On this particular case the gasket had been pushed out along the back of the pan due to excessive blowby