KrazyKaycee

Hello again

I've been searching around the boards reviewing other people who have had rear main seal leaks etc and had some questions I hope someone can answer for me.

I seem to have quite the drip after parking the car from driving around the bell housing area. I've seen folks replacing RMS's and also a cam cover gasket as well as the distributor O ring. My question is this engine has sat for probably 8 years before I fixed the car up and got it running again. it doesnt burn oil and runs really good for its age and mileage at 116000 I presume since it only displays 5 places on the odometer lol . I've checked the oil level and it really doesnt seem to drop hardly at all but yet there is a nice sized spot on the ground after parking.

My question is about this cam seal I've seen posts about. Is this gasket or seal available via autopart stores or stricktly a GM part ? Does the 86 engine have the 1 piece cartridge seal as an RMS also ? I have a 5 speed manual in it and I am kind of dreading pulling the thing but if it has to come out so be it. I just wanted to hear what others think of this and if possible direct me where I can find the cam seal as well. I figure if it is that might as well replace all 3 items if possible and if the auto stores carry it.

I've looked on the back of the engine and seen some oil at the top of the bell housing so it looks like the distributor seal is an issue. I have to dig out a mirror to make sure its not the valve covers but they look in good shape with no leaks on the exhaust.

Does the oilpan actually need to be removed for the RMS on an 86 or just a hammer in seal? The pan itself looks great with no signs of leakage.

Anyway if anyone would care to comment and direct me on where to go for the parts I would be forever in your debt .

Thanks to all who helped me getting this thing running after having it sit in a field for 8 years lol as it was given to me for doing some transmission work on other vehicles so it was to good of a deal to pass up for free

Thanks again
Krazykaycee

KrazyKaycee

Oh was looking in the GM service manual for that car and it showed the rear cam cover (3 bolts) if I'm looking at the correct part being sealed with RTV ? That sounds a bit odd if its an area exposed to high pressure oil ?

Krazykaycee

KrazyKaycee

Ack no comments or has this subject been beaten into the ground and I've not noticed it lol

Kaycee

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Change your distributor o-ring before you do anything else because it's cheap and easy as long as you mark the position of the rotor when removing it. Then, you will have to pull your trans to get at both the RMS and the cam rear seals. The RMS can be pulled out just by screwing a screw into each side of it and using a plain old claw hammer on the screw heads to pry it out one side at a time. The cam cover uses a gasket from the factory but you can get away with RTV silicone gasket maker. Put the RMS in until it's flush with its mountings, but don't bend it or you need to get a new one. Might as well do both the cam and RMS at the same time if you're going to do one of them. Also, a little bit of threadlocker on the flywheel/flexplate bolts might help a lot. Just not on the torque convertor if you have one in case you need to pull it later... It's a real pain to get an impact in there to remove those bolts if they have been threadlocked...
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Can't edit a Quick Reply, so here's my edit:

If anyone can shed light as to why my 3.1 automatically pisses out 1 quart of oil out the back of the engine every 2000 miles even though I have replaced the RMS, RCS, and dist o-ring, I'd be much abliged. I'm sure that oil isn't helping my already glazed clutch plate any...

Xoferif

That's what the back of your engine will more or less look like (probably a bit dirtier ^_~ ). That's a pic of my 3.1L...you can clearly see the cam cover just above the neck of the engine stand.

You could change the cam cover gasket without having to completely pull your engine out...same with the rear main seal, and the distributor o-ring. It would definitely be a lot easier to work on it if you were to pull it out though...

As for where to get parts...any parts store should be able to get 'em for you...I prefer Napa and Advanced Auto.

http://napaonline.com/masterpages/NO...+Main+Seal+Set
http://napaonline.com/masterpages/NO...ounting+O-Ring

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...rtNumber=70800
http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...pe=105&PTSet=A

I couldn't find the cam cover gasket on either website...doesn't mean they don't have it though...I'm pretty sure I found one a little while back for $.68 when I was doing some shopping.

Cratemaster

I've been getting most of my parts via rockauto.com
they have a really nice easy to use, can't screw up, parts browser. If you want to make sure your getting a part that will work, you can call the 800 number they have and they'll answer any question you have and confirm that the part will in fact work on your date/model car. They're not exactly a performance parts dealer, so, for what your doing, it's fine, but they're mainly and OEM parts dealer.

KrazyKaycee

Thanks all

Those links came in handy when grabbing the parts Darn parts store gave me a funky look when I said o ring for the distributor lol So I printed out the picture and that did it :0. Some of the people that work at these stores have no business being there I think hehe.

Anyway gonna try the o ring in the dizzy tomorrow and see how that goes after cleaning things up really good to make sure it works or not.

Hopefully that will do the trick
Thanks again for the help everyone
kaycee