Okay I am a 88 RS V6 2.8 lately its been running low on oil. I trying looking for a oil leak, because I can see it dripping down as the car is on. But still can't pin point the problem. Not sure if its the hearse or a rear main seal leak. Heads just been replaced along with the motor had a cracked block. Everything ran fine then I started to notice oil leaking. The RPMs start to jump as I drive between 30 and 45 mph. I can feel it wanting to jerk. Any ideas. I need the help of the Camaro Gods.

USMC

 

Ummm , No Camaro God here , , , But , , I know that before I got too worried about this oil leak , especially if it's in the back of the engine near the distributor , I would replace the O ring seal on the distributor where it goes into the block . If I read your post right , the original engine was cracked , you replaced it with a different one (possibly re using some of your original parts , like the distributor , perhaps ?) and now it got a big leak , yes ? ... Well , I've personally seen a bad distributor O ring put half a quart of oil on the floor in less than 30 seconds . If it isn't the distributor O ring , then ya , you could need more than a prayer ....

Good Luck with it ....

 

Yeah I used the same parts. But I had the heads pressure checked and mag wash before put back on. And I thought it was the distrubtor too because I notice there is some oil back there. So I replaced that too with a brand new one because it was still covered.

 

Well , as long as you know the O ring is good , then my next two suspects would be either the intake manifold or valve cover gaskets . If the oil is on top of the engine , tword the back of the block , I would really suspect the RTV seal at the back edge of the manifold (seems to be called "the China wall" these days) ..... If that seal were leaking , chances are it could also be acting as a vacuum leak too , and causing the bad running you described in your first post .

As long as you've checked your PCV system , and found no leaks at the hoses or PCV valve , then I'd say you're probablly gonna end up doing a manifold gasket set at some point ... Just my Wild azz guess , , without actually seeing the leaking engine in person ......

 

What sucks is I just changed all that last week and torque them down to the specs. I can see oil on the China wall and then a puddle on the passenger side. Some oil on the starter too. I sprayed to check for a vacuum leak nothing. I think I am going to do a oil change tomorrow and and clean really good down there and a stop leak and try to pin point more where the location is at.

 

Pull the dizzy, replace the o-ring, and put a distributor GASKET on the base before you put it back in (may need to ask for one from a 350 or something). Replace the valve cover gaskets and put new RTV on the block ends (and don't start the engine until the RTV has set for at least 12 hours, preferably a full day). If you still have a leak at the back, I would suspect either the rear cam cover seal, RMS, or oil pan gasket, after all of the above has been done.

:edit: And I've found that the Haynes recommendation for the torque on the valve covers to be EXTREMELY conservative... Those things really need to be snugged down.

 

Okay its worth a shot.

 

The first thing you should have done before you threw the engine in was a FULL gasket set, anyways. And a water pump. Depending on how long the engine has sat, every seal/gasket may have dried out.

 

That is what I did was change out a full head gasket set timing cover set rear main seal set and oil pan set.