[Roadsters] Fw: Persistant Oil Leak!

[Daryl Smith]

Sent this last night but it didn't seem to come thru to the list.....at least I didn't get it back anyway......

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Daryl Smith 
To: datsun-roadsters at autox.team.net 
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 10:43 PM
Subject: Re: [Roadsters] Persistant Oil Leak!


First, thankyou to all for the tips. I'm just about ready to weld the oilpan on..........

Ok, Spent the day at Ross's changing the oilpan Gasket. The old gasket had split at the front and was hanging out.......Ross has been nice enough to help me out with this in preparation for the Run on Friday....Trying to figure out where to put the 'Sponsored by Sports Imports' stickers.........

Anyway, all went fairly well with the change, used a permatex copper spray gasket adhesive to stick the gasket to the pan, and a coating of heavy grease between the gasket and block. 
Looked great for the first two test drives, about 20 -30 minutes, no leaks.
By the time I got home however (an hour or so touring around), a small leak had appeared. I went for a drive a couple hours later, pushing the car a little harder and the leak seems to be a little worse..........If it doesn't get any worse than what it is now, I may just run with it for the weekend (fingers crossed) and worry about it later..

Yes this is a steel oilpan. It's not warped or dimpled. Bolts and threads all in good condition and holding fine. Tightened just till the lockwashers went flat.
We did notice that the timing cover hangs down about .010" (yes, I installed it...) below the block tho and suspect that is the source of the trouble. was hoping a good sealant would hold it together tho....... 

Ross was considering excess blowby and pressure in the crankcase blowing it out, but when you pull the hose off the valvecover there is almost no pressure from blowby, although this is only at idle.
I did a compression test and got 190, 192,185, 190 psi. (1800cc stroker @ about 9.7:1 compression, cam is 221* at .050" )
I'm using a U20 oil pump. Idle oil pressure is at 25 psi, running pressure about 60 psi.

So... Any further opinions? Is this going to have to be an oilpan, timingcover gaskets, and front seal replacement job? If I'm going to reposition the timing cover, probably a good idea to replace the front seal? Rubber oilpan Gasket?

Gasket #4 coming right up!!  :-(

On the other hand the EFI tune is slowly improving, but I need to drive it more - as long as the oil stays in the engine.......

Daryl

**Wednesday - Put a vented oil filler cap on the valve cover and the leaks seem to be less. Enough less that I will attempt the BC Thaw Run with it!   I did top up my BCAA coverage just in case tho......  :-)