LT5 oil leak

[marteeni]

I have oil that is sitting in the valleys of the intake manifold. I looks like it is coming from the gaskets between the intake and the plenum. Is it expensive to replace the gaskets and is it a "do it yourself" type of job? The unfortunate thing about doing this is that I have no vacuum, secondary injectors, or alternator problems, which seems to be the main reason people pull the plenum.

 

[ROUTE66]

ZR1 Oil Leak

Im not sure this is where your's is leaking, There have been some ZR1's that leak oil in the valley. The [cylinder case ventilation cover gasket] & or one of the two [cylinder case ventilation hose's or both leak oil] If you have a manual & you are good with tools you can do it. IT is a JOB. Eli.

 

[marteeni]

How big of a job are you talking about? I have oil in the valleys on BOTH sides if that helps.

 

[ZR1 MK]

Ventilation cover requires the plenum to be removed. A proper job is to use a new gasket and loctite on the bolts, but I only tightened the bolts that were loose. Most where loose and of course without the loctite they may come loose over the years again, but I seem to have the plenum off from time to time ,so this was fine for me. I didn't go extra effort also, for I think the A/C needs to be disconnected, which I didn't want to do.
Mike

 

[ROUTE66]

ZR1 cil leak

I looked in the manual & it states you have to remove or disconnect the A/C comp. Good Luck Eli.

 

[phrogs]

your leak is probably comming from the crank case ventilation cover when they built the motors for some reason these were not tightened or didnt have locktight installed so they slowly losten over time and cause you a leak up top I had to do this with my motor as well

Heres the deal a light break down for you.
(1)youll need some rags!
(2)go ahead and drain your oil
(3)youll have to drain the coolant a bit to get it out of the injector housings you dont have to get all of the coolant out but you'll want to get the majority of it out of the top end.
(4)disconect your battery
(5)pull the plenum and then the fuel rail, before doing this open up the gas cap in the back keep the fule from going all over.
(6) take off the alternator
(7) remove the ac pump but leave the lines conected just tie it out of your way.
(8) check your injector housings wouldnt hurt to change there gaskets either.
(9) if you skip 8 thats fine you will see the breather box remove the coil pack assymbly it is bolted to 2 legs comming off the breather, the breather is the square box that has the 2 hoses comming out of the top going into the injector housings.
I would remove this and clean the top of your motor of all oil residue do not use simple green on your motor or anything that is corrosive to aluminum!
(10) after you have everything clean and the old gasket removed take new gasket and install breather put locktight on the bolts and torque to spec after that just replace everything as you removed it

Im kinda going from memory here but that is the basics!
heres some pictures of my job.!
I have more at home if you want to see them
johnny
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=605356

 

[phrogs]

I forgot the most important part
the gaskets can be bought here

www.whiteracingproducts.com
top end kit cost$90 gets you all the o-rings for the injectors, o-rings for the fuel line conections, and plenum gaskets.
the oil breather gasket is $14
so its not to much $$ to stop some leaks and plus it looks bad.

Yours may be leaking at the injector housings same thing change the gaskets I think they are like 30 for the pair?

take look at his sight and price what you need.

johnny

 

[marteeni]

Johnny, thanks for replying! I have a couple questions.

1. Do I need to drain the oil to do this as I've just changes oil for winter storage?
2. If I drain all the coolant out of the radiator, will that be enough to empty the top end?
3. What would you recommend to clean the motor with?
4. Which Locktit do you recommend?

Thanks, Jeff

 

[marteeni]

Also, your link below doesn't seem to work.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=605356

 

[phrogs]

Johnny, thanks for replying! I have a couple questions.

1. Do I need to drain the oil to do this as I've just changes oil for winter storage?No but you may have some residual fluid up top if you remove the injectorhousings and be carefull when cleaning after you take off the breather box once you open it your crank case is exposed
2. If I drain all the coolant out of the radiator, will that be enough to empty the top end? yes
3. What would you recommend to clean the motor with?go to your local autozone and get a can of the engine degreeser thats what I used messey but it works dont get it on your painted parts!
4. Which Locktit do you recommend? use locktite 262

Thanks, Jeff

heres my pictures!