Oil Leak......

[AUSSIEVETTEMAN]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if any of you have had any annoying oil leaks around the valve covers and inlet manifold?
I have a few small leaks that leave oil in the valley of the Edelbrock inlet manifold. I have replaced the valve cover gaskets with Speco rubber jobs twice and still there is a leak. I have a set of cork gaskets I am putting on this week to give that a try.
Valve covers are Edelbrock alloy jobs to cover the 1.6 roller rockers.
Could there be oil making its way up the inlet manifold bolts? Dumb question but I have heard a few guys say this can happen and as a result they put a little sealant on each bolt when installing them.
Could I take each bolt out one at a time and put goo on them or should I just rip the inlet off and try again?

Another guess is that the inlet manifold gasket has leaks - new engine though?

The oil drips down on the rear of the block and onto the starter motor case before hitting the floor. Not much oil, just enough to annoy the $%^& out of me.
I use Mobil 1 as the L81 has new piston caps (has been bored 20 thou) and now has different oiling capabilities. There is a high volume oil pump and pressure is always around 45-50 psi at idle and off the gauge at rpm.
At the base of the HEI dizzy, there is build up of oil, I can't tell if the pressure guage connection is leaking or the gasket on the bottom of the dizzy has issues.

Any tips?

Cheers

Tony

 

[zachh]

Do you have an electric choke, or a tube choke( a tube goes from the carb into the manifold, and back out to the carb). If you have a tube choke, because it goes into the lifter valley ( which is full of oil) The metal cap might sometimes leak. My old intake manifold did that. I just replaced the gasket and it stopped.
Good Luck
zachh
Hey.... An old car isn't any fun if everything works the first time!

 

[vmrod]

You can take the manifold bolts off 1 at a time and apply sealant, then reinstall.

I have the same valve cover as yours and no leaks. I had put a little bit of sealant on both sides of my rubber gaskets, to get them tacky, then installed them.

 

[Chas]

bolt on the intake

I had a small puddle on my edelbrock manifold and took out the bolt, used some high temp sealant, and its gone.
let us know how it goes

Chas

 

[AUSSIEVETTEMAN]

Thanks guys, I have some chevy stamped bolts coming and some thread seal on hand.
I am also putting a set of rubber FelPro valave cover gaskets on just to make sure.

A bit of degreaser and the gerni and I'll check her in a weeks time.

Cheers

Tony

 

[RodsnRides]

Yes, I'm betting it's the intake bolts. The center ones are usually the culprit. I wire brush mine real good and use a nice dab of Permatex #2. I also prefer 12 point bolts to make getting at them easier (ARP stainless). It's not the original motor, so I'm not worried. The original is on a dolly in the garage.

Did you install the intake? Did you use the gaskets at front and rear or just a bead of sealer? That may be an issue. Of course the gasket under the distributor could be the culprit, I use wheel bearing grease on that one, to help seal and allow for timing adjustments. If you pull the dizzy, I would check the oil pressure tap. A 1/2" strip of teflon tape works there.

Good luck. I, too, hate annoying leaks. I've gotta fix the timing cover seal on the wagon. Yuck.:ugh That job just plain sucks.

Rick
:gap

 

[AUSSIEVETTEMAN]

Yes, I'm betting it's the intake bolts. The center ones are usually the culprit. I wire brush mine real good and use a nice dab of Permatex #2. I also prefer 12 point bolts to make getting at them easier (ARP stainless). It's not the original motor, so I'm not worried. The original is on a dolly in the garage.

Did you install the intake? Did you use the gaskets at front and rear or just a bead of sealer? That may be an issue. Of course the gasket under the distributor could be the culprit, I use wheel bearing grease on that one, to help seal and allow for timing adjustments. If you pull the dizzy, I would check the oil pressure tap. A 1/2" strip of teflon tape works there.

Good luck. I, too, hate annoying leaks. I've gotta fix the timing cover seal on the wagon. Yuck.:ugh That job just plain sucks.

Rick
:gap

Rick,

Yeah your right, the centre ones are where the most amount of oil sits.
I have a set of ARP 12 point bolts on there already, but crap tools & sockets. Most of our tools come from asia and the good tools none of the working guys can afford as the companies here just charge 3 times what they paid when they bring them in.
I have ordered via Ebay (cheaper than buying here in Australia and from Summit - Summit charge a $50 processing fee for international orders, so I refuse to order from them, shame though as they ahve some good gear.) a set of hex Chevy stamped bolts, should look nice against a new painted engine.

I didn't install the intake, it was done as part of the engineering package when we did the refresh about 18 months ago. It has gaskets from memory.

The dizzy is a small problem, but I did notice the oil pressure tap was full of oil + dirt mix and am guessing I have a bigger leak there than the dizzy.

I should get my bolts by the end of the week, 3 to 4 days from the U.S via USPS. Once they are here I'll do the work.
I'll have to squeeze the job in as the Brisbane motor show is on next weekend and the C6 is making a show via a private converter here in Australia.

Funny how the private guys can manage to do what the factory cannot and convert the Vette to right hand drive.

RUMOUR: The next generation Vette (2008/2009) MAY be offered as Right Hand Drive and is on Holden's wish list along with the Camaro concept.
They (Holden) have already secured the Caddy CTS in rear wheel drive format, I think.

I can't wait for the Vette to be available here factory backed, it has only taken them 54 years to wake up!

Cheers

Tony

Cheers