Oil leak help...

Bustedsm

Bustedsm

Numbered Car Crazy
I've just recently sprung an oil leak afer I replaced the 17c on 1190 and it's not coming from anywhere near there. If I get under the truck right behind the passenger tire I can look up towards the transmission fill tube/dipstick and see that it is wet. I've smelled the leak and it really doesn't smell of oil or transmission fluid but I'm pretty sure it's oil. Is there anything up towards the back of the motor that is prone to leaking or should I suspect that the transmission fill tube is leaking? It is wet as well.


Any help or advice would be awesome, thanks guys!
 
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pauly78

New member
Re: Oil leak help...

Intake manifold...at the corner of the head and valley rail. Mine is leaking there, front and back. Had the same problem on my S-10 after doing a vortec head swap. I just have bad luck with sealing this part. Any suggestions???????
 
bezerk

bezerk

New member
Re: Oil leak help...

pauly78 said:
Intake manifold...at the corner of the head and valley rail. Mine is leaking there, front and back. Had the same problem on my S-10 after doing a vortec head swap. I just have bad luck with sealing this part. Any suggestions???????
Click to expand...

yes rtv on the lower intake. always with an modded vortec intake!
 
dgoodhue

dgoodhue

BuSTeD 4.3
Re: Oil leak help...

Have you gotten up under the truck? The turbo oil return line often leaks (passenger side by the oil pan).
 
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pauly78

New member
Re: Oil leak help...

bezerk said:
yes rtv on the lower intake. always with an modded vortec intake!
Click to expand...

I actually used Edelbrock 2111. That is the conversion 4b carb intake. I made my own gaskets eventually because the stock type were way too thick. Cutting my own let me make them 1/2 as thick. Would be a nice intake in the ty's as well. If memory serves correctly it has flats on the runners for drilling out for injectors.
 
Mtn Z

Mtn Z

Donating Member
Re: Oil leak help...

One of my valve cover gaskets was leaking and oil was draining down the back of the block. The other leak I had was the turbo oil return line. Whenever there is a leak underneath, it kind of drains everywhere so I wouldn't rule anything out. I had to clean the entire undercarriage when I was looking for leaks because it was soaked.
 
Bustedsm

Bustedsm

Numbered Car Crazy
Re: Oil leak help...

Mtn Z said:
One of my valve cover gaskets was leaking and oil was draining down the back of the block. The other leak I had was the turbo oil return line. Whenever there is a leak underneath, it kind of drains everywhere so I wouldn't rule anything out. I had to clean the entire undercarriage when I was looking for leaks because it was soaked.
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I think I'm probably going to hint more towards the intake gasket because of the new found pressure from the rebuilt turbo in comparison to the stock one I had pulled. I need to find this out before I just start replacing crap though so I don't waste $$
 
Bustedsm

Bustedsm

Numbered Car Crazy
Re: Oil leak help...

Ok so I changed the valve cover gaskets and it seems the leak is either the same or getting worse.

How likely is the rear main seal to leak? It doesn't seem that the leak is coming from down low but higher on the engine.

Is the intake gasket a probable culprit?
 
gkrcr882

gkrcr882

SyTyless......for now!
Re: Oil leak help...

Did you degrease and clean the engine as much as possible before looking? It's challenging to do on jackstands (a lift makes it easy), but spray everything with engine degreaser, let it soak, and wash it well. Let it dry, then run the truck for a little while, then have a look. Should be able to get a better idea of where the leak is coming from vs having oil all over everything.
 
Bustedsm

Bustedsm

Numbered Car Crazy
Re: Oil leak help...

It's pretty hard, I've cleaned up the oil pretty nicely and can see if coming from different places. The oil leak started after I fixed my turbo so now that it's actually producing a decent amount of pressure I want to hope it's my lower intake gasket but I don't know how often those leak...
 
nello

nello

Active member
Re: Oil leak help...

Bustedsm said:
It's pretty hard, I've cleaned up the oil pretty nicely and can see if coming from different places. The oil leak started after I fixed my turbo so now that it's actually producing a decent amount of pressure I want to hope it's my lower intake gasket but I don't know how often those leak...
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VERRRRY often. A leak on the lower intake would cause a little bit of a rough idle too. I'd start there for sure.
 
Bustedsm

Bustedsm

Numbered Car Crazy
Re: Oil leak help...

I took a look at my oil leak and noticed a plug right underneath the distributor that was wet along with some of the wiring there. I'm going to see if I can snag an upper/lower intake gasket set here soon so I can get this over with!
 
Bustedsm

Bustedsm

Numbered Car Crazy
Re: Oil leak help...

I just ordered a throttle body, upper, and lower gasket set and also a 160* thermostat so I should know for sure if my oil leak is fixed. Any hints and tips on doing this?
 
Quickstop [UK]

Quickstop [UK]

Combating adversyty.
Re: Oil leak help...

3mm RTV bead on both sides of the lower gaskets.
what thread sealer are you using? ONLY USE RTV THREADLOCKER. Seen sooooooo many threads here where other stuff has been used and it leaks coolant.

I know you're doing it for oil but doens't hurt....

have you replaced a dist before?
 
Bustedsm

Bustedsm

Numbered Car Crazy
Re: Oil leak help...

Quickstop [UK] said:
3mm RTV bead on both sides of the lower gaskets.
what thread sealer are you using? ONLY USE RTV THREADLOCKER. Seen sooooooo many threads here where other stuff has been used and it leaks coolant.

I know you're doing it for oil but doens't hurt....

have you replaced a dist before?
Click to expand...

It was replaced when I bought the truck. :tup:
 
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