65 replies to this topic

[RVR97]

Hi guys,

My rvr has been leaking engine oil pretty bad, I literately can see a trail of oil drips when I'm leaving my drive way and the oil has been sprayed all over underneath the car body from front to rear....

i checked the rocker gasket, oil filter housing, oil hoses, transfer case no leaks. So I though I may have bhg as I cant really figure out where is the leak coming from.
I went through the hard way, I ended up removing the head block, and the acl head gasket seems good. Is it possible the oil pump is gone? or the timing belt seals need replacement?

Oh yehh it also would be good can some one point me out how to remove that center bolt on the harmonic balancer so I can remove the lower timing cover to get a good look inside. PS I don't have a impact tool.

Bolt

Wae

[xjokux]

I usually use a breaker bar and give it a crank - bar hits floor and crack bolt.

or if you can lock the engine up either by taking rocker cover off and hold the camshaft seems to be the easier option or the cam gear bolts. Just might be a two man job.

[to4garret]

hang on, let me get this straight... you have an oil leak, you dont know where from or where abouts roughly its coming from, so you decided to pull the head off for a look?

did you degrease the engine thoughly, i mean like two cans of degreaser first when looking for the leak?

[to4garret]

p.s.

in order to help you explore the neither regions of your engine in the hope you will stumble on definitive signs of the cause of your oil leak.

make one of these tools from some flat bar from bunnings and the crank bolt comes off easy.

http://vfaq.com/mods/cranktool.html


FYI, my RVR was leaking from the crank seal.

[jack be nimble]

hey wae, down my way is a car clean place that has some good ramps to get right underneath. its on albany highway near the pioneer cemetary in kenwick.

bit late now i know...

[RVR97]

Previously it was some small oil leaks and it didn't bother me much. Now when ever i fill in new engine oil, some where is pouring out like running tap

I've tried degreaser before no where to be seen leaking beside close proximity near or inside the lower timing cover. So im sure its the oil pump or possible crank seal.

Thanks for the link to make the tool. Will get one made up tomorrow hopefully.

Wae

[BMGTZ]

you don't need to take the centre bolt out to get the balancer off.....it is held on by the four bolt already removed in the picture. Just give a bit of wiggling and it will come loose.


is there oil running down the sump?....no .....then there probably isnt a leak behind that cover.

however since you have gone this far.....you have to take the cover off to do the cam timing anyway.

did you happen to have sniff of the oil that leaked out?......just to see if it was tranny oil or engine oil.?

[RVR97]

The balancer and lower timing cover is off. Theres oil inside the timing cover but still can't pin point wheres the oil leak. Is it safe to spray degreaser on the oil pump?

Brian theres oil running down the sump... I still don't know wheres the leak coming from. Maybe I need a engine hoist to take that whole engine out "since the head is already off" and get the whole thing rebuild? What do you guys think, put in new water pump, new oil pump, new seals, bearings, and belts?

Water pump is off too "need to change to a new one as there sign of leakage"

[jack be nimble]

can only be crank seal, or balance shaft seals or cam seal, if it behind timing cover
get that degreaser in there.

no point rebuilding it unless it has bad compression or bad oil pressure. my 2c

[RVR97]

I notice that the water pump is covered with oil top to botton, cam seals look ok. As for the crank and balance shaft are blocking by the sprockets I cant really see is it leaking.

[BMGTZ]

if the oil is on the water pump....it was most likely cam seals.

however while you have the front off the engine...do the oil pump, balance shaft and crank seals to be sure it will not leak when reassembled.

be careful to get the oil pump gear off gently.....and locktite the nut when you put it back on!!

[warbo]

just fixed up a heap of leaks on my hsg on christmas day ( no family up here. haa). Firstly, my lower timing cover was covered in oil and attached crap! upon removing all 3 timing covers i identified oil from both camshaft seals to be running down to the sump. These seals were very hard, no flex at all and had been replaced 2 years ago. And yes my water pump was covered in oil and crap as well. Upon removing my crank front seal, found that to be very hard and pissing oil everywhere as well and that was only 2 years old as well. This leak was very hard to see without taking off the crank timing plate and pulley. Put it all back together with new belts, seals, pump and oil. Parked it on a piece of clean cardboard and ran engine for 15 min., then turned off. Came out next day and moved vehicle off of cardboard and noted no leaks from the crank area (only the gearbox and transfer case and thats a whole different story!).
Also, if you need to remove the crank bolt, dont bother buying a rattle gun. I did and wasted my money. I put a 22mm impact socket over the bolt head, and then used a sidchrome 1/2 inch breaker bar which was rested on the chasis rail on the headlight side of the crankshaft. I then removed the spark plug leads and gave the engine a VERY SHORT crank (half a second) and the bolt came off quite easy with a "cracking" noise. Had read about this method on internet and thought it was a bit suss, but it is really really easy!!

The job is a lot easier with the special long threaded bolt to back off the tension from the hydraulic tensioner. Also check the tension on the belt tensioner pulley when you re-install and I would recommend using a mid strength thread locker (on other bolts as well), after noting my bolt had come very loose which had allowed the pulley and belt to almost chew right through the timing cover. Will post pics up soon on a new thread!

By the way. my oil leaks were very bad and most of the suspension components, and control arm were a mess.

Good luck.

[RVR97]

I'll gather as much info as possible before changing the seals. FYI guys this my first time going this far, so it's crucial I need to know what I'm doing such the torque settings, parts to get, time the belt correctly. So sad Im without a car now >< at least I bought a torque wrench just before Xmas.

Wabro it would me good if you can include the parts where you brought them from and the torque settings you apply while installing them back in the new thread. Btw did you swap in a new oil pump? Or reuse the old oil pump with new gasket? Did u put in the balane shaft eliminator kit? Ohh my rvr head is off, I guess there's nothing I can crank to open the crank bolt lol. I need to make up the tool to4garret link me.

My leaks is bad too, it went through all the way to back muffler...

[jack be nimble]

The job is a lot easier with the special long threaded bolt to back off the tension from the hydraulic tensioner.

i think the altenator adjusting bolt is perfect for this. is for the 93t anyway.

you can still crank engine without head on it. just make sure timing belt doesnt get caught up in crank pulley. only needs a touch on the starter..

as for gaskets, i bought a full gasket set and installed as many as i could. seeing as you need a head gasket as well it probably the cheapest option for you too.

[RVR97]

So there's no chances using back the old acl head gasket? It still look good. Just to be safe I'll get a new one in. Jack where did u order your 93t gasket sets? I went to malz a few weeks back complete gasket set for the 63t top n bottom block, I'm not sure does it include gaskets for the other pumps, filter housing they want 800ish for it....

Ive removed the timing belt, when you crank the engine does it go clock wise or anti clockwise? I was about to buy the special long threaded bolt from eBay, I'll let u know whether the alternator bolt can be use to adjust the tensioner on the 63t.

As for removing the balancer shaft sprocket bolt, the oil pump need to be removed first uh?

[BMGTZ]

no problem using the old gasket..... if you like leaks. sorry couldn't resist.

I have the tools for the timing belt setup if you need to borrow them.......but will need them back for a build in a week or so on the daughters ex boyfriends car....don't ask!

I can get the gasket set for yo as well....I suggest a permaseal MLS . not cheap but will hold some boost!

are you going to put head studs in? the old head bolts you have are probably the single use ones so will but stuffed.


engine cranks ....clockwise....suggest you call or sms me if you get stuck as this needs stuff to be right!

Edited by BMGTZ, 30 December 2011 - 04:25 AM.

[jack be nimble]

So there's no chances using back the old acl head gasket? It still look good. Just to be safe I'll get a new one in. Jack where did u order your 93t gasket sets? I went to malz a few weeks back complete gasket set for the 63t top n bottom block, I'm not sure does it include gaskets for the other pumps, filter housing they want 800ish for it....

Ive removed the timing belt, when you crank the engine does it go clock wise or anti clockwise? I was about to buy the special long threaded bolt from eBay, I'll let u know whether the alternator bolt can be use to adjust the tensioner on the 63t.

As for removing the balancer shaft sprocket bolt, the oil pump need to be removed first uh?

Have a look here, this one looks like a vr4 intake gasket size. so you will need to check it all suits your engine. My gaskets came from NZ.
Probably you are in a rush so gaskets from USA are out of the question.
I pretty sure Brian has a good price for gasket sets considering they are absolutely correct and they are here in perth.
http://www.ebay.com....=item336fb8122b

I have reused head gaskets with a spray of Hylomar, but i wouldnt reccomend it unless you are fully prepared to have to change it out later. (i have also fixed rotted magna heads with magic metal and a hand file, but the same applies,) you might get a week or a year or 5 mins before you pulling it all apart again.

That is a pretty big turbo you have as well, i would be thinking about better head studs as Brian suggested for when you wind it up...

[warbo]

would suggest buying a complete vrs gasket kit as already suggested. just get the right one! I didnt need a head gasket so thought i would buy only what I needed. Never again!! two of the three bearings I was sent to do the timing belt didnt fit. I was sent a bearing for the tensioner arm from a Mitsubishi Express van, and the balance shaft belt bearing was believed to be out of a vr4 or something as the outer ridge contacted the crank timing plate when tension was placed on the balance shaft belt. see pic. the bearing with the light blue dust shield is the correct one but I cant quite make out the NTN part number. The Gmb bearing has the dark dust shield and contacted with the crank timing plate.

Couldnt get to mitsi dealer to order the correct bearing before they closed for christmas so I ended up hand filiing the gmb bearing to a concentric press mark on the side of the outer ridge. Will do until correct part is sourced.

if u decide to not buy full gasket set, then I hope these parts are of some assistance.
1. camshaft seals - ACL- NJ 242
2. timing belt - Bosch 1987 AE1 057 (got 130k out of my last one with no problems so no need to buy genuine)
3. balance shaft belt- Gates T 168
4. hydraulic tensioner MD 308086 (about $300 ex stock sydney mitsi...Meek were quite cheaper).
5. timing belt idler puller- GMB BT 366
6. crank seal (front) - tba docket is in back of hsg which is in storage. will advise soon.

sorry cant help with seals for balance shaft or oil pump drive as didnt replace and still learing myself.
cheers.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[RVR97]

Jack I'm not in a rush, I'll be doing travelling oversea on the 5th so I know that I won't be able to put everything back together in time Forgot to mention it has arp head studs, possible to reuse, toque settings 80-80-80?

I had a look at the ebay link, it comes with MLS head gasket too, but as Brian suggested a permaseal MLS would hold some boost. What your though ebay mls head gasket vs permaseal MLS head gasket? I'm sure Brian know his stuffs I'll pm him and make sure I'll have the correct gasket set instead chasing other bits and pieces that don't fit.

$142 for a Permaseal MLS S2131MLSR, is that over price for the head gasket?

http://www.nahux.com...rt_no=S2131MLSR


Brian is your timing tool similar to these on ebay? I might buy this set for myself for future use.

http://www.ebay.com....=item20c0a2ff40


warbo did you have to remove the entire oil pump in order to remove the crank seal, i was thinking once the crank sprocket came off, I can use a flat head screwdriver to remove the seal?

Edited by RVR97, 01 January 2012 - 04:05 AM.

[BMGTZ]

yeah mine is similar to that but has a little widget that holds the cam gears together


140 ish isnt too bad for the gasket

Edited by BMGTZ, 01 January 2012 - 04:12 AM.