Engine oil leak

[marlinh]

Any time you replace a seal the inner rubber lip should be lubricated with grease. Wheel bearing grease works well. If it is installed dry it will leak. You will keep redoing the job. Also fine emery cloth to polish the sealing surface on the crankshaft is a must, in the direction of rotation. Clean it carefully before installing the seal. Brakeclean on a rag works well. Make sure there are no grooves on the crank or a speedy sleeve will be required as someone else already said. A bead of silicone on the outer surface helps keep the seal from 'walking out'. Be very careful not to get silicone on the inner parts of the seal.

[Logbear]

I'll be working on this again on Wednesday. I'll report back on how it turns out.

Petros, I will have the car home Wednesday afternoon. PM sent.

[Logbear]

I was running the engine yesterday looking for the leak when the key flew off of the shaft. Does anyone know what size woodroof key it is. I picked up a 1/8" X 3/4", but there is a tiny bit of slop when I put the timing belt gear on. The next size would be 5/32", but I don't think there is that much slop. Is this key a specific Toyota metric size?

[Logbear]

Well, I answered my own question. I called toyota and they had the key and it fits really tight just like it should. I got two of them so I'll have a spare. I'll measure it with a micrometer to see just what the measurement is. I also picked up a couple distributor O-ring's and an actual toyota front seal. Time to put things back together.

[Petros]

did you find the cause of the leak? When I came by yesterday we could not tell where it was coming from even after we had it all apart.

[Logbear]

Yes, I found the spot where the oil is coming from.

The good news is I'm really good at putting in the front seal. That was probably never a problem.

The bad news is...The oil is coming from the block about 1/2 inch from the seal on the upper right quadrant. When I ran the engine for a minute I found oil pooled at that little spot right below the seal but the seal itself was very dry. So I cleaned everything up really good and ran the engine for about 10 seconds and took stuff off and could see the trail of oil coming down from that spot on the block.

Now, what can I do to fix this? Is there some kind of alumiweld goo I can put on there that will dry and harden and fix this or am I screwed.

[dlb]

do you mean your block is cracked? might be time for an engine swap.

[Petros]

sounds like it is the oil pump housing, not the block (the block is cast iron, the oil pump housing on the front of the block is aluminum). I would not risk it, what ever caused the failure might fail what ever you patch it with. wonder what caused that to leak, very unusual without an accident or other engine damage.

The aluminum housing where the seal goes is actually the oil pump assembly (it bolts to the front of the block by at the crank). You are not screwed, but it is a big job to replace pump either way.

So you have to replace the oil pump. Your options are to buy a new one, or pull a good one off of one of your spare engines. These pumps are usually pretty durable, unless car was run with dirty oil all the time. So if you pull one off another engine, clean it out with solvent, you can use it. I told Synth about it this morning (I was in Shoreline) and he offered a good oil pump if you need one. That engine I saw in your carport that was all apart with the oil pan off is the best bet if you do not want one from Synth.

It is easiest to pull the engine to replace the oil pump because you have to pull the oil pan. Pulling the engine has it own major issues too, but you can replace the oil pump with the engine in the car (I have done it, a hassle but eaiser than pulling the engine). If that engine is worn out, or other wise not worth keeping in the car, you might consider just replacing it with a good one.

If you are going to keep the engine in the car, replace the oil pump without removing the engine from the car like this:

Unbolt the front engine mounts and jack the front of the engine up as far as you can (watch out you do not damage the distributor on the firewall, best to remove it). than you unbolt all the 10 mm oil pan bolts and pull it down. You will need a 1/4" drive with a u-joint to reach them all, and a few over the front diff you get with an open end wrench (you may need a pry bar to break the old gasket free). Than you can remove the four 10 mm nuts holding on the oil pick-up (study it on the engine you pull the replacement oil pump off from). Pull the oil pick up free and you can wiggle the oil pan out from under the engine. Than you can replace the pump by removing the bolts holding oil pump. Clean the replacement pump and put sealant on the new one, install it without the new seal in place. You have to put the pan back in place loose (with either a new gasket or sealant on the surfaces), and install the pick-up nuts through the front gap (careful not to drop the nuts into the pan!). Than you have to patch any rubbed off sealant, and install all of the oil pan nuts and bolts (do not over tighten the pan bolts! Just snug tight). Than drop the engine back down on its mounts.

For what ever reason if you want, you can remove the connecting rod caps while the pan is off and inspect the rod bearings. I have replaced them if necessary this way, but it has to be pretty bad before the rod bearings are an issue. It also is not easy to work from under the car between the front diff and the cross member, but it can be done (I have done it). Make sure you put the rod cap back on in the same direction it came off (mark it with arrow pointed forward), and torque to factory spec.

BTW, sorry I could not come by today, my schedule is too full and I be up late trying to get a project done for tomorrow.

Good luck.

[Logbear]

Yes, it's the oil pump housing, not the block. I'm going to take a chance and try out some stuff called Q-bond. Maybe it'll hold for a while. I'll report what happens.