What Oil Leak

Chassis & Electrical. Ask a question, share your knowledge, build it right.

Moderator: Ken

What Oil Leak

Postby staggerwing » 22 Sat Oct, 2016 5:48 pm

To make a long story short, there is a really nice silicone oil sump gasket that seems to do a better job that than traditional paper gaskets. It's reusable from oil change to oil change, and I got mine from Wolfsburg West ($6.50 + shipping).

Image

Okay, here's the rest of the story. I was playing around with carbs and tuning, and dropped a lock washer down the intake over cylinders 3 and 4. No way to fish it out so had to pull the head on that side. Discovered a bunch of oil/dirt on top of cylinders 3 and 4 while I was in there that I thought might be blocking the airflow. Ended up pulling the engine to clean it up because I was worried about overheating and wanted to find that dang oil leak/leaks that's been buggin me for almost ten years! Replaced rear main as there was evidence of oil leaking there, replaced oil cooler seals as someone had installed the incorrect seals under the oil cooler (slightly larger than what they should have been), and used head bolt washers as spacers under the oil cooler so the over-sized seals wouldn't get too smashed. As it turned out, the washer/spacers were too large and the over-sized seals weren't getting smashed enough! Geez! Replaced tranny seal while we were at it, and got a new 36hp shroud (nice and round, no more flat spot across the top) and painted it teal so all you chrome guys would be jealous. Moved the fuel lines to behind the shroud and re-positioned the coil behind the distributor, sort of out of sight. Got her back in the buggy and took her for a test drive. All okay, but evidence of oil leak near the sump. Closed the door to the barn and went to bed. Next morning, opened the barn door and found this:

Image

Evidence of oil leak around the sump plate so pulled it and found this:

Image

Yep, there's little groove between the engine case halves that the paper gasket was having trouble filling. Cleaned the area super-good and put a spot of JB Weld in that groove and let it dry overnight. Next day sanded the JB flat, installed the new silicone gasket, filled her with oil, went for a spin around the block. Let her sit overnight and found this the next morning:

Image

What the... it's NEVER been like this. A week later, and there still are zero oil leaks under this buggy! When I installed the silicone gasket it was obvious that there was some gasket expansion going on during tightening and I honestly feel that the silicone gasket alone would have been enough to occupy that little groove and stop my leaking case halves without using the JB Weld. Might be something worth checking out if you have a pesky leak in your sump area.

Cheers..
User avatar
staggerwing
Buggyholic
 
Posts: 638
Joined: 16 Fri Jun, 2006 10:54 am
Location: Seguin, TX.

Re: What Oil Leak

Postby Ken » 23 Sun Oct, 2016 5:15 pm

Nice write up Richard.
Thanks for sharing.
Ken
Site Admin
 
Posts: 1402
Joined: 12 Tue Sep, 2006 4:39 pm
Location: xʇ `pooʍʇɟıɹp

Re: What Oil Leak

Postby johber41 » 23 Sun Oct, 2016 10:46 pm

Nice catch and repair Richard. I was having the same problem with the paper gasket and decided to make one out of an old piece of leather. Added a little grease to both sides and it has been dry. My engine does not have an oil filter so getting the sump gasket right and putting new push rod tubes and a fresh oil cooler gasket has kept the engine drip free.
johber41
Buggyholic
 
Posts: 441
Joined: 23 Tue Oct, 2012 10:40 pm
Location: Seabrook, Texas

Re: What Oil Leak

Postby ScottR » 24 Mon Oct, 2016 9:58 pm

Great job, Richard. Quite the investigator.

Nice write up too, I followed along like I was there.
ScottR
Buggy Nut
 
Posts: 196
Joined: 08 Fri Oct, 2010 12:23 am
Location: Alamo City

Re: What Oil Leak

Postby GregR » 25 Tue Oct, 2016 7:53 pm

Great write up sir!
Just wondering if you ever had issues with oil leaks that seep
around the threads of the sump cover studs? Any thoughts there?
GregR
User avatar
GregR
Site Admin
 
Posts: 1335
Joined: 20 Tue Sep, 2005 9:47 am
Location: North Texas

Re: What Oil Leak

Postby staggerwing » 31 Mon Oct, 2016 8:16 am

I think so, I do recall seeing some oil "hanging" from those acorn nuts, and I think I read that this silicone gasket takes care of that as well. I had several leaks contributing to the puddle on this buggy. After removing the engine and pressure washing everything it was easy to find the big leak where that groove in the gasket was; it was huge! When I returned from the first test-drive, I crawled under the engine and watched the oil creep from that area in a matter of seconds. It's been a couple of weeks now and not a drop on the pan!
User avatar
staggerwing
Buggyholic
 
Posts: 638
Joined: 16 Fri Jun, 2006 10:54 am
Location: Seguin, TX.

Re: What Oil Leak

Postby Dave W » 02 Wed Nov, 2016 7:42 pm

Nice write up Richard! Now that you are retired and have a lot of time on your hands, can you come over to our house and fix up my oil leaker! I have some new parts appropriately aged (I learned this from Ken - you have to leave your parts sitting around for a couple of years before installing) and ready to go.
Dave W
Buggy Nut
 
Posts: 133
Joined: 08 Fri Feb, 2013 12:36 am
Location: Austin, TX

Re: What Oil Leak

Postby staggerwing » 10 Thu Nov, 2016 11:30 am

Yeah, sure Dave, I'll bring the beer!
Oh yeah, here's an update on the leak:

Image

Purposely took a different angle so Ken wouldn't accuse me of using the same pic twice. Dangit, should have used a datestamp too.

cheers all..
User avatar
staggerwing
Buggyholic
 
Posts: 638
Joined: 16 Fri Jun, 2006 10:54 am
Location: Seguin, TX.


Return to Technical Talk

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests

cron