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2.3L ('83-'97) Oil leak


ForgedCrank

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 30, 2024
Messages
188
City
Indianapolis, IN
Vehicle Year
1994
Engine
2.3 (4 Cylinder)
Transmission
Manual
Alright, I'm fixin to tear apart the front of this engine again ('94, 2.3l) due to an oil leak slinging around on the timing belt. I can't say that I'm exactly pleased about this situation, but I have absorbent diapers under the truck because now when I park it, it is leaving a couple of drips.
Anyway, I plan on doing the crank and oil pump seals, the camshaft seal is already new.
That said, when I had this all apart this summer, there were zero indications of any oil leaks, so I doubt any of these seals are leaking. Regardless that they are 30 years old so I'm still replacing them anyway. So I suspect that I did not get the cam sprocket bolt threads properly sealed, or at least that is the most likely culprit since I cant see in there yet until I take it all apart.
When I assembled this last time, I used Permatex "Thread Sealant with PTFE", #80632.
Do you guys suppose this is the right stuff to be using there? I understand the bolt acts as the plug for the hollow camshaft with pressurized hot oil. Did I use the wrong stuff here, or is there something more suitable?
 
Last edited:
There's only the few things there... If you used a liberal amount of the thread sealant and let it sit for like a day or more before you started the engine the cam bolt should be ok, that fixed mine... The only other things in there are the cam seal, aux shaft seal, crank front seal and the gasket for the crank seal housing...

Oil leaks suck, it's why I've given up on them in the past, I've tried hard and failed then took a break for a while then found something dumb...
 
There's only the few things there... If you used a liberal amount of the thread sealant and let it sit for like a day or more before you started the engine the cam bolt should be ok, that fixed mine... The only other things in there are the cam seal, aux shaft seal, crank front seal and the gasket for the crank seal housing...

Oil leaks suck, it's why I've given up on them in the past, I've tried hard and failed then took a break for a while then found something dumb...

Well, i went through it all. It was difficult to tell what was leaking because the oil was quite evenly dispersed in there. I replaced all 3 seals with National brand #955 (all three seals are the same), and this time used Permatex HighTemp thread sealant (#59214) on the Cam sprocket bolt. It was painful, but I waited the entire 72 hours the label states for it to be fully cured before I attempted the first start.
I've driven it about 50 miles and so far, I see no indications of any leaking. Then again, I didn't notice last time til after a few hundred miles.
To note, the other stuff I used on the cam bolt the first time (Permatex "Thread Sealant with PTFE", #80632) was hard and crumbly when I took it apart. I don't know if that is normal, or if this was the wrong application for that stuff, but I won't be using it again for anything like this.
 

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