tracking down a leak

[WhiteBroncoII2WD]

jordan, step away from the cpu and get your hands greasy! have you pulled the tranny yet to see where its coming from? you can only do so much wrenching from the keyboard

I totally understand Rick. I'm going to being pulling the truck into the garage here at work later today and do a once over especially the lower intake. I know for sure the valve covers are good, after I did those last week I went ahead and pressure washed the engine so whatever is leaking on the y pipe should be pretty obvious, especially if it's coming from the top half(lower intake and or distributor o-ring). Having grease on my hand brings a smile to my face, just last night my wife, our puppy dog and I had our Christmas pictures taken and in one shot you can see a faded grease stain right above my wedding ring. I have such a wonderful wife, she wasn’t even upset.

 

[rickcdewitt]

leaking on the y pipe .

well you'll figure it out,thats much too expensive of a y pipe to have oil dripping on it(the jba's,lol)

 

[WhiteBroncoII2WD]

well you'll figure it out,thats much too expensive of a y pipe to have oil dripping on it(the jba's,lol)

agreed it's good to see someone has faith that I'll fix the problem

 

[WhiteBroncoII2WD]

I got to take a good look at the rear of the engine, top half and it is bone dry, no leaking from there. All observations are pointed to the rear main seal and given what I've done already a problem with it sealing. I don't think that even using oil dye would provide a better indication as to where the leak is originating from on the engine.

 

[WhiteBroncoII2WD]

well....I am going to replace the rear main seal since I'm in there, but that is not what was leaking...anybody want to guess.... the camshaft freeze plug, apparently there wasn't any sealant on the plug so oil was just squeezing by it. All freeze plugs were installed at the machine shop, I wonder if they’ll give me a new on…no, I’ll just get a new one myself.

 

[WhiteBroncoII2WD]

The freeze plug I took out for the camshaft was a deep plug and I want to replace it with another deep plug, but the only thing I could find was a deep brass plug. I'm already using brass freeze plugs for the side of the block that comes in contact with coolant. Is there anything wrong with using brass for the camshaft plug considering it comes in contact with oil? I know it sounds a odd question, but I have to ask, I want this to be my last time doing this.

 

[rickcdewitt]

i think i would get one from a machine shop,you don't want it to fail.

 

[WhiteBroncoII2WD]

i think i would get one from a machine shop,you don't want it to fail.

that's my thought too

 

[WhiteBroncoII2WD]

i think i would get one from a machine shop,you don't want it to fail.

finally got the right plug, though it is steel, but after all it is for the camshaft and not the side of the block. Hope to get everything back together Saturday evening Lord willing and I pray this engine will never leak again. At lest I'll know what to look for next time when I rebuild another engine, so there is some good out of it.

 

[UnderMedikated]

Go to an auto store such as Autozone and get some tracer dye for 5.99 a bottle and put it in the oil. Get a small UV light to and trace the leak. It works great.
They might even have a UV light to loan you at the auto parts store.

 

[WhiteBroncoII2WD]

Go to an auto store such as Autozone and get some tracer dye for 5.99 a bottle and put it in the oil. Get a small UV light to and trace the leak. It works great.
They might even have a UV light to loan you at the auto parts store.

Thanks for the suggestion, but the leak has already been found.

 

[WhiteBroncoII2WD]

The leak is finally squared away, clean engine….now though of course there is a new problem. I’ll list it in a new post.