Oil Leak Nightmare.... Help

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Nov 9, 2016 | 11:07 PM

Scott Yager

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Senior User

Joined: Apr 2016

Posts: 143

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Oil Leak Nightmare.... Help

78 F150 w/ 300 Block.

Long story short had a engine no start. Pulled timing cover to make sure plastic gear was not shredded. Bam Oil leak.

I have pulled this apart 4 times. Just the timing cover.

1st time Felt Gasket...
2nd Rubber
3rd and 4th Ultra Black RTV.

What am I screwing up.

I have used a scraper blade to get as much gasket as possible off. Scrubbed with a wire brush. And gotten fairly shiny services to place new gasket material on. And yet I still get a leak. The RTV i make a bead around the base. Line up bolts. Tighten a hair. Then wait 15 20 minutes to setup then torque down. I do not own a torque wrench. Am i Over torquing or is it something all together different.

My process is:
1. Pull timing cover off. (After dissembling everything in front. Radiator, Dampener, Belts)
2. Razor Scrape
3. Scrub and Scuff with wire brush
4. Purple power scrubber to clean grease up
5. wipe down with rag
6. Big bead of rtv around all applicable areas and make a circle around bolt holes
7. Install cover with barely touching the rtv to not mess up.
8. Bolts in and just tight to finger
9. Let sit 15 minutes
10. Tighten down.

Am i missing something?

Nov 10, 2016 | 06:26 AM

Carloespo

Senior User

Joined: May 2014

Posts: 151

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From: Charlotte

I'm fighting the same leak. I can't get the 3 oil pan to timing cover bolts on the bottom to seal. I'm on my 3rd round today. First round was dry, except for the 1 inch spot where the oil pan meets the block. A little rtv there where the old oil pan needed to be trimmed off. Second round was gaskets and rtv.

The torque specs I found for the timing cover to the block was 12 to 15 lbs. I can't find any specs for the 3 oil pan to cover bolts.
Does anybody know if you should tighten the bottom oil pan bolts first,... or tighten the top cover bolts down first and then suck the pan up with the bottom 3 bolts.

. I've got one more shot left in me before I throw my hands up and take it to someone else. I may not be an expert but I still don't like others putting there hands all over my engine. Especially since I know their solution will be to put so much silicone in there that it eventually clogs everything.

Nov 10, 2016 | 07:06 AM

jason832

Tuned

Joined: May 2013

Posts: 396

Likes: 5

From: Ottawa, Canada

I've had this problem before.

Take the cover off and thoroughly check it for cracks.

Also make sure your oil pan gasket is lined up properly.

Nov 11, 2016 | 11:38 AM

HoustonDave

Fleet Mechanic

Joined: Sep 2014

Posts: 1,628

Likes: 80

From: NE Texas

Wouldn't hurt to put a straight edge along the head and valve cover mating surfaces.
Also, many commercial cleaners leave a residue - instead of Purple Power I would also thoroughly wipe the surfaces down with acetone or 90+ percent alcohol. My personal preference is to glue the gasket carefully to the valve cover with RTV, letting it set up for minimum several hours or over night, with light even pressure on the gasket to make sure it seals to the cover right, then reclean the gasket mating surface with acetone and clean the head surface with acetone. Then install the cover. Works for me; YMMV.

Nov 11, 2016 | 10:05 PM

joey2fords

Fleet Mechanic

Joined: Jan 2013

Posts: 1,305

Likes: 8

since you tried gaskets the first 2 times, i doubt that there was any problem with your rtv applications, but i do like to let mine set for a few minutes before installing cover.
X2 on checking it for cracks.

Nov 12, 2016 | 05:03 PM

fordman75

Lead Driver

Joined: Dec 2000

Posts: 6,298

Likes: 47

From: South central, Minnesota

This might be a stupid question but did you replace the front crank seal when you had the cover off? If you did did you check the harmonic dampner for a groove worn into the sealing surface? If it has a groove you might need a repair sleeve.

Also can you pin point where it's leaking from? Did you apply RTV to the area where the oil pan, block and timing cover meet?

Nov 22, 2016 | 08:30 AM

Carloespo

Senior User

Joined: May 2014

Posts: 151

Likes: 0

From: Charlotte

Not sure about the OP but I fixed my leak. I noticed that it was leaking from the balancer but it is brand new so no groove. Turns out that I didn't properly seat the new front main seal into the back of the timing cover and no variation of silicone and gaskets would have stopped it. The marred seal isn't visible but the slow stream of oil out the front gave it away. Yesterday, my rubber mallet and block of wood got replaced with a trip to a machine shop and a $5 press job. I reassembled everything dry except for adhesive to hold the top gasket to the block and RTV where the block meets the oil pan.
I tightened the bottom oil pan bolts right up to the point where the rubber gasket starts to bulge out then backed it off just a touch. After tightening I applied a bead of black RTV along the seam between the oil pan and the timing cover. Used my finger to squeegee the bead deep in the seam. Left a nice, even bead and let it sit overnight.
No leaks so far today.