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Oil Spray on exhaust and undercarriage

bluecollarjock

bluecollarjock

1/2 ton status
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Nov 19, 2006
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Location
Manhattan Beach, CA
Hello All,
Hope Im not being a bother. Been posting alot the past few days....I grew up wheeling a K5 and just picked up another one today after almost 10 years. 8" lift, 36" baja claws, the works..and its in amazing condition. I need to address the gearing bad, its a slug off the line, but I have a new problem since driving it home today. A good guy on here in college but originally from my area has been a huge help, and Im so glad I found him on this forum.

Ok, here is the new issue besides the gearing and axles. I parked it in the driveway, and noticed oil drops coming from the back of the engine. It stopped shortly after turning the engine off, and the engine did run strong with no ticks or noises. Its a newer crate engine just installed. It isnt leaking now that its off, but there is a light spray of oil all over the underside now covering the transfrer case, exhaust, and front driveshaft. The new friend I made on here said it might be the main seal. Does this mean the guy installed the new engine wrong??????? If I had to take it to a shop will they kill me for labor to figure it out and fix it?

What else might it be and what should I do to start figuring it out. Luckily this is not going to be my daily driver...it is supposed to be my weekend warrior, but the oil leak, steering wander, and gearing needs to be addressed before I feel confident in the spring to wheel it. Im just a poor SWAT guy living in the city and cant just go around having people fix it for me, but I have no tools at all and no knowledge at all except how to break K5s like I did all the time in high school!!

Here is a link to the K5 I just bought. Got it for $5k, in the DC area for a low mileage old truck thats not bad, so I gotta fight the logical anal retentive side of me and convince myself I made a good purchase for a wheeling truck in the future.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/car/236007786.html

Anyone in the DC metro area wanna help me figure out how to solve the gearing issue or oil issue in addition to my new bud when he comes home from college for break????

God Bless, Happy T-Day
Matt
 
valve cover gaskets are notorious for this type of oil leakage, if they are the perimeter bolt style anyways,,,towards the rear, for some reason it can be a real pain to get them to seal up right,,,check out there.

I would spray everything off real well with a degreaser, and pressure washer or something, then look to see where the fresh stuff is coming from.

If it's a new motor, i doubt the rear seal is leaking, unless it was installed wrong, or not pre-lubed :D

could also be leaky oil pan gasket too, maybe they weren't tightened right or something,,,,anyways, i would first clean everything off REAL good, and start from there.
 
CanmoreK5 said:
Another vote for valve cover gaskets. Remember that overtightening your covers will make them leak, too.
Click to expand...

along with the excessive use of RTV as well :doah:

i have had pretty good luck with just a light coating on the cover side, and a very clean,,(i mean carb cleaner and rag clean) engine head side, tighten them down ever so easy.

Chrome covers i have never had any luck with, always leaked, if not off the bat, they eventually did a short time later :doah: :crazy:
 
Thanks keep them coming taking notes, and will have to wait till I get someone competant over here to help me clear it up, unless I take it to a shop which I cant afford..plus I need to save money for gears or new axles altogether (dont want to lose those 6 bolt MT beadlocks though and 36" radials if I got 3/4, they are so damn nice I still want to keep them!!!!!)...

So, this weekend I can do myself carb cleaner and rag, clean up the undercarriage and engine and see what I find...

Sad, I have a fancy degree from a top 20 school (football got me in ha), and a masters degree in forensic science...but I cant turn a wrench right! With all the cash Ive spent over the years growing up breaking my snowmobile and K5, and my old Z71 a few trucks back, I would have been better off learning how to fix mechanical things!
 
no, i meant if you change the valve cover gaskets, clean the cover ans head surface with some carb cleaner and a rag to eliminate any oil on the surfaces so the gasket materials can "set" without any problems.

what you CAN do is as i mentioned, just get some engine degreaser, and spray the undercarriage and engine compartment down real good with some good water pressure, try to get all the oil off, then you can see where stuff is coming from.

I am willing to bet it is those cover gaskets though....:wink1:
 
thanks, thats my job for the weekend...also gotta find a manual car wash to try to hose it down underneath, there are not any of the self service car washes I know of in the city near me...one of these days Im moving back to the country!
 
theres also an edelbrock intake on there and that could be leaking, my valve covers arent leaking but at the very back of the intake it seeps all over the starter and the exhaust. slim chance but its still one
 
Yea i gotta check it out when its daylight...he said Edlebrock but I swear it said Weiland on there...he builds race cars but maybe he botched something on this...his dad owns a custom interior shop, they had cars all over
 
Ive had oil leaking like that out of both the valve covers and the back of the intake. I would bet its the valve covers before the intake though. Ive never got mine to seal up good. they are kinda bent around the edges so Im sure that has something to do with it.
 
You can clean up by spraying it down with engine cleaner then hook a hose to the water heater and rinse. Works good. I would be willing to bet its a valve cover or the gasket has spit out between the block and intake. Was an 86 a perimeter or center bolt design? Either way clean it up and check it out. Dont worry about all the questions thats the reason this site is here. It wont be long and you will learn a whole lot about wrenching and what makes your K5 work. And by the way welcome aboard.
 
The seller just emailed me...apologized, said he replaced the valve cover gasket and thought it was a done deal....this mean I need new valve covers if him replacing the gasket didnt work? Once its daylight ill let you guys know about the looks under the hood and what kind of intake it is...

That would be a blessing for it just to be a valve cover if its an easy fix. Then I could go on to worrying about the gears!
 
Thanks for the advice and welcome!

Im not sure about 86, but the engine is a crate of which year I have no clue. Ill try to figure more of these things out and post tomorrow after work. Will be wanting to get home and get to work but have friends coming into town for holiday haha....Ill be talking about my K5...
 
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