Ever since I put the rebuilt 3.4 L PR motor into my Fiero (8-10 years ago), it's been marking its territory on my garage floor. I installed a new distributor o-ring and am pretty sure that's not the issue. I'm also pretty sure it's not the main seals. It doesn't seam to sling any oil and the oil appears to be coming from the lower part of the motor. It doesn't seem to leak as the car travels down the road, but once it is parked, it will leak a couple of tablespoons of oil. I suspect my issue is the oil pan gasket, but I'm dragging my feet on getting another one as I'm not really wanting to deal with it. Anybody else have any thoughts on it?
Oil pan, timing cover gasket at the bottom corners, front oil seal behind harmonic balancer, rear main seal, those are mostly oil spots that are prone to leak,
On my 3.4PR my pan leaks some before I replace it but the 2 main leaks where the front seal. I put a repair sleeve on the HB which fixed that leak. And the rubber plug I had put in the cam sensor hole had popped out. I put the new expanding plug in with a hold down bolt so it would not come out again. I think the dist O ring leaked even after replacing it so I put a thin gasket under the flange between the dist and the top of the block. Only leak I have now is the axle shaft seals on the trans.
Do you have the 88 timing cover with the straight pan or the pre 88 with the angle on the front of the pan. With you angle you have to make sure you have it clean and watch the rtv to get a good seal.
[This message has been edited by Dodgerunner (edited 10-21-2013).]
Don't forget the cam cover. It's behind the flywheel, and covers (what else) the end of the cam, opposite the timing gear. Held on with three hex screws. I hope that's not what it is, because the engine will have to come out to fix it. (Aren't I just a ray of freakin' sunshine?) Just mentioned because nobody else did. It shouldn't leak that much oil, anyway.
Where is the oil dripping? Is the back (engine) side of the flywheel covered with oil?
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 10-22-2013).]
Sorry for not checking back. I was out of town for the past few days. I think all of you have great advice. The timing cover is an 88. I've really only been under it to change the oil and filter. I replaced the starter a couple of years ago and I'm kicking myself for not exploring further when I had things cleared out a bit. I was looking for the "Dirty Half Dozen" possibilities before I assumed it was the oil pan gasket. Raydar, I totally forgot about the cam gasket, but I had real misgivings when I installed it as I don't like cork gaskets. I'll have to put some cardboard under it the next time I park it to get an idea where it's coming from. I'm thinking of dropping the cradle anyway to change out the shorty headers back to the standard "logs." So maybe I'll do it over Thanksgiving Break? Or maybe I'll continue to sweep the floor dirt onto it and out the door? Thanks all!
3.4 PR? Are you using a distributor or DIS with stub shaft in place of a distributor. 2.8s, 3.1s and 3.4s were notorious for the oring on the stubshaft leaking. The oil would travel the short distance off the top of the block, down the back of the block and make it look like a rear main seal leak.
3.4 PR? Are you using a distributor or DIS with stub shaft in place of a distributor. 2.8s, 3.1s and 3.4s were notorious for the oring on the stubshaft leaking. The oil would travel the short distance off the top of the block, down the back of the block and make it look like a rear main seal leak.
Distributor. I agree the o-ring could be a prime culprit.
Distributor. I agree the o-ring could be a prime culprit.
Check the top of the block next to the distributor. I believe there's a small depression there. If it's full of oil, you likely have found your culprit.
pressure clean it, put some DYE in the Oil, you'll see it quick enough. I keep the underside of my cars a clean as the top, so any leak is immediately seen.
It's not the distributor o-ring. I put a piece of cardboard under the car. Without climbing under it, it appears to be leaking approximately where the starter is located. It's about 2-3 inches (on the motor side) of where the motor and tranny come together. It also appears to be almost back to where the cradle comes across (from side to side). Now that I have an approximate location, I think I'll pull the starter and tighten the oil pan bolts to see what happens. I'll also make sure the oil isn't coming from the valve covers on that end. Any other thoughts? As always, thanks for the input.
Without reading the thread again, did someone mention the oil pressure sender line from by the oil filter up to the top of the engine? If the sender leaks it runs down the hard line to by the filter. Also check the cam sensor hole.
