generalee31184

I have a 1990 convincor 25 with 454. It was freshened up about 3 years ago, I notice last year from time to time I would get a little bit of smoke from engine compartment after running for awhile. I could never see where it was coming from until today when I tore the entire back seat out for repair and replace. It appears the timing cover is leaking? Hard to tell for sure but it is right in front on the bottom there was a little drip. What is was doing was getting thrown up toward the alternator and burning off. Anyhow I am mechanically inclined just have never done this job before. I want to replace timing cover gasket and all necessary gaskets/seals to do the job. Can anyone help me out? Do I need specials tools? I know I need a remover for the balancer, do I need a tool to reinstall? or can I get back on without? Is a there a criticial torque spec on the balancer too? any help would be appreciated. thanks

Griff

Its a pain in the a$$. The timing covers are actually made to go before the oil pan goes on. Chances are it is leaking right at the corners where the timing cover meets the block and oil pan. If you have never done it before and the leak is small, I would consider leaving it, or trying to clean the area and seal it with some RTV.

In the past, I have done the following.

Loosen about 4-5 oil pan bolts down each side from the front with the very front ones almost all the way out.
Carefully use some screw drivers and wedge the front of the oil pan down a little bit.
When you get the timing cover off, grind off 1/4" of the inside corners of the tabs that hold the timing cover tight to the pan.
Remove the rubber gasket from the bottom of the timing cover and use some Black RTV instead when you reinstall it.

getrdunn

iTrader: (7)

Sounds like your on the right track. Sounds like it must be a small leak. More than likely where the oil pan meets the timing cover. Like you said pull the balancer off and clean everything up good with some carb cleaner especially around the sealing edges. Personally I would maybe consider resealing around the edges although it's difficult to say if your front seal is bad and that is where it's leaking. I rarely use the front bottom rubber gasket on those and just use a decent size beed of silicone however shape in a manner of which it doesn't tend to push inward toward the block. After it sets up go around the whole cover with a little beed just to be certain.

You can get a balancer installer at your local automotive store however you can also just heat the balancer up near the middle but don't get to hot that you melt the rubber seal on your timing cover. You can use an impact to put it back on however once it bottoms you could back it back off and torque it back to specs. Not sure off the top off my head but probably around 85 ft pds. You can look that up. Not a bad idea to mark your timing tab where the back side of your balancer before you pull it so when you reinstall it you know roughly when your on all the way although you should feel it bottom out.

getrdunn

iTrader: (7)

Sounds like Griff has been there before also. I was writtting my post when he posted.

fireboatpilot

I had a simalar problem and since he said it was slinging oil up onto the exhaust manifolds to burn. I would check the front crank seal first before the cover and pan gaskets. I couldn't see any way for the cover gasket or pan gasket to leak and come anywhere near the crankshaft to get slung off of the balancer. It woould just run and drip into the bilge. Just my own exp. and 2cts.

cloudmaster_321

I've also got a leak coming from the timing cover/harmonic balancer area. I talked to my mechanic about it, and he said to pull of the balancer pulleys, and check to see if I can see some silicone in the balancer key way. He says some engine builders can be dumb and forget to silicone the key way, and oil will come out through it. I've yet to check mine, but will soon. If you see no silicone, pulling the balancer, siliconing the keyway, and reinstalling the balancer would be a good start according to him..........

getrdunn

iTrader: (7)

That's because that cat of yours lays right down flat in those 6 footers. LOL.. You might be right though. But depending on water conditions and how many buds I drink I tend to have a lot of **** go places it normally don't.

I would guess the seal also but who knows. Just seems unlikely the cover would just start leaking.

getrdunn

iTrader: (7)

hmmm. That is actually a good point...

fireboatpilot

That crank seal takes alot of abuse. It's worth replacing it to see if that fixes the leak before he starts tearing things apart. Check tof a worn spot on the balancer where the seal rides. If it's worn, theres a sleeve for that and good point on sealing the keyway(s) and sleeve if you need one.

Hey John, As for those 6 footers I normally try to keep up on top but all that jumping sloshes alot of oil towards the front of the engine where it doesn't belong. Engines going in next week, can't wait!

getrdunn

iTrader: (7)

It was nice knowing you Bill... Is it to late for me to take out an insurance policy? LOL... Just kidding my man.