[V8] the endless, ongoing saga of my (oil) leaking V8....and update

[Coleman, David]

Has ANYONE ever repaired an oil leak by replacing the head gaskets on one of these cars?

So many times, my own included, have I read about V8s w/ leaky head gaskets that invariably end up being mis-diagnosed.  Al Head / Fe Block, maybe.  But Al-Al together seems to work pretty well, along with a superior OEM gasket.

Just a thought,
-DaveC.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: v8-bounces at audifans.com 
> [mailto:v8-bounces at audifans.com]On Behalf
> Of Roger M. Woodbury
> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 11:00 AM
> To: v8newlist
> Subject: [V8] the endless, ongoing saga of my (oil) leaking V8....and
> update
> 
> 
> Well, I had yet another visitation with my V8 yesterday late in the
> afternoon.  The news appears to be good.  Better than good, actually.
> 
> For those of you who have suffered through this endless agony 
> of the search
> for a simple oil leak, that has turned into a major subsystem 
> and timing
> belt overhaul, I can cheerfully report that the end may be in 
> sight, and the
> light at the end of the tunnel might actually NOT be a locomotive.
> 
> After getting every thing back together, and finding still, 
> that the oil was
> leaking from somewhere in the front of the right side 
> cylinder head, the
> only remaining test that could be done, was to run the engine 
> up to full oil
> pressure, and watch for a leak using a dye that would show, 
> ultimately where
> the leak was coming from.  The fear was that the cylinder 
> head had a rough
> place in the casting that had finally let go, OR that the 
> head had been off
> at some point prior to my owning the car, and the head had 
> been reinstalled
> without properly cleaning out the stud holes creating a 
> hydrolock that had
> cracked the block over time and mileage.
> 
> Neither of those terrible (terminal) things appear to be the 
> situation.  The
> oil is still leaking, but appears to be coming from a 
> different place than
> before.
> 
> So, it seems that the original oil leak had come from a head 
> gasket that had
> given up...we could see a place where the seal on the head 
> gasket seemed to
> be very thin and weak, perhaps from manufacture of the gasket.
> 
> And this new, lesser leak?  Well, what the wrench was going 
> to do, was to
> button it all up, without the front camshaft timing belt 
> covers in place,
> and run the engine again.  He (we) suspect that the newly 
> installed right
> side camshaft seal is defective, OR perhaps was improperly 
> installed.  It
> seems that the leak may be from that point, because when the 
> wrench took off
> the front cover there was some oil inside, as well as leaking 
> around the
> back of the cover.  Everything else....head, block, etc, was bone dry.
> 
> Right now, I am optimistic.  I may have my car back, complete 
> with new Euros
> soon....and since the engine will be to all intents and 
> purposes, completely
> resealed, with new hydraulic pump, new waterpump, new timing 
> belt and a
> partridge in a pear tree...all NEW, NEW, NEW....what a fine, 
> sweet running
> car she will be!
> 
> Roger
> 
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