With the supercharger, intecoolers, hoses, etc. removed, I am planning to replace as much as practical in addition to the hoses, things like knock sensors, water pump, valve cover gaskets, etc.

Looking at the valve covers, there is no signs of leakage & because I've decided to replace the gaskets anyhow, this is a rhetorical question.

But there is oil grunge on the front of the engine from around the water pump down. Could the covers be leaking but the high temp burns the oil off, so it appears that they don't leak or is there possibly something else.

Some years ago, I replaced the oil pan gasket & it appears to be leaking slightly; however, it is not enough to require adding oil between changes. I have assumed the pan leak due to my gasket job, but could it be something higher? Maybe the source is the same for what I'm seeing on the front of the engine?

I guess the question is: From my description, what are the possible places for the leak(s) to be?

Thanks and best,

Steve S.

 

No modern motor oil will burn at the exterior temps of a motor anywhere but at the hottest portions of the exhaust manifolds. Even then you get tarry "coking" and ash residue as evidence often as not.

You "might" have some seepage around the seal just back of the crank pulley being flung about by centrifugal force. Not a lot, as that area is not under "full" oil-pump system pressure. It is but the front 'wall' of the "chamber" the chains and sprockets run in. So there is copious squirt, splash and chain fling-off, draining back into the sump, but no 'constrained' high pressure retained.

The front main bearing sits rearward of the chain sprockets on the crank nose. IF/AS/WHEN renewing the timing chains, guides, tensioners, and sprockets, it is a good idea to also refresh all the seals that can be replaced.

REAR main bearing seal is another candidate. Not easy to replace.
Not always that hard to "just live with", either.

Power steering pumps - and not-only - can leak PS fluid, too.

Certain sensors have significant oil splash back of them, can also 'seep' around their seals.

JLR's AJ133 is a fairly "clean" motor. Be happy wit' dat'.

"Back in the day" anything British - be it stationary or mobile on water, rails, road, or wings that was NOT leaking oil all over itself was presumed to have been run DRY and ready to self-destruct!

First exception I can name, the Bristol sleeve-valve radial aircraft engines that taught Pratt & Whitney you could too run a multi-row radial aircraft engine without need of assigning its own dedicated oil well to each bank of it.

Even the dimunitive "Wasp Junior" in a U6 (DHC2 "Beaver") had managed to be a mere 12 quarts low when we preflighted it off Lakehurst "back in the day".

 

Thanks, Bill. Never easy. Are you thinking that I should repair the front seals while I'm at it?

Actually, I don't think it is leaking much because I don't notice it on the dipstick.

I'm inclined to finish what I already have; hope I'm not being presumptuous! & give it a rest.

 

Condensation from blowby can mask slow leaks.

"Give it a rest"?

Depends. My XJ8-L was granted a whole new motor midway in its chassis life. so I'm leaving it TF alone for a while longer.

The L320 Rover OTOH @ 111K miles-not-kilometers is getting all new chains "etc".

IF.. I have to do head gaskets, perhaps the whole nine-yards, main & rod bearings, pistons & rings, etc. if only 'coz I'm too old and stiff to want to do the heads without pulling the mill and putting it on an engine stand. After going THAT far, the question is no longer "should I" but "how dare I NOT?"

Head gaskets turn out OK? Mill stays in the car. New engine stand stays in the crate. If it needs work "later", "later" is a new decision-tree-time.

This s**t ceased to be "fun" when we had to rebuild a '55 Pontiac 289 twice in two nights, after Dave left the oil pickup tube out, first go.

S**t happens. ESPECIALLY if you think you are having fun.

Devil thought he had "conned" Mother Eve?

God took her own back on 'im by inventing infernal compustion engines so's anyone headed for Hell had to first serve a sore challenging apprenticeship, would refuse to pay dealer prices and never cease criticizing Old Scratch for igniting the fires the wrong way..

 

Is the leak around the oil filter housing? Where it bolts to the block there is a figure 8 oil seal that starts to leak, mine is leaking there and I have the new seal to fit at the next oil change.

 

Thanks, Joe. I will check.

 

Also check the cooling lines of the transmission. They can start leaking between the rubber section and the metal ones.

Best regards,

Thomas

 

Danka, Thomas!