Hybrids. Cars for fools.
VN. the right engine oil?
What is the right engine oil to use in a buick V6? It has a less than a year old rear seal and it has started to leak. I have read that there are oils that are designed to clean or swell seals to slow leaks, what type of oils can do this and has any one used them? Since the rebuld i have run one sump of penrite run in oil and three sumps of castrol edge sport
25W-50 and it started to leak on the third sump. It has a new oil pressure sensor.
The 4 tasks of all engine oils is to cool, clean, lubricate and seal. The rear mains will always weep at the very least on the VN. They are a very poorly designed items and very rarely get fitted correctly. Unless the leak is major (ie. leaving drips on your driveway), I wouldn't be too concerned with it.
Is it a seriesI or II? if its a seriesII than it should only really leak if you've installed it incorrectly (seeing as its only 12months old). Its not hard to install it incorrectly - by having it 'snag' the lip of itself.
Hybrids. Cars for fools.
its a fairly bad leak, more than 2 liters in the past 4 weeks. can see it driping as soon as i stop the car. I was supervised my my auto teacher as i installed it and used RTV blue to seal the sides of the bearing cap that i torqued down, I might need to fix it to pass pink slip. should thicker oil slow the leak?
2 whole ltr's in a month?!
Maybe you should talk to your auto teacher, 'cos thats a shitload of oil my-friend.
2 Litres in a month is an obsene amount of oil. It must be streaming out. Just confirm that it is the rear main seal by removing the inspection cover then washing it down and watching where the oil is actually coming from.
When it comes to replacing the seal, I always got a better result by removing the crank to replace it. You can use the 'Sneaky Pete' to remove and refit the seal with the crank in place but you'll get a better result by removing the crankshaft completely and doing it right.
I dont know what the manuals are telling people about fitting the seals now, but the last few I did had instructions from Holden to offset the join in the rope seal by about 15mm so it is not lined up with the join in the crank bearing cap. Also try to make sure you have the correct tool to shape the seal before fitting it and a touch of Loctite Prism (Super Glue) to stop the seal from spinning around on the first engine start is a good idea too.
Putting in a thicker oil is not going to slow the leak from the sounds of it. It sounds too far gone. Also, using silastic around the bearing cap is usually not necessary although there are a few people who use it as a backup. I only use it where it is required and it should not be required on the bearing cap.
Set aside a full day and take your time doing it to make sure you do it right. I haven't replaced one for almost 10 years now and I certainly don't miss replacing them.
Hybrids. Cars for fools.
What does the inspection cover look like? how can it be replaced with the crank still in place? can it be done with the motor still in the car?Originally Posted by jamiepasslow
The seal can be done with the engine in the car and even without taking out the transmission by using a tool called a 'Sneaky Pete' Or something along those lines but it is only good for a quick job. You can also do the job without taking the engine out by removing the gearbox and dismantling the bottom end as you would on the stand but it is more complicated than it needs to be. The best way is just to remove the engine and do it right the first time.
The inspection cover is the big steel cover that covers the bottom of the flexplate/flywheel. If you remove it then put the exhaust back on, you clean it down and run the car so that you can see exactly where the oil is coming from.
Hybrids. Cars for fools.
where can i get a "sneaky pete"? i would like to try that before having to pull out the gear box and engine.
I'm not sure where we got them from but I would suggest a trade based store over the normal supercheap, repco stores.
A quick google search found this link
LISLE Sneaky Pete
Detailed instructions should come with the tool.
Hybrids. Cars for fools.
just finished puting it all back togeather, took off the inspection plate and had to let down the powersteering rack to get it down. the rear main is not leaking i lost 2 sump bolts near the back at some stage so i put new ones in, looks to have worked.
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