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oil leak

napa 1

Donation Time
I know it's a part of owning a British car and I've mentioned this problem before, but now I'm at the point where I need to solve it, hopefully once and for all. I have a drip.. drip.. coming from the crank pulley area. When the car is not running, no drip. When car is running, steady drip from that area. Road tube is clear. Oil pressure is 25 when idle, 45ish when driving. Anybody else care to chime in on what my problem might be (with the car that is). I'm prepared to do the oil seal mod to the timing cover, but wonder if I've got some other issue that's causing the oil to be forced out of this area. Thanks to Ian and Andy for their help so far.
 

sunbeam74

Silver Level Sponsor
It could be as simple as checking to make sure you crank case is venting properly. You should at least look at the ventilation to see if there is a problem before making the mod.

Also, do a compression check, too. I have seen a broken/worn rings cause the CC pressure to build up.

Steve
 

Drnobeam

Donation Time
John, try to isolate the leak. Clean the area around the balancer pulley, front oil pan area and the motor mount plate.

It can be tricky getting the oil pan sealed up around the forward crankshaft bearing retainer & pan gaskets. I use a good sealant (not too much) in this critical area.

The motor mount plate gasket shouldn't leak, especially with the engine running.

This leaves the timing cover. There is a cone shaped oil slinger that is bolted to the end of the crankshaft, located inside the timing cover that should keep oil from spaying or even dripping from the timing cover hole when the car is running. If this piece was left out by a DPO, that could cause the problem.

This brings you back to cleaning the area very well and spaying with a powder-type leak detector (or spray deodorant). This will give you a nice white background to watch where the oil is originating from. Check this article out:

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/tech/engine_leak_detection_tips/

The timing cover mod takes a little patience to do correctly but I think it's worth it in the long run. I'll talk you through it if you're interested.
 

Alpine Bob

Donation Time
I tried every gasket in my engine, I thought, then I removed the fuel pump, there was a gap in the gasket sealer on the fuel pump block. This caused my leak. When we were having problems with the fuel pump on my new 1725, we took off the pump from the 1592 and found the gap. So, check it out on yours.
 

Jeff Scoville

Donation Time
OH, I absolutely agree to investigate all causes first, then fix.
I just thought I read that John saw the oil coming from the crank hole and while running.
Point is, the mod fixes the one place that WILL leak, no matter how well put together everything is.
Even if it doesn't leak when just running normal, take it for a ride and do a panic stop. You'll lose oil.
Now if it's just a wee bit of oil, that's "character", but if it's more than you can live with, and all else is correct, the mod is something that should be done to every Alpine on the road.
Think of it this way, with a little leak your bound to never forget to check your oil level!
 
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