Oil pan gasket sealing

[Tom]

I don't think those 3-piece OPRV's have an o-ring on the end like the others. You can try cleaning it all up, loosening the console, and re-installing with the alignment tool -- but if it were my car, I'd get the one-piece retrofit OPRV. It may or may not fix your issue (I'm optimistic though), but either way there's a reason Porsche switched to the one-piece, and even went so far as creating a retrofit OPRV for cars originally equipped with the 3-piece units. They are touchy and unpredictable. MM quoted @chris white above, and I'm reasonably sure Chris would tell you to update it too....

[Drscottsmith]

New OPRV ordered. Fingers crossed.

[Tom]

New OPRV ordered. Fingers crossed.

Fingers crossed! Even if it doesn't resolve the current issue, it's still money well spent in my book.

[Drscottsmith]

Well - a few updates but no solutions…

New OPRV works great - after 2-3 seconds I get pressure. Check!

I believe that the leak is indeed coming from the balance shaft bracket area. I cannot find any evidence of oil above that (eg from oil cooler area).

I took the bracket and seal off. Cleaned everything good. Noticed I had a good o ring (new on rebuild) and the Mylar gasket was in place. Cleaned everything and reassembled with some Yamabond on the sealing face between the block and bracket.

Same leak. Should have posted pics first time. Here are a few pics in case anyone sees something I am missing. I had a spare o ring and Mylar so the pic shows the new o ring in place (kept the old one too).

Need to clean the yamabond off of the block side and start fresh. Before I reinstall again…

1) where should I put yamabond? Just on sealing face? Should I coat the o ring, etc.?

2) anyone see anything I am missing?

Thanks!

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[Drscottsmith]

One more pic and thought…you can see on this one where I had been trying to stop the leak from the outside. So it is dripping down from near the bottom bolt.

When I pulled the bolts out, it seemed that a good bit of oil came out around the area of the bottom bolt - would there be any way oil would get into the hole for the bolt from the back? Any other places in that area to look out for?

Thanks!

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[Tom]

Well - a few updates but no solutions…

New OPRV works great - after 2-3 seconds I get pressure. Check!

Getting the oil pressure fixed is huge! Celebrate that win!

I'll go back and see if I can offer anything helpful on the leak...

[Tom]

I went back and looked at the original video, where oil was dripping out fast. Whatever that leak is, it's not going to be fixed with yamabond or other sealant. If it's still leaking at that rate, something isn't right at all. The simplest possibility is the pan gasket is just leaking, badly. If you can pinpoint the source of the leak by eye, consider getting oil dye and a UV light kit. Oil can be tricky in that is can migrate from its source down cracks and crevices and emerge at some low point, causing you to look in all the wrong places... The UV dye can be pretty helpful in that regard.

Although I kind of doubt this is the source, I also would mention the lower girdle alignment again. If the oil pump is leaking on that leftmost side, I could absolutely see it making its way to that lower pan bolt (and tricking you into thinking it's the B/S nose seal. See your engine below, and the relevant factory manual page...

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[michaelmount123]

Thumbs up on your oil pressure!

O-rings provide an effective seal without ANY additional sealant. Here are several things to check:
- Make sure the o-ring groove is clean, spotless in fact.
- Oil the o-ring before installing.
- Clean the surface inside the bore that the o-ring seals against. This needs to be spotless too.
- Oil the surface you just cleaned.
- Confirm that the balance shaft cover joint is aligned with the block. Test with a finger.
- Make sure there's no twist in the o-ring. Carefully pry out one side, put a popsicle stick under the o-ring and spin it around its circumference a few times.
- The outboard bracket (that which bolts to the bal shaft cover) should be flush against the front bearing housing before it's bolted up. If there's a gap, or if it is holding tension on the bearing housing, adjust the bracket fore or aft via its slotted holes at the mounting bolts.
- Is the correct seal in the nose of the housing? Does the arrow on the face of the seal point CCW?

Hoping this all makes sense and is helpful.
MM

[Drscottsmith]

Thanks guys as always!

Oil is dripping from a SLIGHtLY different spot now…than the first video. Here is a new one…

[michaelmount123]

Here's what to do:
This is simple, cheap, and very effective.
Clean the whole area with BrakKleen or something similar. Then puff a very light coating of baby powder in the suspect areas. Run the engine and the source of the leak will be very evident. You need to find the source before you can fix it.