questions on leaking oil on 71 LT-1

[Peter M.]

Help. 71 lt-1. Radiator shot so pulled fan, fan clutch and hood to get radiator,shroud,support out. Successful with help
from here and Corvette Forum(I am not mechanical but willing to always try so I follow the expertise given here- Thanks). waiting on dewitts to attach tanks to their new copper core from Carlisle then would put everything back. But, with everything out, notice what appears to be oil all over the front of engine if you are looking at engine standing in front
of car.
Attached are pictures I took to show it. They are pictures where I see oil. Looks like (looking standing in front
of car) like oil on bottom half of left side (fuel pump side), some towards right side up below intake and by
head, and then heavy on right of timing cover. My friends thought the manifold(?) gasket was bad and oil was leaking
down and fan blowing everywhere. But when I look, it looks heaviest by timing cover?
Can you venture a guess please? My friends also told me to clean it, put everything back together(new radiator, heater
core(since that leaked too) and get that working. Then, since oil is cleaned up, I should see only new portions leaking
, after driving, which should make leak easier to diagnose where coming from. As stated, not mechanical but it seems
to me that is a lot of work just to find leak and take off equipment again(or maybe it is not and I am making a big deal sover nothing since I should be able to pull fan and clutch easily again even with shroud and new radiator in?)Point is I have no idea what I am doing or what is best or whether what I am
being told is best approach. So writing to experts-what would you do? Do as my friends say and clean it and get cooling system in and functional
and then trace leak or put in gskets(?) now while everything open and already apart?
Assuming it is a problem that requires gaskets(hopefully nothing worse), can someone recommend the right gaskets
to buy for manifold, timing chain or whatever you think is wrong, any sealants if necessary, and any tips tricks to putting whatever on. Thanks for all your help. Also please do not
assume I know anything so beg you to explain clearly or I will be like this-.

pic 2 is oil on fuel pump side between fuel and timing
pic3 is up on drivers side below winters manifold
pic5 is driver timing chain which seems heaviest
pic 6 - should this be that dirty?

Final question - does anyone have any special cleaner they recommend?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Pete

[Tom H.]

Re: questions on leaking oil on 71 LT-1

Doesn't look that bad to me. Pretty typical old engine. I'd clean it up and hit the road !! You can always tear things down and replace seals and gaskets til you're blue in the face, but this really doesn't look that severe.

[Jim T.]

Re: questions on leaking oil on 71 LT-1

Peter your friend has given you good advice in my opinion. Just a cleaning and enjoy driving your LT-1 with new radiator and heater core.
I doubt that you will drive it enough to accumulate what you have pictured for some time.
You don't show a picture of the area of the heads below the valve cover gaskets at the front of the block, is this area without grime? Valve cover gaskets are easy to replace and valve cover bolts only need inch pounds of torque to retain the valve cover to provide a good seal.
Picture #1 is a perfect example to use to tell you that the bolt in the block you have shown is the short bolt you can remove and finger tight a longer bolt to hold the fuel pump rod in an up position to make replacing the fuel pump easier. It should not take more than finger tightness to hold the fuel pump rod. Don't forget to reinstall the short bolt.

[Timothy B.]

Re: questions on leaking oil on 71 LT-1

Peter,

I think it's fine, just clean it a bit and very easily SNUG the bolts holding the timing chain cover and oil pan. Be careful as these can be broken off with to much torque so just snug..

Also check the fuel pump attachment bolts for snug. Enjoy your LT-1

[Paul O.]

Re: questions on leaking oil on 71 LT-1

Peter some great cleaners for your oil dirt build up are Dawn dish washing soap, Simple Green and Go-Joe hand cleaner the white colored cream. All of those cleaners can be applied mutable time and rinsed off with water from a hose. I am sure other people will have others to add.

Paul 18046

[Tom H.]

Re: questions on leaking oil on 71 LT-1

Peter some great cleaners for your oil dirt build up are Dawn dish washing soap, Simple Green and Go-Joe hand cleaner the white colored cream. All of those cleaners can be applied mutable time and rinsed off with water from a hose. I am sure other people will have others to add.

Paul 18046

Dawn and Simple Green is what I use.

[Mike G.]

Re: questions on leaking oil on 71 LT-1

clean it and go. chances are if you pull it apart and reseal everything, it will still leak somewhere if you drive the car. if its not dripping all over the garage floor i would not worry about it.

[Paul J.]

Re: questions on leaking oil on 71 LT-1

Peter,

From your write up it sounded like it was bad. That's just average grime. None of the oil looks very fresh. This is not an issue that requires immediate repair.

Spray some GUNK Engine Degreaser on it (preferably when warm), let it sit for 10 minutes, spray it with your garden hose and you're good to go. It's part of the joy of owning a driver.

Paul

P.S. You'll need to do this once or twice a year, as part of your maintenance and cleaning.

[Mike G.]

Re: questions on leaking oil on 71 LT-1

Mr. McNamara, I too had oil residue in the area that you describe, on a 66 327, and it was the fan clutch leaking.

[Peter M.]

Re: questions on leaking oil on 71 LT-1

First thanks to all for the feedback, tips on cleaners, and message basically telling me not to panic. Greatly appreciated.

Mike Griffith ( and others)--if it was this, who rebuilds these things? Any ideas and cost? NOTE: The fan clutch does NOT appear to have any oil on it so I suspect probably not leaking but will doublecheck tonight by looking at it.

I will also do as Tim mentions above and just make sure everything is snug etc around that area.

Thanks to all.

Pete

[Paul J.]

Re: questions on leaking oil on 71 LT-1

Pete,

Its most likely a combination of things. I would think that it is mostly from the shot radiator and the intake gasket. Your front intake gasket appears to be cork, which is good, but part of it looks deteriorated. The other culprits are the seals on the front of the engine, the water pump gaskets, and the head gaskets. It could include the fan clutch, but this would be low on my list of things to check.

Old American V-8s leak when they are driven a lot, and the best way to handle it is to keep it clean until the next rebuild and replacement of the seals.

If it bothers you enough to "snug things down", don't torque the bolts past the specs.

Paul

[John H.]

Re: questions on leaking oil on 71 LT-1

I'm with Paul - if there isn't any oil ON it, there isn't any oil IN it; hit it with Gunk and a hose and drive it.

[Peter M.]

Re: questions on leaking oil on 71 LT-1

Pete,

Its most likely a combination of things. I would think that it is mostly from the shot radiator and the intake gasket. Your front intake gasket appears to be cork, which is good, but part of it looks deteriorated. The other culprits are the seals on the front of the engine, the water pump gaskets, and the head gaskets. It could include the fan clutch, but this would be low on my list of things to check.

Old American V-8s leak when they are driven a lot, and the best way to handle it is to keep it clean until the next rebuild and replacement of the seals.

If it bothers you enough to "snug things down", don't torque the bolts past the specs.

Paul

Paul-forgot to look - are the specs in the 71 chassis guide or do I need a different book?

Thanks

Pete

[John H.]

Re: questions on leaking oil on 71 LT-1

forgot to look - are the specs in the 71 chassis guide or do I need a different book?

Thanks

Pete

Pete -

See page 11 in the "specifications" section in the back of the Chassis Service Manual.

[Edward J.]

Re: questions on leaking oil on 71 LT-1

Pete,

Its most likely a combination of things. I would think that it is mostly from the shot radiator and the intake gasket. Your front intake gasket appears to be cork, which is good, but part of it looks deteriorated. The other culprits are the seals on the front of the engine, the water pump gaskets, and the head gaskets. It could include the fan clutch, but this would be low on my list of things to check.

Old American V-8s leak when they are driven a lot, and the best way to handle it is to keep it clean until the next rebuild and replacement of the seals.

If it bothers you enough to "snug things down", don't torque the bolts past the specs.

Paul

Paul, sometimes with old dryed up gaskets tighting up sometimes makes things worst, especially the old cork gaskets, as it appears the oil maybe coming from a few places timing cover and maybe the cornors of the intake(which RTV was used) and the timing cover bolts if you can't retorque them all I wouldn't bother. leaks appear to be wepping- normal.