Oil leak, 96 GTS, porous block, pan, gasket, how do I know which one?

[troublemaker]

I have had an oil leak since I purchased the car. In the last few days I have done a lot of research on oiling modifications to do when I have the pan pulled. As I have been reading I have found that the year I own had a problem with porous blocks. Is this something you can see while looking at it? The gasket is a no brainier, the oil pan is a little bit of money but easily fixable, the block on the other hand is a whole different ball game. When I get it apart will it be easy to tell where the problem is coming from or do the porous components look ok when looking at them?

 

[Steve-Indy]

Have you ruled out a leak from rear main, cam plugs, oil lines, temp & pressure sensors, valve covers, and timing chain cover gasket? The porous blocks were relatively few in number by my memory...Todd at Arrow MAY be able to give you the number range...maybe not.

For street use, the minimum that I would suggest is that you upgrade the oil pan gasket and timing chain cover gasket if you have ruled out above. Others will have more ideas.

 

[Ron]

I second Steve 100% - From the highest likelyhood to the least, I'd suggest timing cover as virtually all 96's had that issue, to oil pan gasket, to rear main seal, to rear cam plug, an issue I also had fixed.

The easist way to diagnose is to clean everything as well as possible and add the Mopar 3 n'1 UV dye to the oil then blacklight it until you find the source. What is your build date?

 

[troublemaker]

Thanks for the responses. I haven't ruled anything out yet, it's still under the cover so I haven't even started digging. As far as my build date goes, I have no idea, is it something that ca be referenced from the Vin. I don't mind replacing every gasket, but I for sure only want to do it once, so I'm trying to figure out everywhere it could possibly be coming from.

Steve, this car came from out near your neck of the woods, but when you responded to one of my posts before I purchased it you mentioned not being familiar with it. The previous owner was a member here, but didn't post often. I have no complaints with the car, he took very good care of it and was upfront about the issues it had which was reflected in the price.

 

[Steve-Indy]

Call me sometime and I can sniff around a little if you like.

 

[gutterworks129]

You must be registered for see images attach

Rear main seal and gasket maybe. Maybe rust on rear of crank shaft. Scotch-brite and clean. The rust eats away at seal. This what happened to my 96 GTS.

 

[Ron]

Build date is on the drivers door label

 

[challengerta]

Thanks for the responses. I haven't ruled anything out yet, it's still under the cover so I haven't even started digging. As far as my build date goes, I have no idea, is it something that ca be referenced from the Vin.
Build date on door jamb sticker.

 

[troublemaker]

10-96 is what's on the door. Hopefully late enough in the year for it to be another issue.

 

[Viper Specialty]

In general, the rear main and timing cover are the most common failures, followed by the oil filter adapter and oil pan gasket. It can be tough to determine block porosity at times, but a thorough investigation will generally reveal the problem.

If you want to do a disassembly and replace the gaskets, be sure to use our new AFM gaskets and never have problems again. Blow proof, seep proof, do not promote surface corrosion, and much more tolerant to surface prep. We have completely eliminated those paper gaskets from the whole engine.

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[Jack B]

Where do you see the oil???????

 

[PDCjonny]

In general, the rear main and timing cover are the most common failures, followed by the oil filter adapter and oil pan gasket. It can be tough to determine block porosity at times, but a thorough investigation will generally reveal the problem.

If you want to do a disassembly and replace the gaskets, be sure to use our new AFM gaskets and never have problems again. Blow proof, seep proof, do not promote surface corrosion, and much more tolerant to surface prep. We have completely eliminated those paper gaskets from the whole engine.

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http://viperspecialtyperformance.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=213
http://viperspecialtyperformance.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=208

See above, start there. Both of mine had to be fixed in a 97 and a 98.

 

[Darth Menace]

I second the timing cover gasket. I had the same problem in my 98, but it was spraying out antifreeze...not leaking oil

 

[Mopar488]

My 96 leaked. I heard they had porous oil pans. The oil pan gasket had been replaced, but did not fix it. I tried everything without taking it too far apart, but never could find it. Good luck.

 

[troublemaker]

Thanks for all of these responses.

Dan, we will talk soon, I need to get an idea of what I want to change and do this all in one shot.

Mopar488, I have read about the pan also, it's why I asked in one of posts above if the "porous ness " would be obvious to the naked eye, so I had a better handle on what needs to be done. A had a lead on a 10qt pan with the gate mods already done, but haven't heard back from the member yet. I still need to find an ACR oil filter adapter and then it's time to start pulling it apart.

Darthmenace, the timing cover gasket is going to be done at the same time, it just looks like it might be a pain in the A$$ with the hood still on, we will have to see. I have hit the point of " might as wells" and try to get everything fixed in one shot.

It's not my first motor by a long shot, but it is my first Viper motor which has its own little intricacies.

 

[Mopar488]

I don't think you will be able to see the porousness of the oil pan, I could not. I was thinking about going to a new 10 qt oil pan also, seems it was about $500. There was something going on also with the owners manual and an addendum that showed a corrected amount of oil capacity, cannot remember exactly, but there was a difference of about a qt. Mine also had a red dip stick which looked odd, not sure if it was stock or a replacement prior to me getting it. That leak was aggravating and made a mess. I was to the point of pulling it down thinking I had a bad rear main prior to selling it. I disclosed the leak to the buyer. He was expecting it as he had a 97 GTS. I always heard the 96 GTS was worst for leaks.

 

[troublemaker]

My 96 doesn't seem to falling short of leaks at this point. I'm OK with and it gives me a chance to really see where everything is an what sequence things need to be removed. I actually just started getting it in the air and removing whatever is in the way of the timing cover before I raise it. Hopefully in the next week or two I will be able to get into it, but right now is our busy time at work, so it will be slow moving on the car.

 

[troublemaker]

Something new popped up, maybe it's something maybe it isn't. When I was removing the intake tubes to get a good look at what needed to be removed to get to the timing cover, the small hose next to the drivers side air box tube is covered in oil and everything around it is covered also. I assume it has something to do with crank case venting as it comes out of the valve covers, Ts together and runs to the air box. I don't know if the seal is just poor at the T which seems to be at the center of the mess or if there is another issue creating to much pressure, sending more than the amount of oil it's supposed to normally see. It just seems like the set up is poor if that much oil is being retuned to the intake track. I haven't researched it much but it looks like a catch can will correct the problem.