Oil Leak

[emaw]

I bought a 97 Viper about a month ago, and knew it had an oil leak. Oil will pool on the left rear bolt of the oil pan.

I have replaced the pan gasket....that didn't work.

Then it was suggested to take the bolt out and put some RTV on the bolt, and put it back in.....that didn't work.

Does anyone have any ideas on what else this could be? I am a little past frustrated.


Here is a picture before the oil pan gasket was replaced or the RTV was applied to the bolts.

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[ViperTony]

Call Chuck Tator at Tator's Garage. He's seen his fair share of this. 1-914-763-3136

 

[Viperguynick]

Same exact deal with my car that I bought in december. Timing cover gasket. Take a look through the runners on the intake down into the valley of the motore, do you have oil pooled in there? That's exactly what my oilpan looked like, even after replacing the pan gasket and RTV'ing the bolts. That being said, don't wait to get this fixed, mine also started leaking coolant out of the timing cover gasket, as there are oil AND coolant passages going through that area. You don't want to have an internal gasket failure that would mix coolant into your oil and take out the engine.

Nick

 

[emaw]

Same exact deal with my car that I bought in december. Timing cover gasket. Take a look through the runners on the intake down into the valley of the motore, do you have oil pooled in there? That's exactly what my oilpan looked like, even after replacing the pan gasket and RTV'ing the bolts. That being said, don't wait to get this fixed, mine also started leaking coolant out of the timing cover gasket, as there are oil AND coolant passages going through that area. You don't want to have an internal gasket failure that would mix coolant into your oil and take out the engine.

Nick

I have looked in the intake valley and it is bone dry. All the bolts on the front of the pan are completely dry, it is just the bolts in the left rear corner???

I will pull the car out tonight and take a look at the timing cover.

Thanks for the info.

 

[uvbnbit]

It doesn't "appear" to be leaking from above. Nothing from sides of gasket either? Only on the pan bolts?
What years had the PPS (porous pan syndrome)?

 

[emaw]

It doesn't "appear" to be leaking from above. Nothing from sides of gasket either? Only on the pan bolts?
What years had the PPS (porous pan syndrome)?

I can not see any evidence that is leaking from above. The gasket looks clean, after I had the gasket replaced, put some RTV on the bolts, it is only pooling on the left rear bolt at this time. I am stumped.

 

[vpower01]

Ive see the same thing on mine I will look at the timing cover tonight.
Let us know what you find out.

 

[uvbnbit]

It almost seems as if the bolt holes are too large. Usually the RTV will take care of it.
I had same issue and it was the timing chain cover gasket as mentioned a few times already.
Clean the area REAL good. Then, draw a line above the bolt holes with some white chalk. Drive it. Run it., etc. THen check and see if oil has run through the chalk line. If so, it's probably the timing chain cover gasket

 

[emaw]

It almost seems as if the bolt holes are too large. Usually the RTV will take care of it.
I had same issue and it was the timing chain cover gasket as mentioned a few times already.
Clean the area REAL good. Then, draw a line above the bolt holes with some white chalk. Drive it. Run it., etc. THen check and see if oil has run through the chalk line. If so, it's probably the timing chain cover gasket

That is exactly what I was thinking, but when we removed the bolt to apply the RTV, the bolt was dry except for the bottom to threads closest to the bolt head. We applied the RTV and it is still leaking.

I am going to get the car out tonight and take a look at that timing cover to see if it couldn't be leaking, but I would think if it was the timing cover it would be leaking toward the front of the pan.

I will report back on what I find.

 

[trainville]

Had this on our '98 GTS last year and the tranny has to come out. Chuck Tator sold me a rear seal and gasket. It continued to do the same thing. so I had to have the tranny out AGAIN......... They found two bolts somewhere around the crankshaft or higher that were seeping oil. So make sure while you're replacing that seal and gasket that they check ALL the bolts back there too! I figured it was a good opportunity to put a fresh clutch and chromoloy flywheel in while we were at it.

I feel your pain. I dropped the pan, dealt with the gasket, and RTV'ed ALL of the bolts twice 'cause everyone insisted that was the only problem. Thankfully my Dodge dealer only charges around $300 in labor to drop driveline, tranny, clutch, and get in there to fix the leak. I got a great deal on parts from Chuck Tator - give him a call!

 

[emaw]

Had this on our '98 GTS last year and the tranny has to come out. Chuck Tator sold me a rear seal and gasket. It continued to do the same thing. so I had to have the tranny out AGAIN......... They found two bolts somewhere around the crankshaft or higher that were seeping oil. So make sure while you're replacing that seal and gasket that they check ALL the bolts back there too! I figured it was a good opportunity to put a fresh clutch and chromoloy flywheel in while we were at it.

I feel your pain. I dropped the pan, dealt with the gasket, and RTV'ed ALL of the bolts twice 'cause everyone insisted that was the only problem. Thankfully my Dodge dealer only charges around $300 in labor to drop driveline, tranny, clutch, and get in there to fix the leak. I got a great deal on parts from Chuck Tator - give him a call!

Was your fly wheel wet or damp?

 

[happy]

i have the same issue but mine is almost all the bolts not all but alot ,and i pulled off inspection cover and everything was dry in there, i thought for sure it was the rear seal making a mess but mine is leaking around the oil pan cover!! i can see it dry on the block and damp around the oil pan gasket and running down the pan and blowing back over everything. so u guys say when you do the oil pan gasket putting it back together to put silcone on the bolt threads too??

 

[emaw]

i have the same issue but mine is almost all the bolts not all but alot ,and i pulled off inspection cover and everything was dry in there, i thought for sure it was the rear seal making a mess but mine is leaking around the oil pan cover!! i can see it dry on the block and damp around the oil pan gasket and running down the pan and blowing back over everything. so u guys say when you do the oil pan gasket putting it back together to put silcone on the bolt threads too??

That is what I did on the bolts I was having problems with, and it didn't fix my problem. I have not had a chance to put it back up in the air to check out my timing cover.

I probably should call Tator, but I hate to bother him if he is busy with customers.

 

[vpower01]

I still don't know for sure. I did check the timing cover and it was dry?
It might be coming from the rear seal... Im stumped. Seems like this is a
Common problem?

 

[emaw]

I still don't know for sure. I did check the timing cover and it was dry?
It might be coming from the rear seal... Im stumped. Seems like this is a
Common problem?

Have you pulled your inspection cover on the transmission to see if the fly wheel is dry?

 

[vpower01]

I need to do that I and I will.
I just cleaned it up so I could get a better idea of where its coming from.
Im scared it might be the seal. I will post what I find for sure I just have to
get the car on the lift. I have a bunch of junk on it, so its always a pain to move it. heh.

 

[Viper Wizard]

I probably should call Tator, but I hate to bother him if he is busy with customers.

Not a problem, give me a call anytime.
http://forums.viperclub.org/forums/269-Vendor-Review-Tator-s-Garage


Thanks Tony!

 

[cayman]

Had this on our '98 GTS last year and the tranny has to come out. Chuck Tator sold me a rear seal and gasket. It continued to do the same thing. so I had to have the tranny out AGAIN......... They found two bolts somewhere around the crankshaft or higher that were seeping oil. So make sure while you're replacing that seal and gasket that they check ALL the bolts back there too! I figured it was a good opportunity to put a fresh clutch and chromoloy flywheel in while we were at it.

I feel your pain. I dropped the pan, dealt with the gasket, and RTV'ed ALL of the bolts twice 'cause everyone insisted that was the only problem. Thankfully my Dodge dealer only charges around $300 in labor to drop driveline, tranny, clutch, and get in there to fix the leak. I got a great deal on parts from Chuck Tator - give him a call!

I had the same problem except in my case it was the rear seal housing gasket. And some how, my flywheel managed to stay dry.

 

[Garron]

Hey guys,

I have had great results using a light coat of mopar anaerobic sealer on the pan gasket. A very short lesson, an example aerobic sealer is black silicone. Excess sealer can enter the inside of the pan and block oil ports and the pick up. anaerobic will only harden without oxygen and will not block anything if excess enters the pan, because it will only harden where the gasket has crushed it. Chrysler techs first used this type of sealer on the front camshaft caps for a neon. There was concern because it required sealer, but was beside a oil feed hole.

Garrett

 

[All Blue ACR]

I had the same problem except in my case it was the rear seal housing gasket. And some how, my flywheel managed to stay dry.

Yep. me too. Same symptoms, same drips on bolts......

 

[emaw]

Yep. me too. Same symptoms, same drips on bolts......

Well, That is probably what it is then. I had the car out a little bit ago, and it is still dripping like it was before I had the gasket replaced.

What did the run to have repaired?

I will give tator a call early next week and talk it over with him, and see if he can't set me straight on the parts.

 

[cayman]

Well, That is probably what it is then. I had the car out a little bit ago, and it is still dripping like it was before I had the gasket replaced.

What did the run to have repaired?

I will give tator a call early next week and talk it over with him, and see if he can't set me straight on the parts.

Fixed it myself but I got the parts from the Wiz. Don't remember the exact cost but I think it was south of 50 bucks for the rear seal and seal housing gasket. Of course you'll need clutch fluid. Still, pretty cheap fix from a parts standpoint. But like everyone else, I went ahead and changed out the clutch and slave while I had it apart. Someone I think mentioned above the labor to change out the rear seal was $300 for them. I don't think our shops around here are that cheap though.
Yep, I spent a lot of time and money swapping out pan gaskets, trying the rtv on the bolts trick. Even replaced the entire pan itself when someone suggested the pan may be seeping oil because of the porosity of it.

 

[All Blue ACR]

Ditto. called Chuck, got the goods and the tips. Seal was fine but gasket was squished out in one corner.