Thanks to Chuck for the Advice!

[cayman]

I know there has been lots of praise for individuals on this forum for their volunteered contribution of knowledge to us not-so viper tech savvy people. So just chalk this up as yet another praise for these people, in this case, Chuck Tator....again! My car suffers from the infamous timing chain cover gasket leak after I installed the Roe SC. Although I could have gone by the service manual on the gasket replacement procedure, I thought I would call Chuck on this matter after hearing so many good things about him. In doing so, he probably just saved me no telling how much time and aggravation of having to re-do everything because of the things the manual doesn't tell you. So Chuck, thanks again! If I hadn't already bought the gaskets through the local Dodge dealership, I would have bought them through you as a token of my appreciation. But I'm sure there will be other things pop up that I'll need parts for!!

You guys who live near Chuck are very fortunate to have somebody of his caliber close by to go to for mechanical issues! If I was close enough to him, Joe D., Sean Roe, the Wiz and some others, I wouldn't be screwing with this myself. I'd be pay'in the man and feeling good in knowing the job is getting done and done right!

 

[Steve 00RT/10]

What is the reason the Roe SC creates this problem?

I too, am going through the same gasket problem and bought the parts from Chuck. He is a wealth of information and very helpful. I did get 1 yr/10,000 miles out of the system before a slight coolant leak appeared on the right side where the water pump passage comes through. We did the gasket job 2 days ago. Unfortunately for me, the new crank seal is slightly leaking and a new one is on the way. ......Hoping to do the job completely from the bottom and only pull the balancer off to change the seal.

Steve

 

[plumcrazy]

yup, we're lucky here in the NY,NJ,CT area to have him so close by

 

[cayman]

I think you'll find it easier to change the seal from the top. That was the first thing I replaced before coming to the conclusion that the timing chain cover was leaking.

Chuck confirmed what I found here on the forum that for some reason the '97 and '98 models were more susceptible to timing chain cover leaks. Throw a supercharger on it which increases the crankcase pressure at higher rpms and any weak spots you have in your gasket is going to rear its ugly head. Sooooo..... Chuck said to take the water pump off to make more room on the front. Also, not to break the oil lines loose at the oil adapter as sometimes people play hell trying to get them seal back up. Said to take the adapter off and move it to the side. Is this what you did when you replaced your gasket? The book says you can take the cover off with the water pump in tacked and made no mention of having to drop the oil pan,at least on the '98 models. But I trust Chuck's advice considering the number of these he had to replace.

 

[Viper Wizard]

"Cayman" your VERY welcome, anytime and Thanks!

Steve I think you'll be better off going at it from the top, you will have one h**l-of-a-time getting to 250 ft lbs of torque!

Plum are ready for some eggs?

 

[GR8_ASP]

Chuck that won't be his problem. I have a picture of his wife Sue torquing that bolt down. Looked like a 10 foot torque wrench. fyi I use a 3/4 inch torque wrench with a 4 foot extension. It is a ******.

 

[Steve 00RT/10]

I think you'll find it easier to change the seal from the top. That was the first thing I replaced before coming to the conclusion that the timing chain cover was leaking.

Chuck confirmed what I found here on the forum that for some reason the '97 and '98 models were more susceptible to timing chain cover leaks. Throw a supercharger on it which increases the crankcase pressure at higher rpms and any weak spots you have in your gasket is going to rear its ugly head. Sooooo..... Chuck said to take the water pump off to make more room on the front. Also, not to break the oil lines loose at the oil adapter as sometimes people play hell trying to get them seal back up. Said to take the adapter off and move it to the side. Is this what you did when you replaced your gasket? The book says you can take the cover off with the water pump in tacked and made no mention of having to drop the oil pan,at least on the '98 models. But I trust Chuck's advice considering the number of these he had to replace.

"Cayman" your VERY welcome, anytime and Thanks!

Steve I think you'll be better off going at it from the top, you will have one h**l-of-a-time getting to 250 ft lbs of torque!

Chuck, I may have to enlist my assistant again We certainly won't rule out going from the top, but with a rack if we can get a good grip from below, we can put a cheater on it. As for putting the new seal in, ...below appears to have a better view of the work area to the crank. If the top is better, it's certainly no big deal to take the air box out and fluid cooler off.

Cayman, I missed out on the oil adaptor advice, but did remove the oil pan per Chuck and then also siliconed the 4 places on the bottom of the crankcase he told me about. That part is not in the book at all. I have no water leaks--that's good!........cause I wouldn't want to rip that apart again. Another tip from Chuck......fill the inboard heater hose with a funnel and then the pressure tank. We couldn't get the t-stat bleeder out so used a screwdriver to crack one of the hoses just a little at the forward end. Worked slick. 1 burping and I'm good to go. Temp is back down to the 3rd bar from the bottom at highway speeds in 6th gear.

Thanks again Chuck!

Steve

 

[sweet gts]

This is bad carma, I to just had a Roe s/c installed and may have developed the same leak. I'm going to try and get it up on a lift tomm. and see what we can find, I am really hoping that is just some oil from the install but after talking to Chuck I have a bad feeling. I can not see anything from above but found a small amout of oil on the floor and also get a liitle wif of oil when I stop.Hopefully the Viper Gods will be with me on this one!!
Steve

 

[cayman]

Sweet GTS,
May the Viper Gods be with you! As for me, I hoped for it to be anything but the cover gasket but have succumbed to the obvious after replacing the crankshaft seal and ruling out it being the camshaft position sensor 'o' ring. I'll be tearing in to it Sunday. One thing I can't stand is a oil leaking 14,000 mile car!

 

[C O D Y]

Chuck is great. He's treated me very well too.

 

[PDCjonny]

I had the same leak on my '98. Chuck diagnosed it correctly saving me a boatload of money, as another mechanic wanted to tear the engine down to "find" the leak. Chuck knew what it was in two minutes. Experience and honesty are a great combination.

 

[DAMN YANKEE]

So easy....even a cayman can do it?

 

[cayman]

So easy....even a cayman can do it?

Hey Dan! I thought surely if I can install a supercharger myself, I can yank the front end of the motor off as well! And, now I can start justifying to my wife the two-post lift in my shop!

 

[Madduc]

So anymore "tips" to take care of before a S/C install? Will be starting mine next week. Would like to have every base covered to prevent any delays or future re-tear downs for something small.

 

[cayman]

I assume its a Roe. Just take your time. The instructions that Sean includes with his SC is pretty straight forward. I can't think of anything outside of his instructions that needed better clarification. The only thing I saw that could be a little tricky is getting all of the injector 'O' rings seated when you push the fuel rail down on to them. Just make sure you have a little oil coating the rings so they won't roll on you when you install the rail.

If you run into issues or questions, just come back up on the forum. There is a slew of people that's done this a few times that will help you out including myself.

So anymore "tips" to take care of before a S/C install? Will be starting mine next week. Would like to have every base covered to prevent any delays or future re-tear downs for something small.