Harmonic balancer oil leaks

[ipg]

count the holes in the block and then count the holes in the timing cover

[ardiesse]

There are two drain holes in the front main bearing cap, under the crank timing gear.

Let me do a search.  There must be pictures on the forum.

Here. (Courtesy FB-EK.)




OK, so the image size isn't quite as large as I'd hoped.

The upper bearing cap is the "early" type (FX-FE), and the lower front main bearing cap is the EK-EJ type with an extra bolt and repositioned drain holes.  The front engine plate was revised to at the same time as the front main bearing cap.

You have an EJ block, and I'm hoping you're using the EJ front engine mount plate also.  You just have to check that the drain holes are clear, and not filled up with Silastic or similar "sealant".

Stupid Question 2:  Do you have the timing gear lubrication fitting in place on your front engine mount plate?  It sticks out proud of the front engine mount plate maybe 20 mm, and has a screwdriver slot in the front and an oil hole in the side?  If it's not present, your oil pump will fill the timing case up with oil far faster than it can drain out.

Rob

[ardiesse]

Rob,

What model Holden's your motor in?  FX-FJ or FE-EJ?

There are a few ways that the front main bearing cap's oil return holes can be blocked:
- if you have a EJ motor in an FX-FJ, and use the "production" FX-FJ front engine plate.  GM-H released a revised FX-FJ front engine mount plate to cater for swapping a later engine into a Humpy.  Or,
- if you are unlucky enough to use a pre-May-1957 FE front engine mount plate on an EJ motor.

In both these cases, check the front engine plate's cutout for the crank timing gear.  If it's circular at the bottom, that's bad.  If it has a flat section, that's what you want.  And finally -

if your engine builder has used an early FX-FJ front engine plate gasket on your motor, the gasket will block the drain holes on an EJ block.  This is really unlikely, as the early, early gasket will require a lot of trimming.

If you're brave, you can run the engine without the harmonic balancer.  Does oil come pouring out of the front of the motor at idle?

A picture is worth a thousand words.  If you have to take the timing case off again, please take a photo of the front of the engine and post it.

Rob

[Harv]

Some more reading in the engine plate differences (with thanks to Rob for schooling me):

http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=23279&p=237750&hilit=Engine+plate+Harv#p237750

Cheers,
Harv

[Ken's 57]

Hi everyone. Just wanted to add to this informative post after spending a lot of time trying to track down an oil leak around the front seal and harmonic balancer on a recently re-built grey. I went through all the steps in this post. After removing the timing cover I noticed that the witness mark where the cover attached to the engine plate showed that the cover was not sealing all the way around despite the bolts all being well tightened. I put the cover on a flat surface with a small torch under it. In a few sections there were gaps of around one and two mm in between the bolt holes. So the issue was not the seal, the keyway or the harmonic balancer. The issue was the timing cover not being completely flat. Also, one of the short bolts at the bottom that secures the reinforcement plate was partially stripped. So I flattened the plate as best I could, scavenged another bolt from a spare engine, used a thicker gasket and a liberal dose of ThreeBond hi temp silicone sealant. I also used thicker than normal flat washers under the spring washers. So far, so good. Cheers, Ken.

[ardiesse]

Can't help but notice that the engine's in an FJ, and the timing cover is EK-EJ indeed an early one.  The early front engine mount plates are fairly notorious for stripping the 1/4" threads in front of the front main bearing cap.  For reasons known only to themselves, GM-H engineers decided to drill recesses in the front main bearing cap rather than providing a tapped hole.  The tapped holes and an extra bolt came later . . .

Is the block an early, i.e. no letter prefix in the engine number?

(I swapped over to an EJ front main bearing cap on my Humpy and modified the front engine mount plate to suit.  It used to leak oil between the front engine mount plate and the block.)

Rob

[Ken's 57]

Thanks for the reply Rob. Yes it is an FJ engine. No letter prefix. 261443. That’s really interesting about the difference in timing covers. The spare engine I have (also FJ) has a different pattern on the front of the cover. However, I assumed my car had the right cover as it matches the picture in the GMH workshop manual. I also have that same cover on my FE which although no longer having the original block, had all parts transferred from it to the current L block. Below is a picture from the manual and one of the other style cover. Not at all wishing to be argumentative but rather to clarify. Cheers, Ken

[ardiesse]

Ken,

My bad.  You're right.  Your motor has the original style of timing cover.  I went out to the carport, popped the hood on my Humpy, and - it has an "F" timing cover.  The later covers are the "+" style.

(and I corrected my earlier post)

Rob

[Ken's 57]

Thanks Rob. When checking the type of timing cover on the FE..... after reading your post, I noticed it is also weeping a little oil. Re-built 5000 miles ago.
Next job on the list!