Well... this long holiday weekend looked good to do a major maintenance project.

It starts with the need to replace the clutch... I have never liked the Fidenza aluminum flywheel. I was told when I bought it that it would work without balancing... lesson learned... it must be match balanced. It would vibrate at about 4400 RPM.

The car also has 170k miles on it and the front seals must be junk by now.

What I hadn't expected was the sheer amounts of grease and oil build up. I removed the O2 sensors weatherpack connector... and oil poured out!

The entire undercarriage is just covered in this goo... the inside of the bell housing is coated with this 1mm thick layer of oil/clutch dust/road grime, all baked in. I have already burned off a bottle of simple green and a can of brake cleaner getting that crap off.

I am going to pull the engine tomorrow night... It makes sense at this point to pull the motor and clean everything properly, inspect the rack/pinion and replace the seals on the timing cover.

With three seals on the LT1 (waterpump/opti/crank), it makes sense that is the location of the main oil leak. The rear main is actually very dry, so I don't think that was the source. I am going to replace it - I am there - but for the most part, it looks dry.

I may need to find that front main seal fix kit... IIRC, there is a kit that has a collar on it to go over the crank snout. The idea is that over over time, the rubber seal creates a groove in the crank, making for an even bigger leak source. And after 170k miles, I would not be surprised of the crank is seriously groved.

So far, the transmission, clutch and exhaust are out of the car. I have disconnected much of the wiring, with only the heater hoses and a couple of wires to disconnect.

Tonight, I sorted all of the bolts... so grimy and coated in oil. Some had even worked a little loose due to all the oil on them (I know the bolts were tight 5 years ago when I did this last, I had a torque wrench and used the damned thing!). Some are still soaking in Simple Green. Others have been cleaned and are already stored in a piece of cardboard, IDing where they go. The inspection shield and starter are now clean again, too...

Once the engine comes out, I will degrease the chassis... it is really tragic under there.

Oh, Matthew - that NAPA aluminum cleaner really rocks!!!

I did pick up a new creeper... Harbor Freight for $30.00. It really seems to work well. It's hard plastic with 6 wheels and a really nice back support! It's also low slung and will allow me to slide under my car...

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf ... yitem.taf?Itemnumber=2745

I will update as the days progress. I had optimistically expected to get this done over the weekend. But with goo everywhere, I was being slowed. Slippery bolts... oily components, it was a mess. An absolute disgrace.

As an aside, you do find things... when I was checking the radiator, I found 2 styrofoam coffee cups and a plastic bag... and a socket. Many years ago, my late brother bought me a set of metric sockets. I have them still after all these years, but lost the 10mm... it fell down into the engine compartment, but could never find it I figured it had fallen out months ago. Well, there it was, purched up on the wiring above the oil temp sender!!! All oily and not the least bit rusty!!! ya!

That's it for now... more tomorrow!

Sounds like fun! :-P

Good luck, Andy!!

I'm waiting for pictures of this fiasco

Then you can laugh at me when I do mine (next year???)



Matthew

PS - glad you like the cleaner, but thank 95vette for that tip.

Hi Andy, the crank snout 'fix' (actually on my 1992 it goes onto the hub) you talked about is called a "speedy-sleeve" - I got mine for about $25 from NAPA.

Good luck with your project!

Andy,

FWIW - I had 150k miles or so on my engine when I did it and thought that all the oil was coming from the front main seal too. I replaced the seal and all the other ones too for that matter, but I had no groove at all on the crank snout. So perhaps you will be lucky and not have to sleeve it.

Either way, it's great that the kit is readily available, and would be even greater if I end up not needing it!

There is a leak from hell somewhere, tho... the amount of pure wet is just astounding. The amount of goo everywhere is mindboggling. And I keep it "clean!" I hose down the under carriage with every O/C... apparently, I wasn't doing a good enough job of it. And the leak has gotten worse in the last 6-8 weeks.

Regardless, it will be fixed this week. Tonight, I am taking the engine out.

Tomorrow will be clean up and seal/gasket changes.

Oh, the pilot bearing was broken. The last clutch had a bearing, not a bushing. The bearing had the center part on the trans input shaft and no bearings... not good. I guess it was damaged on installation (my bad).

Mine's leaking like a sieve too.

If you put an electric WP on, pull the drive!

I wish my new engine was ready, replacing the rack would be a lot easier!

You going to pull the intake?

That's a big source of leaks on LTX engines.

And on the seventh day you shall rest. (and about every other hour in between).

If I do this "maintenance Project"...And I will do this this Fall or Winter....I will have "refreshed" from the Radiator all the way to the rear hubs and everywhere in between.

But I hear ya Andy, While the entire drive line was out...I was thinking...it wouldn't be that much more to lift the motor out.......

The only thing that stopped me and what stops me now is that vibration.....I have to address the high speed vibration and that is going to be found in the front suspension somewhere.

Quote:

You must have got a dud. All 1pc rear main flywheels have the same balance weight. LT1s included. All 2pc rear flywheels for 350 applications are neutral.


-- Joe

If that is the case, why does the DMFW have the provision for the weights?

No progress... I had to put the car back on 4 wheels. Some annonymus neighbour decided to rat me out to the cops and I got a ticket for working on my car in the street.

Nelson V is coming over tomorrow to help me swap Vettes in the driveway...

I will then be able to yank the motor.

Arggghhhh, that blows! Hopefully appropriate karma will befall said neighbor.

Quote:


Indeed--Bring on the karma to the guilty neighbor-and lots of it too! What a crock...

I had a neighbor complain in my old neighborhood because I jacked the car up on all four corners to pull the wheels and clean the suspension and wheels. I really wasn't even working on the car. No ticket was issued, but the cops came by to see what I was doing and how long it would be out of service.

We moved

BTW, there was a service bulletin about '92s that needed to have weights added to the flywheel to eliminate vibration.

^^A factory service bulletin about a Fidenza all aluminum flywheel?

I'm confused here...

Quote:

No, about the DMFW.

Quote:

No idea, could be a vette thing, or it could be the same flywheel is used on the LT5 and they needed an easy way to change the balance without welding.


What would you expect to "match balance" it to anyway? You would need to remove the rotating assembly, weigh the pistons, rings, pins, etc. Do you really expect to have to do that when changing flywheels? That is just plain sillyness.

Your aftermarket flywheel may very well be 'out of spec', but that's the MFG's fault. All 1pc rear flywheels should have the same counterweight.

-- Joe

Quote:

Brad, where did you see this? I've looked thru the 92 TSBs and never saw this one.

There was a TSB on 1996 LT4s for balance issues.

It's in this thread:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-te ... bration-above-3k-rpm.html

Ok... update time.

I got the motor out today... and what a god awful mess this is.

I had to cobble up my own Kent-Moore crank snout puller... but it worked just fine and dandy!

I think the main cause of the leak is a torn oil pan gasket way up front on the engine. At the corner where it turns to the side of the engine. I am getting a new gasket as I type. On hold at the local AutoZone... they sell FelPro.

The goo build up on the cross member is every bit of 1/4" thick!!! horrid.

I also found that the rear cam seal is weaping quite a bit. I am not sure what to do there, but I think I am going to slather it in RTV and hope for the best... it sure won't hurt anything.

I will post pics of the mess later.

Time to make it shine ;-)

The LT1/4 engines are externally balanced via the flywheel. If you change the flywheel you must match balance the old to the new. There might have been a rare few that didn't need this balance method, but most did. There are even claims of a few of the LT4's needed to also be balanced through the balancer/dampner.

Take a look at the PS lines.

Oil loves to eat them. Now would be a great time to replace them

Also check your PS rack boots.

Brian,

Both are on the list. I have checked the boots and they look great. The lines are nasty, but I will know more after cleaning.

I remember you mentioning Simple Green to me at Sebring. How much is a 55 gallon drum?

That ain't enough... Purple Power (I think it's by Castrol) has a 2 gallon jug... bought one yesterday.

Simple Green has BBQ cleaner - wonder if that would do any good? Come to think of it, the intake would make dandy grill marks on a steak.

good question.... and I agree about the grille marks. I will try that sometime.

Another update!

I got the front cover off and the oil pan.

Both have been cleaned, resealed/gasketed and reinstalled. The waterpump shaft is a bit tricky, but I think I oiled down both the shaft and the seal enough to get it on without harming it.

If not, I think I can do that gasket on the engine, in a pinch.

Learned something very interesting... Simple Green eats magnesium!!! Yup. Chews it right up. I will post pics later. However, I left my magnesium bell housing in my parts cleaner... just laying in a 1/2" deep puddle of simple green. Pulled it out after about 4 days and the damned stuff ate it!!!

Good to know about the Simple Green with magnesium. I am sure I used a little when I cleaned my bellhousing, but for the most part I used Brake-Kleen. Good lawd, that thing was filthy inside!

Quote:

Wow, I'm shocked. I always thought simple green was about the safest cleaner to use on everything. Wonder how it would affect our valve covers since I'd like to clean and repaint those one day.

I'd like to see pics.

Matthew

I will post pics tomorrow.

The thing is, I soaked it. I can say a cleaning and rinsing won't do anything. I checked the MSDS and there is no reference made to reactivity.

They do offer it in 55 gal drums.

Oh, another observation: The new FelPro gasket is installed dry, has a metal core all the way around.

Both front corners on the old one are broken.

Quote:

Hey Andy - that seal is a bit tricky, there is a special tool for its install that keeps the rear part of the seal pointing rearwards and the front pointing forwards.

If either condition is not correct, either because the seal was pushed over the shaft without the tool (i.e. both ends of the seal pointing out) or the shaft was inserted into the seal (i.e. both ends of the seal pointing in) then you'll probably have trouble!

Oh - and the FSM says to install it dry.....

Quote:

That's definitely a new one!

Some WP seal pics in this thread:

http://www.impalassforum.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=214743

hm... I think I can make the tool... no problem... however, how does one use it???

I am ordering a DynaSpark...

The bearing in my opti is not yet junk, but it sounds like it is running on sandpaper and it has hitches. There is also rust all over the shaft. I refuse to put that neat aluminum cover on that old POS.

I did get the oil pan and front cover torqued. Same with the oil filter housing. The motor is now right side up and ready for the intake. I will have the motor cleaned up and done by Thursday night.

My next challenge? Getting the rest of the pilot bearing out. Itwas all messed up in there and the outer shell is stil trapped. I can't get my bearing puller on it... so I am going to try and break it out.

Quote:

The tool fits over the end of the wp shaft (shaft sticking out from timing chain cover) and provides a step-less transition for the seal to slide over. Without the tool the inner seal flange will fold inwards when one tries to push the seal onto the shaft.

Hope this makes sense...

Quote:

I'd take the cap off and see what the insides look like.

Cap & rotor doesn't cost that much.

You going the 'vented opti' mod?

Andy, I have a slightly used 92 Oti that you could have for a really good price.

Pic 1 - Ahhhhh, where are the bearings?
Pic 2 - Do you think the disc could be straightened?

Attach file:

---

  IMGP0539.jpg (0.00 KB)


  IMGP0540.jpg (0.00 KB)

Quote:

yo, cunningham, I have LTCC! I don't need cap/rotor. I need a new opti.

The bearing is junk in the making. I took the rotor off and all you can hear is really dry bearing. At a slow turn, there are several hitches.

I suspect it could last a few months, I just don't want to get into it again in 4-5 months.

Quote:

you win. Yours sucks more.

Quote:

That's what I have been figuring out... but the concept is annoying.

They say install dry, but if it's teflon, won't all the teflon fall off during the install process?

I am going to get some thin walled tubing and make a tool.

Quote:

A lot of good the LTCC did you then LOL

Seriously, DynaSpark used to make an opti with a fake cap on it for LTCC use.


EDIT: DynaSpark not TeamTech.

When I did my waterpump seal I found a drawing of a tool made from a dry erase marker.

Basically the old school dry erase markers have just the right form to keep the seal in place.

I'll look around and see if I still have the instructions - I know I tossed the marker body I used.

I'm glad to hear DynaSpark is back to selling stuff. I was worried soon after I bought and installed mine they seemed to disappear for a long while.

Quote:

Believe it of not the damn thing ran OK. It only cut out above 4k. And ran fine otherwise. Ehen I laid it on the bench the ball bearings fell out.

Andy, if you want to borrow my LT1 service kit you can.