Rouxox:


Not saying it would happen to you. But, moving from a "moderate effort" fix to a major redo has been the source of many "basket cases".


I'm with Doug, fix the leak, continue with the overall evaluation.


A running car is a great incentive....


Carl

 

So the odds of it coming from a main seal are a bit slim? I havent had a chance today to actually rip everythign down and see exactly where its coming from. These banjo fittings are known to fail, well is there a better fix? The amount of oil was pretty substancial, and very fast, so unless the feed line popped off entierly while i was trying to go up the hill...

My take on wanting to rebuild the engine was simply not wanting to do several small fixes over a series of months and constantly being afraid somehting is going to pop, fail, bust, or brake. Starting at ground one seemed like a logical thing to do since the car had sat for about a decade prior to me getting it moving again.

 

I have no doubt the bushings are more than likely shot on it just based on how long it sat prior to moving it finally. Ill take a look at the banjo fittings and see if its where the oil is coming from.

 

Looks like a pretty good deal on the car. I will echo the idea of just fixing what it needs right now. On a car that old , that has sat for so long, probably with minimal maintenance before that, many components like hoses and seals are likely to let go. Is it possible that the breather suddenly got clogged? If a rod or other component was getting lose enough to break, I would think that you would have heard some serious clanging! If you can, fix it and drive it enough to love it. Anyway good luck. I do love those earlier XJ6 models.

 

Those who say the fan was originally yellow have obviously never seen original sales brochures for the Series III 6 cylinder cars, nor a near-new car. They were white when new.

 

These engines, though fundamentally the same, are a lot different from my normal. I suppose any good hints and tips for common problems would be much obliged =P I haven’t thought about checking the Breather, but would that getting clogged cause such a gush? I do feel like it may be this fabled banjo bolt hiding behind there that could be the culprit. When I get off work to day ill fondle around and see if I can pinpoint it better. I suppose picking up some cat litter wouldn’t be too bad of an idea for the garage floor.

 

Looking at that photo of the oil leak location, I'd say it is the feed to the camshafts as mentioned above. This is a copper tube that has a Y-piece joint with two shorter pipes clamped to the back of each cam chamber, using copper washers to seal. Another source could be the half-moon seals below the cam covers at the back of the cylinder head where the camshaft bearings were machined at the factory.

The only other thing I can think of that can leak oil at the back of the engine is the main oil seal on the crankshaft. This is a rope-type seal, (not the modern Neoprene lip type), but if it does start leaking the oil drips downwards until it exits the bell housing. It never actually "fails", it just gets worn out, and drips continuously especially if the car is parked on an upward facing slope.

 

So both of these potential issues you listed, are they very intrusive to fix? I mean this is something that can be done in an afternoon without going into the engine itself, or having to remove much of anything from the top end? (I’m sorry for so many questions, I just want to have a full understanding before I go into this later tonight) I mean from the explanation and my imagination it seems like it be relatively easy to locate and deduce if it’s where the oil came from (is this the ‘banjo bolt’ everyone speaks of?). It was most definitely a sudden leak while the engine was under full load going up a moderately steep hill, so I feel like it’s more than likely not the main oil seal, but too much pressure in the crank case. Thank you for the information thus far!

 

if it is the "Y" Banjo lines, you can replace the copper seals in 3 minutes. Look behind the cylinder head between the firewall and the cylinder head, top of engine.

if it is the main crankshaft seal, you have to remove the engine, separate it from the transmission, mount it to a stand, and turn it around so the crankshaft is up.

 

So I'll attach some pictures here, I'm not seeing any definite place of a leak, or a failure. Any recommendations on where to look/take pictures?

Passenger side
Driver side

Rear of the driver side of the block where the oil hit the exhaust pipe.

 

so the leak came on fast?

did you check the engine oil dipstick after that ? Was the oil low?

have you touched and smelled the oil? does it smell like engine oil or something else?

if it doesn't smell like engine oil it must be refrigerant oil, the a/c compressor may have sprung a leak on the back connections and poof, a fast leak.

if not the connections on the back of the a/c compressor, maybe an a/c hose burst? they are all in that area.

does the a/c work?

otherwise it does not look like the banjo fittings are leaking.

 

I took off the little nipple above my thumb here and... Taste tested, had no flavor, just coated tongue like oil, then tried fluid off the block. Same experience but tasted like well burnt road grime I'm assuming. The oil level seems fine on the dip stick, so I'mma rinse that area out and give the car a crank and see if anything happens. On a side note, IF it's the AC system and it's out of what I'm assuming is r12? Will it cause damage to the components to run the car with no gas?

 

Sorry I'm late.
Congratulations on your SCORE!!
And all your super quick repairs up to this point.

I'm impressed how well the finish cleaned up! You've got a real treasure there.

AC: There *Should* be a low pressure switch in the system that prevents the compressor clutch engaging if there's not enough refrigerant/oil for safe operation. If that switch is faulty you *Will* burn up the compressor (ask me how I know).

The original system is indeed R12, but I personally have successfully converted an R12 system to HC-12a, a propane base refrigerant, and it works even Better than R12!! You have to put it in yourself though (easy peasy), because Honeywell, owners of R134 patents, have succeeded making it illegal for shops to use.

But that's another story.

Welcome to our playpen from ElinorB.
(';')

 

take a picture of the back of the a/c compressor, located low, driver's side, it has a single Belt at its front pulley.

check the engine oil with the car on a level floor before starting the engine.
take a picture of the dipstick showing the high point of the oil. Use Castrol 20W50 oil.

do not use the Fan controls at this point, (the Off / Low / Auto / High Mode knob to the right of the radio), leave it off for now.

OR: disconnect the 2-wire plug at the front top of the a/c compressor, located between the pulley-clutch and the compressor, so the compressor is not activated if you use the climate system.

 

as to what refrigerant may be in the a/c system, who knows? many people have converted to R134a from R12.

if the system was converted by a licensed shop, there should be a Label somewhere stating that the system is R134a.

so if you don't know, best thing is to have the system discharged by a licensed shop who will evacuate it, add 6 oz. of oil, and recharge it with whatever.

The Factory Service Manual has a good a/c system section. you can download it here in the "HOW TO QUICK LINKS".

 

I hope I'm not sending you on "snipe huts", but I've two ideas that may or may not fix your oil leak, but will improve your car.


1. I was a bit aghast at the messy smear of too much gasket "sealer" under the rear of the cam cover in one of your pictures. Fix. Two new gaskets. And "half moon seals". Check the sealing surfaces, both on then head and the cover. Fix or get better covers if necessary. Clean and detail. They sure look even better then. Incentive increased and might fix the leak. High gain, little or no risk.


2. There is a dome up front. It is apart of the crankcase ventilation system. As you mentioned, excess crankcase pressure can exacerbate a minor seep to a fair sized one. Is that the root cause here, probably not. Will it help, oh yeah. It has probably been neglected. That dome is referred to as a thimble. It has a filter of some type. They clog with "gunk". Clean and make sure the lines flow well. Usually needed in the care and maintenance of these critters.


As to the AC, if the clutch is deprived of power, it can not engage and spin the compressor. Mine is dormant via that means at present. My fix just doesn't seem to get to the top of my task/priority list.


Very nice find. Definitely worth getting it in order.


My Passat project is moving along. All disassembly done. Ready to start putting it together. It's NGK multi spark plugs looked awful. I hope the new NGK conventional tipped plugs live better in that environment


My Jeep project stalled. My efforts to remove fuel from the tank via a siphon method have failed. Can't even get the hose wet!!! More thinking nd research in order. Naaah, it would take days or just letting it idle and run out of gas !!!!!! It used to be so simple to siphon gas.....


Carl



Carl

 

my Jag mechanic says "no sealer, gasket only or I kill ya".

if the gasket doesn't seal, you have a different problema.

Weird, but the gaskets in my 1984 have not needed changing since the what do you call it? "cam fix" was done, and that was 1991. No sealer was used on the valve covers, no leaks either.

 

Welcome and congratulations on your exceptional find!

The oil leak will eventually present itself when you run the engine. First clean everything greasy, so you'll be able to see where the oil originates from.

Another thing: could you post a picture of the left rear panel / fender?
I'm pretty sure I can spot the same damage as my V12 had when I bought it: Rusted through completely from 1 inch below the filler cap, all the way down to the bottom.

How are the sealing rubbers for the front and back windows? Do the inner ones "cut the corners" so to speak? If yes, at least replace them, because water can get underneath the windscreen and wreak havoc....

 

Ill have to do this later today, I didn’t have time to last night, was a bit exhausted from work. I feel like it more than likely was the AC springing a leak, just based on smoke and smell of the burn off. We cranked it last night and let it idle for about 30 min before taking it on a drive, no leaks, no smoke and no problem. The bushings are on their way and I do need to order tires for it soon, I’m afraid to go over 30 with the ones on there now. As for oil type, I have heard so many different things, I usually like to use Liqui Moly in my cars with Cera tec and MOS2 Anti-Friction Additive, after a solid flush with Seafoam through the crankcase. Ill look into the Castrol oil though, probably save me a lot on an oil change, and that weight specifically.

 

Ill grab you some pictures tonight =P I was trying to hide that area in most of the pictures I took not wanting to be judged on the repair methods, and what you said happened exactly as described to that area on my car. Rusted totally through and the rubber seal is cutting corners hard. We sanded it all down and treated it with rust converter, (im sure this is some level of blasphemy here) covered the hole in fiberglass and resin, applied a few thin layers of body filler, and currently smoothing out to be primed, id have finished it by now but my fiancé has taken on the job and would be mad if I did while she’s away. Id love to pull the glass, sand, re-prime everything and reinstall with new seals, but thats later for now. I was mostly trying to find any rust that seemed cancerous, and that’s really the only area that had anything really bad. The rest was very small surface rust that’s been sanded and primed already the first week we got it home.