oil leak detection while motors pulled?

[jkilby18]

well i have what seems to be a bad front mail seal... so i pulled my motor to replace it and clean up the engine bay from the old oil ... my question is since the motor is out and i am replacing all the seals... is there any way to check to see if theres any other leaks ? i dont wana go through all this and find out that wasnt even the cause of it... if any one has any info on this i would be greatly appreciated

[marty1mc]

The simplest thing is to replace all of your seals and check your intake cam gears for leakage (yes, they do develop leaks as well). I would replace both main seals, cam seals, turbo oil return lines and check the feed lines for blockage. Also, pull the VTC's and seal those with new RTV, replace the valve cover gaskets and the grommets for the screws. I also put a small film of RTV on the valve cover gaskets where the contact the head to help keep the seal when (not if) the screws loosen up. You can't re-tighten most of them with the plenum on.

Also, check all of your hoses, replace water lines, do the TB water bypass if you haven't already.

[jkilby18]

yea ive already done every possible deletion that ive seen for these motors...i have already done the oil feed and return lines and hoses when i replaced the turbos.. the leak seemed to be coming from the lower left part of the motor... a very skilled mechanic had told me just be looking at were the oil was spread that it was the front main... ill probably end up doing the oil pan sealant to.. would you recommend using locktite on the valve cover screws?....just a little paranoid of putting the motor back in and finding out theres still a leak somewere... i also noticed a leak were the oil feed line for the passenger side turbo feeds into the block.... i figure just talking it off and using some thread sealant should do the trick.... im very good with my hands and basically do any job if ive read up on it...so any more info would be great... very much appreciated

[marty1mc]

I have seen some convert the screws to allen or torx bolts. With those, I would feel more comfortable using locktite. With Phillips, no. The only suggestion I would have additional is to check the top inside of the cam gear covers. If you see oil in there around the top on the intake gears, you likely have leaking cam gears.

Also, while you have the motor out, it's a good time to change the steering rack bushings, clean/paint the engine bay.

[jkilby18]

Yea i will probally try changing out the screws....and the whole front end was redone last year with poly mounts and a rebuilt rack... I just cant wait to see my z back on the road again