Finally...

[Chrispbrown36]

So I finally got a chance to drain the rear end and take a look inside. Everything looked good, though the amount of lube that actually drained out seemed to be on the low side. I didn't bother counting the teeth to confirm that it is the gear ratio listed on the original invoice. I noticed that the diff cover had some sort or rubbery paint coating the outside....almost like Plasit-Dip. I didn't think much of it until I started cleaning out the diff cover. There were 3-4 small gouges on the inside of the cover....none of them seem to have broken through the cover, but I can't see why they would be there unless maybe the rear end blew up at one time, which makes me wonder if the rubbery coating on the outside was to stop a leak at one time or if it was just done as a rust preventative. If it were because one of the gouges were deep enough to leak it seems odd to paint over it to prevent a leak when you can buy a diff cover for pretty cheap.
At any rate I am going to eventually put a new cover on it, so hopefully then I will take the time to confirm what gears are in there. Based on how the trucks perform I really do think the 3.08's are what is in there....between a motor that hasn't been kept in top condition and the lack luster gears....she just doesn't have much pep.
Tomorrow the plan is to drain the transfer case and refill it and then drain the front axle and refill it too.
A question on catalytic converters.....does anyone have a picture of the stock cat. on an 87 V10? I can't imagine the monstrosity that is under my truck is stock....this thing is enormous! Besides it has a hose clamp on the front of it and I somehow doubt that Chevy sent it out the door like that. I think the cat. is going to be replaced with a new one and a Cherry Bomb Vortex will follow it.....single in single out...everyone runs duals. But this is going to have to wait for a while.

[Chrispbrown36]

I will get some pictures of the cat. that's on there tomorrow.

[Chrispbrown36]

I have so far managed to change the front and rear diff fluids and today I managed to pull out the passenger side fuel tank. Found out that none of the wiring was hooked up...only the three fuel lines coming off of the sending unit and the ground strap. Not having any of the wiring hooked up definitely would keep it from functioning but I might as well replace the sending unit while I have it out....in time of course. The tank had not been used in quite some time from what I saw. The little tin flap where the nozzle goes in was barely hanging in there and there was a fair amount of rust around the opening.

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[Chrispbrown36]

Forgot to grab the pictures of the cat....maybe tomorrow.

[Chrispbrown36]

Been asking about rebuilding rearends over in the 4x4 section and took some pictures of my rear diff....thought I might as well post em up here too. Found out that my factory locker is long gone and has been replaced at some point by an Auburn limited slip....the gears are still 3.08's though.
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[Chrispbrown36]

The next task is to figure out where all my oil is going. I know the rear main seal is leaking but I have oil coming from the front somewhere too. Any suggestions of where to start looking here?

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Chrispbrown36

The next task is to figure out where all my oil is going. I know the rear main seal is leaking but I have oil coming from the front somewhere too. Any suggestions of where to start looking here?

in front of the fuel pump two bolts or bolt holes the top one may be loose, missing or leaking

OR

right under the front of the intake manifold usually one corner or the other, ie above the China wall right under thermostat

[Chrispbrown36]

Only problem is my truck is an 87 with the fuel pump in the tank.....should I still be looking for these bolts?
I will look around tomorrow to see what I can see. I am thinking since it is supposed to be nice I should clean the engine real well trying to knock most of the old oil off and go from there.

[Chrispbrown36]

Progress report....Still haven't gotten into chasing down the oil leaks, but I did finally get the transfer case drained a refilled. Man that thing takes a lot of transmission fluid! I also changed out the oil pressure gauge sender. Since I bought the truck the gauge had set above 60 psi and after pulling the sender off and putting it back on it was pegged as high as it would go. With the way the truck is going through oil, I was concerned about not having some sort of pressure reading. So after getting the wrong part once (there is two different ones...one has 1/8" fittings and one has 1/4" fittings...I guessed 1/8" and needed 1/4") I finally got the new one on today. It idles at just a hair under 45 psi and rises up to around 50 psi if I bump the pedal but drops back down as soon as it idles down. When I put it in gear it drops to a hair above 30 psi. I have not had a chance to drive it yet so I am not sure how it behaves while being driven. Is 45 psi at idle normal? I had read that 60 psi was normal.

[Gregski]

I also thought 60 PSI (is it even PSI or some other units?) was the magic number

if you want more accuracy I would find and screw in a gauge right into the block to see the pressure at idle, obviously that doesnt help while in gear but you could ruv it up and see how the gauge reads at different RPM

[Chrispbrown36]

I did a search earlier today and according to what I found oil pressure varies widely. Some said 60 psi some said 45 some even went as low as 5.....so I don't think anyone knows for sure!
I guess I have driven vehicles that burnt oil in the past without a gauge and survived to I guess I can now too.....as long as it doesn't bottom out I guess it should work.
Started tearing the valve covers and exhaust manifolds off today....man there is a lot of crap in the way. While I was standing there reconsidering what I was doing I noticed that my distributor sits a little cockeyed, tilting slightly toward the drivers side....is that a normal things?

[jastewart25]

looks to me like the wait was worth it. really nice truck!

[Chrispbrown36]

Thank you...I am glad I was patient.

[Chrispbrown36]

Well I finally got one exhaust manifold off and decided to take some pictures and ask some questions....
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This is the passenger side of the engine....
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[Chrispbrown36]

No one?

[motornut]

hookup for cruise i bet at the back to the right

[motornut]

my 88

[Chrispbrown36]

Intake gasket changed......now to put everything back together. I really think the biggest part of my oil leak was due to a pretty half a**ed job by the last guy that did it. It looked like they didn't wanna put much effort in getting to the back with the rtv, but they sure went wild with it in the front! So far opening up both the intake and the valve covers nothing has been gunked up or overly rough looking....but having said that I have probably officially screwed myself! Tomorrow (as long as the rain holds off) I will start putting everything back together.....wish me luck....

[Chrispbrown36]

Intake manifold gasket changed.....check.
Valve cover gaskets......check.
Exhaust manifolds removed, painted and put back on.....check.
Cat removed and new glasspack put on.....check.
I ended up having to put a gasket on the passenger side exhaust manifold because it was leaking and hissing at me horribly....gasket on and no more leak. The driver side didn't leak a bit without the gasket, so I am guessing the passenger side is warped or something. I set the timing a dead on 0 degrees and it seems to be too low to me. It idles fine but if I put it in gear it idles down low enough that it will sometimes die other times it will idle down and then come back up to normal.....any ideas on what could be causing this?
I am still losing oil out the back of the motor, so the rear main seal will still need to be changed. The oil loss is not nearly as bad as it was, so I am not too awfully worried about getting the rear main changed. I let it sit and idle for about 20 minutes while I was doing something else around the yard and I noticed a fairly steady puff of blue smoke coming out of the glasspack. I remember reading somewhere that if it puffs blue on start up it was one thing and if it puffs blue smoke after warming up it is another thing......anyone know?
She is back up and running for now and sounds pretty good with the glasspack on her.