47-55.1 Eliminate draft tube options

[TX3100Guy]

Lots of good thoughts in all the posts above. I'll tell you what I know at this point. When running the engine yesterday (all while it was leaking) I removed the rubber hose that connects the Deve PCV kit that I installed where it connects to my intake manifold. Of course I had to plug the manifold port due to vacuum loss (and at idle and about 2000 RPM, the vacuum was substantial). With my thumb over the stainless steel tube from the PCV there wasn't a very noticeable amount of pressure. Given the vacuum at the manifold, I suspect there is a very good flow from the PCV to the manifold via suction rather than actual PCV induced pressure.

The supercharger runs in two modes, low idle and then there is a kick down switch at about 75% throttle that engages an electric clutch on the pulley to provide significantly more boost. At this point, I've rarely had the supercharger into high boost mode, all the leaking is occurring at idle or somewhat faster RPM, but not at high boost.

Lee's photo is very similar to my engine's timing cover (the shape of the cover is the same) and I do have the plate he is referencing and at least from what I can see up front, there is no leak, but it is directly behind that plate towards the middle of the engine that the oil seems to be coming from.

As for the pulley/balancer, I didn't pound it back on, I used a pulley/harmonic balancer installation tool along with my impact wrench to slowly drive the pulley onto the crankshaft. The timing cover and its seal went untouched and both are new in the past year as I was rebuilding much of this truck.

The wife and went to a Christmas party last night, that combined with my depression at having such a leak yesterday, I've decide to not work on the truck today while I summon up the energy and courage to get back out there tomorrow. My plan is to use my bore scope to probe around the places I can't see well (an idea friend at the party gave me), install some of the oil dye (on Tuesday when it arrives) run for a short while to circulate the oil and build up any pressure necessary to start the leaking, then jack up the engine an inch or so, and then use the bore scope and black light to search for the source of the leaking.

@leegreen I suspect that the fix, if it is that nozzle behind the timing cover, will require that I re-disassemble the front part of the truck to get to the timing cover, removed the timing cover and see if the nozzle passing though the plate attached to the block needs fixed/replaced. Is that the idea?

[dsraven]

Sorry to hear you're down in the dumps because of your luck with the truck. Dont worry, its fixable. It sounds like what LG is describing may be your issue if you cant find another reason. Unfortunately taking it apart again means some redo of what you just did, by the sounds of it, but it will be easier this time because you've already been there so you know where all the fasteners are and what has to come off first etc.
I know where you are coming from. I just dabbed some sheet metal parts for a window surround. Some really hard angles and tedious labour. It turned out great but it is 1/16" to wide. Gotta redo that. Wife says it's only me who will know. I said yup. Gonna redo it.

[TX3100Guy]

Originally Posted by dsraven

Sorry to hear you're down in the dumps because of your luck with the truck. Dont worry, its fixable. It sounds like what LG is describing may be your issue if you cant find another reason. Unfortunately taking it apart again means some redo of what you just did, by the sounds of it, but it will be easier this time because you've already been there so you know where all the fasteners are and what has to come off first etc.
I know where you are coming from. I just dabbed some sheet metal parts for a window surround. Some really hard angles and tedious labor. It turned out great but it is 1/16" to wide. Gotta redo that. Wife says it's only me who will know. I said yup. Gonna redo it.

Thanks. Yep, it's depressing to do, re-do, then re-do again the same tasks. As I tell my wife, no job is ever done until I've done it twice.....this will be third time.

I know what you mean about re-doing tasks that only you will see, as I've said before I have Automotive CDO (that's OCD in alphabetical order). If I know something isn't right it will bug the hell out of me until I fix it properly.

[leegreen]

it has probably close on 40 years since I have had one of those apart, but I think this is the gasket and that slot you see is pressurized oil for the nozzle

[TX3100Guy]

Originally Posted by leegreen

it has probably close on 40 years since I have had one of those apart, but I think this is the gasket and that slot you see is pressurized oil for the nozzle

Attachment 2321291

When I saw this, I went through the metric ton of gaskets that were in a box that came along with the truck and I found these. My question is, to replace the gasket behind that plate, won't I need to remove the timing gears from the crank and cam? That sounds like brain surgery to me, although several of the tasks I've undertaken in the past 18 months have also appeared that way. As it is said "what doesn't kill me, makes me stronger"

[leegreen]

probably the gears have to come off, its been a long time

you could remove front mount and spin the pump with a drill down distributor hole to help confirm the source

I think the front mount bolts through block would have originally had nuts inside the block, and threading the holes was a common shortcut to allow easier removal of the mount plate. you said that you retapped for larger bolts,
and it sounds like the leak has gotten worse since you started working on it....maybe some thread locker for sealant on those 2 bolts before ripping it all apart again?

[TX3100Guy]

Originally Posted by leegreen

probably the gears have to come off, its been a long time

you could remove front mount and spin the pump with a drill down distributor hole to help confirm the source

I think the front mount bolts through block would have originally had nuts inside the block, and threading the holes was a common shortcut to allow easier removal of the mount plate. you said that you retapped for larger bolts,
and it sounds like the leak has gotten worse since you started working on it....maybe some thread locker for sealant on those 2 bolts before ripping it all apart again?

Lee you may be onto something. I clearly had a leak, but not a fountain of oil, prior to my work on the bolts at the bottom of the timing cover. I just watched another video from the guy's that I posted above and saw the nuts that you are referring to in his video, what a dumb ass way to secure those bolts! Clearly the bolt that were previously used didn't have the nuts on them, which is highly likely given the previous owners rebuild that he had done.

When I tapped to the next larger bolt size, I did put a fair amount of RTV on the bolts as I installed them. I've been thinking that when I tightened them down I may have over tightened them, creating a larger leak if that plate is loose at all.

My plan is still to insert the dye, run for a few moments until I see the drip start, then look closer for a source. In my mind, I have already reconciled that I'm going to be disassembling the radiator, alternator, compressor, etc. to get to the timing cover. It's a mindless chore that I don't enjoy all that much, but its absolutely going to be necessary.

Thank you for all the input.