Oil Leak Check / Engine Lift - ZR-1 Net Registry Forums

msmoore · 10-28-2014

I am trying to chase down a few oil drips from my 1990. I have reviewed Marc Haibeck's write up and that seems like a good place to start. Question: there are two references made to "lifting" the right side of the engine to access the OP switch and the Oil Pressure Regulator Cover. Is this a difficult process and what needs to be done to allow this lifting?
Are there any other tricks that might help?

Z06scentair · 10-28-2014

Difficult? Can be, however I would remove the exhaust system from the manifolds, once it's out of the way remove the motor mount bolt on the passenger side.

I have a transmission jack under the right side of the oil pan.....block of wood to protect.

So the car is on a two post lift and a transmission jack underneath. Simply pump the transmission jack up at the oil pan right side, and you can get to most anything up front including the manifold studs.

tccrab · 10-28-2014

The two most common oil leaks come from the oil pan gasket and the oil cooler lines.
To get to all of the oil pan bolts you will have to remove the "K" brackets under the engine mounts. Don't worry, removing the "K" brackets won't cause the motor to drop out of the car. There's about 4 bolts that you just can't get to with them in place.
The oil cooler lines were just a bad design, sooner or later they will weep oil.
There was a thread here recently about them, if yours are original, I'd buy a set now.
http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19418

'Crabs

msmoore · 10-28-2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by tccrab

The two most common oil leaks come from the oil pan gasket and the oil cooler lines.
To get to all of the oil pan bolts you will have to remove the "K" brackets under the engine mounts. Don't worry, removing the "K" brackets won't cause the motor to drop out of the car. There's about 4 bolts that you just can't get to with them in place.
The oil cooler lines were just a bad design, sooner or later they will weep oil.
There was a thread here recently about them, if yours are original, I'd buy a set now.

'Crabs

Yep, Already replaced the oil cooler lines, twice actually. the first replacement lasted about 3K miles then made a big mess. Jerry was very quick to make it right and sent me another set. Apparently there was an issue with one of the crimps. I also have a new pan gasket set ready to go. My drips seem to be mostly right front.

Just did one of those nice epoxy paint jobs on the floor so need to stop those drips. At least it wipes up clean and easy.

Dynomite · 10-28-2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by msmoore

My drips seem to be mostly right front.

Oil Pressure Regulating Valve Cover Plate bolts can be re-installed with engine in car and no lifting.

See item #2 Potential Oil Leaks and the OPRV Cover Plate

A26B · 10-28-2014

The oil pressure switch can also be replaced without lifting the engine. Can be done without removing the oil filter adapter.

You can find posts on that job discussing how it was done. I'm not a contorsionist and don't have small hands, so my preferred method is to remove the oil filter adapter that the subject switch is screwed into. Not a big job.

Not sure, but having the Oil Filter Adapter removed may also make access to the Oil Pressure Regulating Valve Cover easier to access from the top.

A26B · 10-28-2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by msmoore

Yep, Already replaced the oil cooler lines, twice actually. the first replacement lasted about 3K miles then made a big mess. Jerry was very quick to make it right and sent me another set. Apparently there was an issue with one of the crimps. I also have a new pan gasket set ready to go. My drips seem to be mostly right front.

Just did one of those nice epoxy paint jobs on the floor so need to stop those drips. At least it wipes up clean and easy.

Thanks for the nice words. I really regretted your problem, knowing what a mess it is to clean-up. We had about 7% failure rate on those hoses, so that's why we quit carrying them.

We then started making our own hoses, in-house, using Edelbrock-Russell components with our special design Oil Cooler Adapter. Every hose is bubble tested to 120psig to be leak-free before adding them to inventory. The crimp design is more sleek and the collar can be painted black to match the black-braided version for that original hose look. Here's a couple of photos.

msmoore · 10-29-2014

Thanks for the tips and info. I hope to be digging into this soon.

10-28-2014	#1
msmoore Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 34	Oil Leak Check / Engine Lift I am trying to chase down a few oil drips from my 1990. I have reviewed Marc Haibeck's write up and that seems like a good place to start. Question: there are two references made to "lifting" the right side of the engine to access the OP switch and the Oil Pressure Regulator Cover. Is this a difficult process and what needs to be done to allow this lifting? Are there any other tricks that might help?

10-28-2014	#3
tccrab Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Folsom CA Posts: 1,643	Re: Oil Leak Check / Engine Lift The two most common oil leaks come from the oil pan gasket and the oil cooler lines. To get to all of the oil pan bolts you will have to remove the "K" brackets under the engine mounts. Don't worry, removing the "K" brackets won't cause the motor to drop out of the car. There's about 4 bolts that you just can't get to with them in place. The oil cooler lines were just a bad design, sooner or later they will weep oil. There was a thread here recently about them, if yours are original, I'd buy a set now. http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19418 'Crabs __________________ TomC '90ZR1 #792 Honorary Pirate [B]If it ain't FUN, you're doing something terribly WRONG. [/B] Last edited by tccrab; 10-28-2014 at 07:07 PM.

10-28-2014	#6
A26B Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Arcadia,OK Posts: 3,372	Re: Oil Leak Check / Engine Lift The oil pressure switch can also be replaced without lifting the engine. Can be done without removing the oil filter adapter. You can find posts on that job discussing how it was done. I'm not a contorsionist and don't have small hands, so my preferred method is to remove the oil filter adapter that the subject switch is screwed into. Not a big job. Not sure, but having the Oil Filter Adapter removed may also make access to the Oil Pressure Regulating Valve Cover easier to access from the top. __________________ Jerry Downey JERRYS LT5 GASKETS & PARTS http://www.jerrysgaskets.com 1994 *ZR-1*, Black/Black, Lingenfelter Aerobody, 416cu in, 3.91 gears, coil-over susp, Brembo brakes, etc. 2016 Black-Red, 3LT-Z51 Auto 8-speed.

10-29-2014	#8
msmoore Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 34	Re: Oil Leak Check / Engine Lift Thanks for the tips and info. I hope to be digging into this soon.

10-28-2014	#2
Z06scentair Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Charlotte NC Posts: 655	Re: Oil Leak Check / Engine Lift Difficult? Can be, however I would remove the exhaust system from the manifolds, once it's out of the way remove the motor mount bolt on the passenger side. I have a transmission jack under the right side of the oil pan.....block of wood to protect. So the car is on a two post lift and a transmission jack underneath. Simply pump the transmission jack up at the oil pan right side, and you can get to most anything up front including the manifold studs. Last edited by Z06scentair; 10-28-2014 at 08:26 PM.