GM's LS oil leakers / burners or "The 2 stroke Chevy"

OK. It is officially back among the living. Heat shield, starter and exhaust went
in quite easy. I used anti-seize on the studs (just in case) I figure since Murphy
pretty much lives on my back porch - if I take steps to ease taking it back apart
... maybe I wont have to.

I went with High Mileage Synthetic Mobil 1 and got it right under the line for the
operating range. I had only bought 5 quarts of high mileage trans fluid, so that
meant I couldn't drive it tonight. Tomorrow I'll drive the Avanti over to Walmart
and buy another 5 quarts. It started right up, no weird engagement issues with
the starter to new flex plate and no odd noises. So far so good. I let it run for
maybe 2 minutes. No leaks yet, but its way too soon to make a call on that.

Oh, I also used one bottle of TransX to hopefully stave off the dreaded death of
a high miles trans right after trans service syndrome. I am tempted to add one
more just in case. They say if the trans takes 10 or more quarts capacity you
can use two bottles. Thoughts?

Tom

 

Back in the garage. Still leaking. Worst-engine-design-ever. Drips on the ground
on the passenger side off the trans pan. Oil on the trans pan. As usual can not
see where its coming from since there is zero room. Looked like it was out of the
center hole in the bellhousing, but the back of the pan is dry. I think it might be
coming down from above now and dripping off the bellhousing/transmission.

This was ONE drive in town too. It took a while to drip on the floor, overnight. I
think if the leak was down below still .. it would have spotted right away. What
is super annoying about this design is the TOTAL lack of visual check points. It is
impossible to see anything partly because of the LSx design and partly because
of the F-body design. If it was my GTO I could just START it and watch with a
flashlight to see if the cam sensor or OPS was leaking WHILE running, watch the
part actually weep oil. With the F-body you can not DO that. I can not see in
behind the engine at all. Mirrors, lights .. etc .. useless with the intake on. With
the intake OFF I can not start it .. obviously.

I guess I will take the intake off, AGAIN. Check the oil pressure and cam sensor.
The rear seal was leaking, as was the cover, but it seems I have more than one
leak in the back of the engine. I couldnt really get to them that well when I had
the trans out. I thought about removing them then, but everything pointed to a
rear seal leak and I thought leave well enough alone.

Tom

 

The OPS is a Delco and its recent. I replaced it because I broke the one on the
car while taking the intake off (damn knock sensor harness). The thing is, it did
not thread in very well. The threads are F'ed up, some numbnuts at the factory
screwed the damn thing in wrong. I will remove it and teflon tape the F outta it.

I will also remove the cam sensor. Is there an O-ring number for that?

Makes me think of this quote,

"the more they advance the plumbing the easier it is to stop up the drain" :



Tom

 

Here we go again ....



Got the intake manifold off (again) and even with IT off I cant really SEE much in
the back with any real clarity. Lights, mirrors ... still had to settle for feel.



There is oil back here, but I cant FEEL a trail down the back to where it leaked
onto the ground. I have to remove the rear crossover to remove the cam sensor
and get an idea if that's leaking. If I remember correctly, it actually doesn't seal
up at the top, and could be leaking from down below. That would end up inside
the bellhousing ... right?



Oil dripping down from the intake ports, this is the LS secret HP boost : OILY AIR!



Slippery air increases HP (You read this on the Internet so its true!).





There was some oil on the crush washer on the OPS.



To that person early on that said no special tool to remove the OPS ..



Tom

 

Took the coolant crossover off, and the cam sensor plug. Oil inside the plug?
How would the seal get oil into it? Weird.



Cam sensor did NOT want to come out. It shows signs for oil, but its hard to
say if it settled on the sensor from inside the bellhousing, or if it slipped past.







Using a mirror .. I can KINDA see down the hole. Eh.









Just not service friendly. LT1 used the Opti for a cam sensor and the OPS was
on the SIDE of the engine for easy access.



Tom