help decide what to do with my motor this summer

[fivespeedsteed]

so im leaking oil a little. im pretty sure its rear main seal and oil pan gasket mostly, all the gaskets seep a little. the oil pan gasket is pushing out too. i wasn't going to do anything until i pulled the motor to do a hci, but i kinda want to get it to stop leaking now. i know the oil pan gasket can be done in the car, and that the rear main requires dropping the trans. so options.

option 1. i know a guy that has pulled motors before. hes pretty good, has a lift,ect. i can find a place to do it, and we can pull the motor, and do all the gaskets. just allot of work. and while its out id want to throw a cam in there, but i wanted a tfs2 cam, and thats too aggressive for stock heads,ect, so i was going to throw a e cam in there maybe, then when i finish off my hci , i could just do heads and intake. what else would you replace with the motor out? timing chain? its only got 106k on it and going strong.

option 2. pay someone to do oil pan gasket and then see where im at from there, see how bad the rear main is leaking.

option 3. pay someone to do oil pan and rear main. allot of money when i could just pull the motor. but saves allot of work

doing the oil pan gasket with the motor in the car, or rear main is not something id like to tackle myself. just downright scary. i can find someone who knows how to do it who doesn't work in a shop and help them, but i defiantly am not comfortable doing it myself.

id really like to pull the motor and do gaskets, and maybe throw an e cam in there. will it run alright with a cam and nothing else? the trick flow top end kit i want comes with allot of stuff to rebuild the motor, and i cant afford that kit now, is all that extra stuff necessary?

cars a 90gt 5 speed btw.

thanks for any ideas you might have

 

[87GT Drop Top]

I would save up and do it all, do it once and do it right.

In the meen time fix the oiul leaks. Pulling the tranny isn't that hard. If you have some mechanical ability and the right tools, I would attempt it myself.

 

[lancec2c30]

Option 4: Throw floor dry under it, and let it leak until you've got the $$$ to do the H/C/I.

 

[tannerc91gt]

Rear main seal shouldn't be scary, it's VERY simple

 

[fivespeedsteed]

so general consensus is to let it leak until i can get a top end kit and then pull it and do it all at once

if i was to pull the motor and do gaskets and a cam what else would you replace?

 

[7upstang91]

so general consensus is to let it leak until i can get a top end kit and then pull it and do it all at once

if i was to pull the motor and do gaskets and a cam what else would you replace?

Assuming you don't pull the rotating assembely apart? Shouldn't need much, but a new timing would be smart.

 

[fivespeedsteed]

no either way i go i plan on leaving the short block intact. just cleaning it very thoroughly.

 

[mwood]

Are you concerned at all that an issue with blowby is causing high pressure in the crankcase and thus causing the gaskets to push out and leak? Replace the gaskets without dealing with blowby and you may endup with the issue again soon.

 

[fivespeedsteed]

i replaced the pcv valve cause i heard that can cause that. and the screen behind it. what can cause blow by and how can i know if thats what i got

 

[mwood]

The cylinder wall will ware and the piston rings won't seal as well as an engine gets older. The pressure blows by the rings into the crank case building pressure. That pressure needs to escape. If it can't get out of the pcv valve fast enough, it will push on seals. The only way to fix is a rebuild. New seals would be a temporary solution.

 

[seedeezy]

I bet all of your oil leak is in the pan gasket if you can see it sqeezing out in places. There is a way to distinguish between a rear main leak and an oil pan leaking at the rear but from the tiny bit of experience i have had, the oil pan is usually to blame. Felpro makes an awsome one piece gasket that is blue in color and comes with 4 prongs that make installing it and the oil pan cake from underneath. I would say to do that and enjoy your car without an oil leak and think about what you want to do to it with it running and not leaking at all.

 

[fivespeedsteed]

yeah i think most of it is the pan, i know exactly which pan gasket you speak of, but i gotta think my rear main is leaking some too because my trans is covered in oil, as is the trans flex plate thing, and everything behind it. ill probably do the pan gasket to eliminate the risk of it pushing out completley

 

[90lxcoupe]

Let it keep leaking and start piecing a new motor together