I've just put about 6,000 miles on my rebuilt engine and it started to leak oil on the driver's side. I assumed it was the oil pan due to the limited visibility of the leak. So, I replaced the oil pan gasket, figuring I must have installed it wrong in some way. But the leak persisted, and as it is my daily driver I've just now gotten a chance to fix it. The only thing I could see was it was coming from above the oil pan towards the front cover.

After taking the PS, AC and bracket off to see where the leak is, this is what I've found.

On the front iron underneath the stud for the accessory bracket is a round "plug." Oil is seeping from around it when the engine is running. It doesn't appear to be an allen screw, it looks like it is pressed into the casting like the little hex/ball in the front cover. I can only assume by it's location that is the cap to the oil passage from the oil pump?

This is a generic picture of a front iron, as i can't find my digital camera cable!
The red arrow indicates the spot where oil is seeping out...



But the question is: How to fix it? It doesn't look like it screws in, so JB weld?

All help is greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance.

Vince

 

in the pic it looks threaded

 

It's a plug that's pressed in then crimped. My guess is that you'll have to drill it out, tap with a pipe tap, and then thread in a plug.

 

Back from the dead!

So, I was driving to work yesterday and that stupid tiny plug exited the hole!!

I've been unable to find a suitable replacement, since it seems to be a strange size....

Has this happened to anyone else?

Vince

 

Like Aaron said before, your best best is to take the front cover off, get a pipe tap about the right size, tap threads into the cover and then install a pipe plug in the hole after taping the threads with teflon tape.

Or you could buy a new front cover.

 

^ That's a great idea, but you didn't look at the picture close enough!

It is in the IRON not the FRONT COVER...

Thanks for your time though.

Basically, I'm just wondering if I am the only one that has had this happen.

Vince

 

Woah, sorry about that, I should have read more carefully.

I guess you shouldn't drill or tap it though, because shavings will get in the oil.

I have had bad luck with JB weld and oil (several failed attempts at fixing the oil pan on my pickup led to welding in the end).

There are such a thing as small, high pressure plumbers plugs. if you could remove the old plug and put one in the hole and crank it down, it would probably hold the 120 psi of oil pressure you can make. I only recommend this as a temporary fix, to get it to a garage to find a better fix.

Maybe you can turn the engine by hand and make the engine oil flush the shavings out. I wish I had some better ideas.

I guess you have nothing to lose, you might as well try JB weld.

 

+1.... but what the heck is that hole for anyway? I'd find out before you go epoxy-ing things shut!

 

Drill slowly with a bit covered in grease. Follow the same procedure when tapping. Then look inside the hole and remove any shavings that may remain. Anything else will be caught by the oil filter, so it's a good idea to change it after a repair like this.

Yeah, JB Weld will never work for a repair like this.

 

+1 what's it for? Maybe just for access during manufacturing?