Oil Leak in a 96 model. (1 Viewer)

[WanderinWill]

Hoping for a little insight from some of the subject matter experts herr:

Looking at a sweet little '96 model 80 series for a friend who is in the market. Topside of the motor looks pretty clean, but there is a decent amount of oil leakage from underneath. Doesn't look like its coming from the head gasket, but perhaps around what I believe to be the oil pump. Anyone interested in giving me a little experience based insight as to how significant this might be. @Wermz, my very good friend @MongooseGA tells me that you are THE subject matter expert with 80 series motor tech. Do you have any advice for me as to what I might be looking at? As always, any advice is sincerely appreciated. Pictures below

@WickedPickle you might enjoy following along

 

[WanderinWill]

Some photos to peruse

 

[BreckCruiser42]

If it's oil pump seal, that's common and while you have the harmonic balancer most would replace front crank seal too. Another common oil leak is the oring in the distributor. There's a pretty good video on youtube about this fix, I'd recommend watching before doing work.

 

[davidp14]

Oil pump cover gasket and front main seal.

Pretty much every 80 leaks there and theres billion threads on how to do it. It's not a bad job. Not even expensive

 

[voodu3]

From the pictures I would say it’s the usual suspects. Upper and lower oil pan seals, power steering pump, oil pump cover. Where is this truck from? It looks like a lot of rust for a GA truck.

 

[rolliges]

With all that rust I'd say it hasn't leaked enough oil.

 

[WanderinWill]

From the pictures I would say it’s the usual suspects. Upper and lower oil pan seals, power steering pump, oil pump cover. Where is this truck from? It looks like a lot of rust for a GA truck.

good eye @voodu3, felt the same way. Truck is just north of Atlanta. Current owner tells me he had it a couple of months, he thought is a Georgia peach its whole life, but a vin search told a different tale. Came out of Indiana. My gut feel is to walk away at this point.

 

[WanderinWill]

With all that rust I'd say it hasn't leaked enough oil.

Sadly, I have to agree. I had such high hopes.

 

[MongooseGA]

I know you're not helping another friend find an 80 before Jason gets one, are you?


Ooooooooh!

 

[nodaksn3]

Agree that it's probably the oil pump, distributor seal and maybe the crank seal too. No big deal, I just did my distributor seal last night. It too maybe 20 minutes. Oil pump seal was done a couple of years ago. Unlike the others, I wouldn't worry about the small amount of corrosion that I see from your pics- after all, the truck is 23 years old! What are the miles and the condition of the engine and tranny? Those are the show-stoppers. Check his maintenance records, if any. Bu, whatever, good luck. Ned

 

[WanderinWill]

I know you're not helping another friend find an 80 before Jason gets one, are you?


Ooooooooh!

Ouuuuch!!!

This has been a hot topic at the coffee machine today let me tell you. Jason says he ok with it, but He gets this faraway look in his eyes every time we talk about it

 

[WanderinWill]

Agree that it's probably the oil pump, distributor seal and maybe the crank seal too. No big deal, I just did my distributor seal last night. It too maybe 20 minutes. Oil pump seal was done a couple of years ago. Unlike the others, I wouldn't worry about the small amount of corrosion that I see from your pics- after all, the truck is 23 years old! What are the miles and the condition of the engine and tranny? Those are the show-stoppers. Check his maintenance records, if any. Bu, whatever, good luck. Ned

Totally hear you on that one. Its easy to forget what we're looking at. Engine runs strong. Ran it with the AC on for a while in the drive, she never hinted at over heating. Tranny seemed to shift strong in high range when we rolled through the hood, but when we shifted her into low I had a hard time getting the diffs to lock (she's double locked). Goin into 4 low was smooth, she just wouldn't lock. After several tire rotations the rear finally engaged but the front never did. Then I unlocked, popped her back into high for a bit and tried again. This time the front locker engaged but I'm not confident that the rear ever did-at least the Dif lock light never went from blinking to solid.

 

[ppc]

In the pictures posted I don't see rust as an issue. As others have stated the oil leaks look to be the common issues most all 1FZ-FE exhibit. Add valve cover gasket to the list, all are not expensive to repair. There are many threads about the nonfunctional factory lockers. Most of the time is caused by the sensor switches. Those switches can be revived with a little effort and some WD40. In the worst cases the actuators need to be rebuilt or replaced. Replacements are spendy but that can be used to negotiate a lower price. All of the above is no reason not to purchase provided the rest of the vehicle is in a condition consistent with the selling price.

 

[WickedPickle]

Ouuuuch!!!

This has been a hot topic at the coffee machine today let me tell you. Jason says he ok with it, but He gets this faraway look in his eyes every time we talk about it

View attachment 2026202

Darn torsion bars vs solid axles. Let’s not get me started.

 

[Wermz]

Yeah shes got a but of rust.

I have a pretty good method for not stripping the screws for the oil pump cover, you have to pull the radiator and removing the balancer, so its a bit of work.. but oil pump gasket and front crank seal to start with. Every 80 youll go look at will be leaking the in the same places, maybe find one a bit less rusty?? Either way the oil leaks up front aint that bad to fix.

 

[WanderinWill]

Yeah shes got a but of rust.

I have a pretty good method for not stripping the screws for the oil pump cover, you have to pull the radiator and removing the balancer, so its a bit of work.. but oil pump gasket and front crank seal to start with. Every 80 youll go look at will be leaking the in the same places, maybe find one a bit less rusty?? Either way the oil leaks up front aint that bad to fix.

Thanks for the input, I was thinking best to walk away from this one..

Anybody see this before? Right rear body, just below taillight. Surface rust? Or something deeper and more evil?

 

[Wermz]

thats not surface rust, that cancer rust coming from under the paint.. i fixed some rust in the rockers on my truck, have a bit more to fix soon too. but that would be a more complicated fix. i might move past that truck, depends on what youre going to do with it. mine is a total toy, so i dont care about the bit of rust, no ac, no radio, i just beat it up on trails. but if youre trying to make a nice clean daily out of an 80 id find a cleaner one...

 

[Heckraiser]

That rust looks like trouble to me. I had a few spots on my liftgate that looked similar and within a year, I had a full "bloom" of rust. Thankfully a liftgate is an easy part to toss and replace. Quarter panels not so much.