Oil leak

[Jott21]

Hi all,

This is my first 80 and I need to fix this oil leak. Is this a front main? If so is there a gasket I need? Or just gasket maker? I’ve looked through the forum but want to make sure I’m reading them right. Thanks in advance!

 

[Fj80oregon]

Good idea to clean the whole front of the engine first and then monitor closely exactly where it’s coming from. Chances are pretty good it’s your oil pump seal leaking which is a large shaped o ring gasket. When you tackle that job you want to replace the front main seal also because it’s right there and relatively cheep. Google search with iH8mud and your issue will yield better results.

 

[Fj80oregon]

This is a good start

How to Replace Oil Pump seal w/ Pics

I recently noticed that I had an oil leak coming from the front of my motor. After cleaning up the front of the motor to determine where the leak was coming from it was easy to see that it was coming from where the oil pump cover mated to the timing chain cover. I crawled under the truck once...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[Rifleman]

Jott21​

Just a suggestion, but while you're chasing down that oil leak, you may want to add another item to your list of needed repairs,
That repair would be replacing at least one of those rubber oil cooler lines, by looking at the end of that cooler line, it looks like it's WAY pass it's best used by date,

 

[Jott21]

Thanks all,

I’ve cleaned the engine and started it and confirmed it is indeed the oil pump cover. Should I use a replacement gasket or “the right stuff”?

 

[Irish Reiver]

It's a great opportunity to refresh a number of hard to get to items. Oil pump cover has an O-ring style gasket as mentioned by @Fj80oregon but to access the pump cover you need to remove the harmonic balancer which gives you access to the front main oil seal as well. The HB is worth a close inspection to make sure it is still OK after 30ish years.

 

[ZackR]

Get ready for a few "while you are in there" items.

Once you start pulling things apart to get to the oil pump cover gasket (and front main seal) you'll also have a lot better access to the power steering hoses (common leak area), transmission cooler hoses (as @Rifleman mentioned), upper and lower radiator hoses, etc.

Read up on the oil pump cover before digging in, there are a lot of good tips on how to avoid stripping the screws (patience + JIS bit + tapping with a hammer + impact driver).

 

[Rusty Marlin]

Please follow the advice offered and use the correct tools. It will help you avoid the temptaion to get a drill out and possibly chowder the seal surface.

NOT MINE! Just showing what can go wrong.

 

[Outsane]

Good luck! We are here to help and welcome to 80 ownership

 

[Somebodyelse5]

You'll need a crank pulley holder. OTRAMM makes one.

It's real tight... I ended up getting some 3/4" drive breaker bars, socket, and torque wrench to tackle. Torque is 304 ft lbs.... you'll need a cheater bar too.