Distributor Seal, WTF Am I Doing Wrong?...

I think for the four hours it would take to replace the intake gaskets it would have saved you a bunch of aggravation. I have used distributor gaskets over that were 20 years old or more and never had a leak like that. I did ones see an intake that was either too far forward or backward and it put the distributor in a bind but I dont even think that one leaked. Pull the intake beg borrow or ok beg or borrow the extractor needed to pull the fitting out of the block and start all new. I have seen more than one pipe ****** have a small fracture in the base from intake swap. You keep saying sending unit. Do you have a Tee on there with gauge hook up and sending unit? I know you are activated about this but I work on new stuff all the time and you have WAY more room to work with that than I am used to. Good luck if you were close I would bring the bore scope over and we would find it then.

 

This was the first thing I thought of too. I've learned the hard way that a little laziness can cost you. And with as much heartache as I've been through already on this "simple" job, I might as well go ahead and do it right. Because if I was to do it wrong and have more heartaches, I'd likely go insane. Very insane.

I'm off to pull the intake. This time I'm not taking any chances. I'm gonna go slow and not rush it. I always screw something up when I get in a hurry. I'll wait 24 hours for the silicone to cure before start up and timing set. And hopefully tomorrow afternoon my driveway will be dry when I park.

 

I was using the wrong terminology when I said sending unit. It's just a br*** pipe fitting and line going to an oil pressure gauge. Thanks for the advice and encouragement.

 

Here's the update. I couldn't get to it yesterday so I got an early start this morning. The install was not without issues. I pulled the intake but still couln't get the br*** fitting out. The corners had rounded. I figure if it's tight enough to round the corners off and not come out, it's probably not gonna leak there. So I left the old fitting in and put the line back on. I hope that doesn't come back to bite me. Everything else was going great until I got to the very last bolt on the driver side rear of the manifold. It would not go in. ****! I just knew the hole was stripped. Turns out the bolt threads were boogered up. I started to mildy panick when I couldn't find another bolt that size as the silicone was starting to set. I finally found one and it went right in. Hooray for small victories.

After I got the intake torqued down, I thought "****! where's that rag I laid in the valley to soak up coolant from the water p***ages?". Well guess where it was. That's right, still in the valley. Thank goodness I was able to pull it out through the distributor hole. Another small victory.

The fitting, rag, and the bolt were the only minor issues and everything else went as smooth as silk. 3 1/2 hours start to finish. I'm not taking any chances this time with the seal. I'm going to let the silicone set up for 24 hours before I start it up and set the timing. So, until tomorrow, thanks again for the help and encouragement. If it doesn't leak, I'll be sure to post up. If it does, you'll probably see me on the news prepetrating some kind of rampage.

 

oh **** this thread is never going to end. Dude, you should have got that fitting out. You use a pair of vice grips on it. It can still leak outa there if it got overtightened and is cracked. I can usually find leaks by douching the area with brakleen and then blowing it dry with compressed air then spray some tal*** powder on the area so you can see easily where the oil is coming from. Deoderant with powder works good for this. Get a mirror with a long handle on it and a powerful flashlight so can look back there and see the area while the engine is running. Where ever any oil is leaking will show up easily in the powder.

 

I was scared of breaking that fitting off so I didn't put the monkey grip on it. 99.9% of the leak(s) has now been plugged. It is leaking from the fitting but barely a tiny drop. I drove it for a good long time yesterday afternoon and you can just barely see a tiny bit of oil run down the back of the engine. You have to watch really closely and rev the mess out of it to see it. It doesn't even make it to the ground. So for all intents and purposes, it's fixed. But I am going to figure out what to do about that fitting. It is still bothering me and with all the effort I've put into fixing this, I'm not going to just leave it f'ed up. Even if only slightly.

And for the record, it was leaking from the rear of the intake manifold also. There was a tiny spot in the silicone that was allowing oil to come through. The distributor, intake and fitting leaks were all likely my fault. The distributor from overtightening or needing a new hold down, the intake from a tiny fault in the RTV, and the oil pressure fitting from breaking the plastic line. It was likely leaking from the fitting itself before also. But since it is so slight and wasn't making it to the ground (before the plastic line broke during removal/install), I never knew it.

Even with all the headaches and heartaches, this was still a win. I got a great looking engine bay and learned a whole lot in the process. Now I'm off to do something about those headers so I can finally cross the engine and engine bay off my To Do list.

 

I like your spirit & at***ude! Congrats on keeping at it and fixing it.

 

When you get the fitting out , replace the plastic line with copper line. Had more than one plastic line break and it makes quite the mess.

 

If you use copper line, be sure and make a coil with 2 or 3 turns of the tubing between the engine and where the tubing is clamped before going thru the firewall. This will spread the movement that comes from the engine rocking in it's mounts under torque loads over the entire coil instead of just one spot. Constant flexing of copper tubing lines will cause them to work harden and crack.
Even better would be braided stainless, such as aeroquip.
Dave

 

Thanks bud. It's much better now, but I'll get it right.

I already replaced the plastic line with copper.

Dave,

Thanks fo the excellent tip. I will coil it.