Bravo for this wonderful discourse on troubleshooting "smoke &
tears". Regards mechanics I have one huge problem. In most cases you are
told to go away and come back and it will be fixed. I prefer to observe,
if only from a distance so I know what is being done and how. Case in
point, I didn't like hearing the mechanic who tried to pound out the top
half of my rear main and (I later found) cracked the block. I don't need
to hear that "insurance restrictions prevent me from being in the
area". I'll find a master mechanic from the old school who will tell you
what he's doing as he goes along.
Bob
At 05:50 AM 5/3/01 -0400, you wrote:
> Sorry to jump in so late on this but there seems to be a lot of questions
>on oil leaks and sealing on the board so I thought I would chime in. I work
>as a technician at a Chevy dealership I have 15 years in the field. It feels
>like it has been longer.
> As for sealing Valve covers or oil pans or any sheet metal on an engine
> RTV
>is by far the best method using a particular brand and type Permatex Ultra
>gray this stuff is by far the best on the market if there was any better I
>would use that. It is more expensive than the other colors but worth every
>penny. Now on to the proper use of RTV all mating surfaces have to be clean
>and dry uniform bead of RTV on one side only and reassemble parts immediately
>not allowing time for RTV to skin like the old days next most common mistake
>is using RTV with a gasket it is a gasket not a gasket sealer gaskets of cork
>and or neoprene are things of the past kinda like leaded fuel there are much
>better ways of sealing now. All of the gaskets in new cars except for head
>gaskets and oil seals are Silicon most now are premolded very easy to use but
>there is no more cork or other types on new manufactured GMs.
> As far as sealing an engine and still seeing smoke someone wrote about
>resealing an engine and still having problems the first thing I would check
>is engine condition it my run fine but the oil control rings my be a weak
>link causing Excessive blowby and pressure in the crank case will escape
>somewhere. I had a car once that had three rear main seals replaced and each
>time it would pop out after a short drive it was then dropped in my lap,
>towed to our shop The first thing I did was check condition of the engine and
>it was bad excessive crank case pressure pushed the crank seal out of an
>otherwise tightly sealed engine. Now to check condition of the engine I start
>with a compression gauge we all know and are familiar with looking for 10%
>difference between highest and lowest reading if more than 10% you can stop
>there you have found your problem unless you wish to further narrow it down
>do a wet test add two ounces of engine oil and retest if compression comes up
>than rings are the problem if not than you have a valve not sealing well, if
>an engine passes the compression test then I perform a leak down test on the
>engine this is done by putting a measured amount of compressed air into the
>cyl.and measuring the amount that is able to escape so you know the ability
>of the cylinder to seal compression often an engine will pass compression
>check but not a leak down test. As far as getting someone to do a leak down
>test I work in a shop with 17 other Technicians I am the only one there with
>a leak down tester. So good luck finding someone in your area that has a
>tester and can interpret the results of a leak down test.
> It is hard to find a good technician I am embarrassed by my trades
>reputation largely because of lack of training and the inability to bring in
>smart young talent into the field. It is a hard trade to master without many
>rewards.
> Now how to find a good technician look to see if his home phone is listed
>in the phone book if so he is probably honest if not well....same for a shop
>if the owners number is listed same applies I ran a shop for six years that
>my partner then still has open and my number was always listed I was never
>once called at home and have no fear of being called except by some one
>selling something...during dinner.
> I will yield my soap box now sorry I went on so but I thought I would
> share
>some hard learned lessons with others.
> This info is worth exactly what it cost you.
>Thinks to all who have shared info with me about Airstreams which I am very
>new to.
> Derek Garland
>73 Excella 31'
>
>
>
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>
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>
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