I have a friend who has been struggling with a significant oil leak in
his TR4 for a while. He wasn't sure where it was coming from, except
'definitely the front of the engine.' I suggested he look at the oil
pan, timing chain cover, then the front engine plate. He had the oil pan
gasket replaced some months ago, but the leak continued. He was sure it
was coming from a front seal, and the non-TR mechanic who replaced the
oil pan gasket said the same thing.
Last weekend he started the project to replace the timing chain cover
gasket. He noticed that the engine mounts were shot and the fan hub
assembly was resting on the steering rack. A ring had been polished in
the fan hub assembly from the contact with the rack, and the timing
chain cover oil seal looked the worse for wear. He replaced the motor
mounts, then replaced the timing chain gasket and timing chain cover oil
seal. Started up, and it still leaked as much as before. It's much
cleaner now, so it looked like the front of the oil pan.
He removed the oil pan, which had a dent in the middle as if it had been
jacked up on the middle of the pan. When he rested the pan on a flat
surface, he could see it was tweaked and stood up on two diagonal
corners. He hammered it flat, replaced the seal with extreme care and
preparation, then torqued it down gently. Only to about 7#. It's still
leaking. He's going to 18-20# tonight with advice from a local Brit-car
specialist with care not to strip the holes in the front sealing block.
Question:
If he torques the bolts down and it still doesn't stop the leak, should
he look to replace the oil pan (I have a nice spare for him) or should
he have his local Brit car specialist look into replacing the front
engine plate? Or has he missed another big leaker in the lower front end
of the engine?
Steven Newell
Littleton, CO USA
'62 TR4 x 2 etc.
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