83 t finally running... ok... i was told to post here

[nothingman]

Apparently SFI cats refuse to give advice to carb fellows on similar topics such as the 3.8??? or so i was told when i posted this under the engine tech forum, anyway here goes again...

Well folks finally after many months of working on and off thanks to my jobs, shit hoa and asshole neighbors... Put on new pan gasket, new rear main neoprene seal, plugs/wires/cap/rotor, rebuilt carb and turbo... removed the canister, smog pump and corresponding valves but left the egr. And all that is just what this newbie did in the engine compartment(of course with great help and advice from the cats on this forum)...

She's running ok, I timed her to bout 4 degrees advanced and carb idle screws out about 1 turn... seems to idle the smoothest there. I've got all unused vacuum lines removed and/or plugged. The only thing I've left to plug is the tube coming from the cat. She's idling/running a tad rough so I think being a 70k motor that was maintained like hell by the previous owner has something to do with it. Not sure if any can tell how good/bad she is running by this video I recorded? The ticking sound is a combination of a slight exhaust leak and the smog pump which is not connected but driven by the belt still until I find an a/c alternator mount. Any feedback is much appreciated.

Started idling with about 40/50 oil psi, no terrible sounds, no missing or ticking from motor... So after idling her about 15-30 mins the rear main starts to drip pretty steadily and the oil psi drops to 20 psi. I continue timing her, checking for other leaks, listening with the stethoscope, adjusting idle screws... all seemed ok except for of course the little rough idle and oil leak. I had her running about an hour to an hour and a half, she developed a 6" oil puddle in that time. I guess I messed up the install with the rear main a little :/ I'm thinking I didn't apply the rtv correctly in those grooves, don't think I pierced it well enough to allow it to dry correctly? Could that be my problem? Although it did sit for a couple months before I ran it... Now to fix it are there any tips? Can I just remove the pan and rear main cap to fix the rtv I squirted in those rectangular chambers or do I have to buy another rear main seal and start over again? Also what is the best way of cleaning out the old rtv I put in? I've heard squirt the rtv in and pierce it several times with a wet toothpick, is that the best method? It's cold so I'll prob have to wait a month to dry the 2nd time around eh?

Thank you in advance and also thanks to everyone for the previous help and advice. If it wasn't for that I would not have even made it this far. Cheers!

 

[b4black]

Hard to tell from the video, but it sounds OK to me. The engine compartment looks great.

That leak sucks for sure. Are you certain it's the rear main? The valve covers can leak, drip along the block and drop down in the same place.

As far as the long block goes, the carb/turbo and SFI engines are 99% the same. The SFI should have plenty of advice on the rear main. (I've never had the pleasure of fixing one.)

 

[nothingman]

Thanks I tried to clean it up best I could. I'll check to see if the valve covers have some leakage cuz doing the rear main is a pain, especially when all i've got is a cheap walmart jack and a driveway, it was no fun the first time around haha. yea i thought the sfi cars were very similar... just some mike guy said "Go to before black section people are not freindly to carb type turbos." when i posted in the regular engine tech section??? thanks for the help so far it has been greatly appreciated

 

[mikemcvaney]

It could be your oil sending unit is it at the front of the engine or back

 

[nothingman]

for the oil light? it was at the front, same place where the oil feed line to the turbo is. i removed the sending unit to replace with my oil psi gauge, no leaks there

 

[charlief1]

On most Q-jets I turn the mixture screws out between 3.5 and 4.5 turns. If you only got 1 turn out you may have an internal leak or are sucking out of the off idle slots.

 

[b4black]

The latest issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines (January 2013) has a good write up on the electronic Q-jet. The author uses 3.5 turns as the base setting for the mixture screws.

 

[nothingman]

cool thanks fellas, soon as i get this oil leak solved i'll start with the idle screws out 3.5 turns... now that i think about it i really didn't get much time to mess with the screws cuz shortly after i noticed the oil leak any of you guys used "the right stuff" in place of rtv sealant for a rear main? it was suggested to me and since the rtv didn't quite work for me the first time i'm thinking about going with it...

 

[dr_frankenstein]

ive heard alot of good about it...... but i had good luck with the RTV last time

 

[nothingman]

well folks looks like i have some time to do up that rear main, today and if need be into tomorrow... just a couple quick last minute questions. how long do i have to let "the right stuff" cure before i bolt the pan back up and then when cleaning the surface where my new neoprene rear main will slide into what would you recommend for cleaning especially up around the crank? i thought maybe i didn't get all the old rope seal remnants out from last time... thanks

 

[ek02]

From the SFI forum: I would let it set up overnight if you can before running the engine, but you can bolt the pan on right away. You can take a piece of wire, maybe electrical, and run it through the block seal groove. Then clean everything with brake parts cleaner and blow it dry if you have air available. Be sure the lips of the seal are to the front, and lube the seal with some oil or white grease, or assembly lube. It's not easy laying on your back and looking up. If you have "The Right Stuff", use it. I have never had a dry rear main until I used it, and I have tried every way there is. Hope it works out.

 

[usetaboost]

Double check to make sure it is the rear main leaking. I put some right stuff in the square holes AND shoved the rubber seals in. My rear main seems to be leak free, from what i can tell. I do have some drips though, still to this day I can't find them. For all I know they could be coming from the head.

 

[WarWagon]

Head oil dribbles, Jesse I got some of that lol but Im serial though. My block has stockers for HG's too. Nice signature movie btw lol.

 

[nothingman]

yea although i think i may have some weeping out of the valve covers and possibly the heads(dirty greasy motor thanks to the previous slob owner), it is definitely coming from the rear main. after i popped the pan i could see the leak was coming from the passenger side channel where i put the rtv got it apart but ran out of daylight... hopefully i'll get to it this week but depends on my work schedule so i'll prob be under it this weekend while it's snowing :/ grrr

 

[usetaboost]

might have torn the seal or pinched it. I've never done them in car so maybe someone can give some special pointers for doing them under the car with oil dripping everywhere. I've always just let the damn things leak because usually by that time it's time to yank it out and rebuild it or replace it.

 

[ek02]

It helps to loosen all the mains a little once the rear cap is off. It makes it easier to slide the top seal in. I remember doing rope seals on Fords and Buicks with Chinese fingers before neoprene replacement seals were available. Yes, I am that old. That was never fun, but loosening the caps helped. Just keep it as clean as you can. If you use "The Right Stuff" instead of the side seals, it will be much easier putting the cap back on. Torque the mains, inject the goo into the grooves, and just wipe off the excess on both sides of the cap and block after the stuff oozes out. The stuff is very sticky and hard to get off your fingers. It dries like rubber, and it's the best sealer I have ever used.

 

[Freddie's Buick]

cool thanks fellas, soon as i get this oil leak solved i'll start with the idle screws out 3.5 turns... now that i think about it i really didn't get much time to mess with the screws cuz shortly after i noticed the oil leak any of you guys used "the right stuff" in place of rtv sealant for a rear main? it was suggested to me and since the rtv didn't quite work for me the first time i'm thinking about going with it...

If you run a search on me and all my postings you'll find I did this. I used that stuff and yes...it is the holy grail of all sealants. My posting on the main seal replacement includes plenty of pics and the differant seals available from the KB seals to the easier obtainable Felpro. Since than not one drop of oil has appeared anywere on my undercarriage. But I must warn you...it is a tough job and being under a cheap floor jack like the one you mentioned is absolutly the wrong thing to do. Please be careful! Too many lost lives down here in Florida as a result of DYI shadetree mechanics making that hapless mistake.

 

[nothingman]

oh shoot didn't mean to worry you i use jack stands and make sure everything is sturdy before i crawl under... but yeah it is much more time consuming with what little tools i have after i moved out here to az... i had access to a lift, air compressor, so many good tools back in illinois but my quality of life is better here in the az, enough about me haha

speaking of quality, the right stuff is amazing stuff and just did the first test idle with it on thursday and no leaks that i can see. i ran it for about 30-45min with oil psi starting at bout 55 in the middle it steadied at about 40psi here is the video of it running... those couple of drops on the concrete under the car are from trans fluid that has very slowly leaked out. i am going to investigate that later. i set it with idle screws out 3 1/2 turns and what looks to be 8 degrees advanced in timing, let me know what you guys think

 

[WarWagon]

Someone put your turbo on top of the intake manifold and choked it with a carb! Oh it was GM. ok
Your project's coming along now and looking good, glad you had no troubles getting that oil leak fixed the 2nd time.

 

[nothingman]

for sure, i'm so jealous of sfi haha! i'm going to see how the road test goes, then get a feel for how beat the motor and body are...

while under the car i noticed some suspect welding. not sure if it was just shotty gm factory or some bad repairs after an accident from the previous owner? as soon as i find out i will know whether to search for a 3800 supercharged motor for transplant with newer fuel injection turbo setup oooooor if it has had some frame work done to it i will most likely just keep the not so cool factory 3.8 with hot air turbo setup and daily drive my girl like the champion beauty she is