[g20joe1]

Hi folks...

Damn! just got a g20 and it sprung an oil leak...in an ugly spot. I traced it down to the front cover, right underneath the waterpump and a little bit above the front seal.

Anyone know the best way to go about this?
Do I need an engine hoist?

Can I just support the tranny with a jack, remove the cross member and both oil pans. Then support the passenger side of the engine under the rod bearings. Proceeding on to removing pulleys and the front engine mount?

Any advice/tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

-joe

 

[evilsr20degg]

heh your in for a treat on this one. i already had my tranny out (cause i blew it up) but i figured what the hell ill do my timing chain talk about a BITCH.


youll need to drop both oil pans(drain oil first) take off your crank pulleya bunch of little 10 mm bolts. your water pump pulley(not sure if its needed but it helped)your alternator a/c (if you got it) basically take everydamn thing off th emotor on the pass side. then from there you can slide the timing cover off, make sure you have your motor supported. i took off the motor mount forgetting to support the motor scared teh crap outta me. i RTV'd mine(thats right i use rtv on everything) after cleaning off both surfaces of course. then put it all back together. its not a fun thing to do with the motor in the car, but pulling the motor to do that would just be rediculous.

 

[evilsr20degg]

oh and the FSM is your friend goto phatg20.net and download it

 

[g20joe1]

heh your in for a treat on this one. i already had my tranny out (cause i blew it up) but i figured what the hell ill do my timing chain talk about a BITCH.


youll need to drop both oil pans(drain oil first) take off your crank pulleya bunch of little 10 mm bolts. your water pump pulley(not sure if its needed but it helped)your alternator a/c (if you got it) basically take everydamn thing off th emotor on the pass side. then from there you can slide the timing cover off, make sure you have your motor supported. i took off the motor mount forgetting to support the motor scared teh crap outta me. i RTV'd mine(thats right i use rtv on everything) after cleaning off both surfaces of course. then put it all back together. its not a fun thing to do with the motor in the car, but pulling the motor to do that would just be rediculous.

Thanks for the tips...where should I support the engine while the engine oil pans are off? I think the FSM says something under the rod bearings. Is this right?

It seems like it's time consuming job...trying to unbolt everything in hard to reach areas. Maybe all the silicone scraping and such too. But are there technical difficulties such as putting back things together?

 

[Cheezit]

I just read a thread about an Oil Leak and a few others dealing with the front cover. I read one with the title "Front Cover Removal", and the folks on it describe the steps leading up to removing the front cover and go on about how it would be best to drop the engine and such, but they never say how to break the rtv silicone seal that actually seals the front cover from oil leaks, the whole reason this fellow decided to go about trying to remove the front cover.
Does anyone happen to know the best way to separate the front cover from the oil pan and block?
I mean specifically where to insert a flat spatula or tool to break the silicone seal without marring the mating surfaces involved.
I don't see any sort of lip or leverage point on which to pry. I have removed all the 10mm bolts that fasten the timing cover to the block. The silicone is strong.

Thanks a lot !

UPDATE:
Beware of the upper-leftmost bolt that fastens the front cover to the block. It is easy to miss. There are ten 10mm bolts with permanent lockwashers on their shanks that fasten around the border of the front cover. There are also two other, slightly longer, 10mm bolts (without lock washers) that attach inside the top of the front cover. You will have removed 12 bolts in total when the cover is ready to be removed via cutting the RTV silicone. I used a paint scraper tool and started at the cover's base, where it meets the block, inserting it and tapping lightly with a hammer to make sure it had entered the crack. Try not to pry against either of the mating surfaces.