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Triumph TR6 - Oil & LBC's

So my car still slobbers... will it ever stop?

My lovely stone drive and my garage floor have oil spots here and there which I gather is par for the LBC course. But then again, is it?

I'd like to make an effort to dry things up a bit. If I were to buy new seals and gaskets for the various drive train components am I wasting my money? Is it fair to say that in the castings, plugs, and punched metal pans there are inherent flaws that will always seep oil?

I'm not looking for more ways to waste $$$ so please share your experience with this problemo. Maybe I can make some progress with a simple torque wrench.

Ken
Ken Shaddock

What is the worse culprit?
DON KELLY

I think the engine oil pan would be #1.

BTW, the entire drive train was rebuilt in 2006 so new gaskets and seals went in then.
Ken Shaddock

Oil pan is easy.
Take it off,clean it well,powder coat it while your at it. Lay it on something flat to check for trueness and then glue a gasket to the pan. Let it set overnight and then install.
Do to over tighten.
A culprit that mimics the pan is the front sealing block too.
DON KELLY

Aha... there's hope. I'll try that for the main pan. I may have access to a hoist on Thursday so will take a closer look at all the usual suspects and make a plan. Thanks Don.
Ken Shaddock

Ken, et.al. FWIW's some advise studs for the oil pan rather than bolts. Seems that studs offer a more uniform clamping action and can be torqued tighter. Have no personal experience.
db
Doug Baker

Doug, that's anew one. The clamping action torqueness amount really isn't important. My Wedge is only about 8 lbs.
As long as everything is flat is what is important.
DON KELLY

Ken-At some point, many of us just throw in the towel (no pun intended) and put a drip pan under the car. I remember Moss used to sell a large foam pad diaper that was attatched to the underside of the engine with magnets. I suppose in theory, a drip free Triumph could exist, but pursuing it might not be compatible with sanity. I have attended Triumph events that had a "dirty diaper" contest in which a sheet of paper is placed under the cars and the one with the most&largest oil spots wins. Having an A type OD increses the chance of winning.
Berry
BTP Price

Ken
"Aha...there's hope" Well in truth not much!! Go the piece of cardboard route instead of driving yourself insane!!! The oil pan though should not leak if done properly. I redid mine last year and I don't have a leak there. At the same time I replaced the aluminum sealing block for a steel one and have solved that leak as well. Having done all that it still leaks (elsewhere).
Like Rick said enjoy your ride for the summer!!!
Cheers
Pete
Pete Russell

Berry... so I should be darn proud of those spots! Well, will see if I can make some small improvements over time as per Pete's small victories and become an also ran in the diaper contest. Ken
Ken Shaddock

I think that I owe the excellent condition of my frame to the LBC's propensity for marking it's spot. It's been well oiled from the pan back to the exhaust, likely for all it's adults life. Little to no rust anywhere!!
db
Doug Baker

Love it Doug... and to think I pay money to have my daily drivers sprayed annually. I could just loosen off the oil pan and let the drool begin.

Ken Shaddock

Ken
Keep in mind the following: A LBC not dripping oil is out of oil.

Rick
Rick Crawford

Hey that's right RC. Maybe we never needed dipsticks right from the get-go.
Ken Shaddock

Hi Ken

After three years of trying, I have finally made mine drip free.

My culprit(s)

1. Leaking oil at fuel pump hand pump lever hinge.Installed new fuel pump.
2. Front oil seal (timing chain cover) Spacer Bushing worn- installed new sleeve on bushing and oil seal
3. Front sealing block- had a machine shop shave it to eliminate the warp.
4. Too hi pressure in the crankcase- oil spews out dip stick- removed PCV system.

But don't expect too much. I only have 700 miles of drip free operation and fully expect it to start again before the season is over.

And that was just the engine. I think the tranny leaks a bit and the differential

Mike
Michael Petryschuk

Ken, Mike,
Have ye tried a diaper? If you can't stop the leak, at least you could catch it before it messes up the garage floor:-)
db
Doug Baker

Great specifics Mike... I'll arrange for some hoist time and walk through this with my local mechanic. I don't think my oil pressure is high, heck maybe it's low. Then again my gauge could be tired. In warm weather start up shows about 80 to 90 and about 60ish when warm and cruising.

Ken
Ken Shaddock

Hey Doug

I have old throw carpets on my garage floor acting as the diaper. And it keeps me from freezing my back when I have to look under the car on those cold Canadian days. If I started diapering my car, I would be in big trouble with my wife since I avoided diapering my kids when they were at that age.

Ken- When I say hi pressure- I mean blow by pressure in the crankcase. Not oil pressure. Combustion gas blows by the pistons in the engine (in any engine) and into the crankcase. It has to vent somewhere. The PCV system is supposed to be able to vent the pressure to the carbs intake. Mine wasn't doing a satisfactory job and the oil was actually being pushed up the oil dipstick tube by the pressure as the gases tried to escape out the dip stick tube.

In hind sight it probably was this pressure contributing to the other leaks as well.
Michael Petryschuk

Mike,
Kids are...well kids, but a LBC is a baby!!

Your comment to Ken on blow by...in any engine...?? Really. News to me! So do you get the most umph when a good part of it is going south?
db
Doug Baker

Doug

As far as I am aware all engines have some blow by. The pistons rings do not seal 100%. Of course engines with more wear blow by more. Most of it occurs I would guess when the spark plug fires and the piston shifts from going up to down.

I did a leak down test on mine and found the cylinders well sealed. See my post about 4 months ago with the results in the archives. Search "leak down"

Without a sufficient way to vent, this pressure builds up. The PCV system is supposed to handle it but I had a jury rigged one since I put the car on the road. By eliminating it I eliminated the pressure build up.
Michael Petryschuk

Mike,
Once more you prove that what I don't know'd fill the north end of Alabama and likely several other states. I thought that if you had good compression, the rings'd hold thing in. So what do I know?? Hope that my overhaul gets me enough umph to get on down the road. Thing is getting REALLY expensive!!
db
Doug Baker

This thread was discussed between 20/07/2009 and 01/08/2009

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