What to do about repairs?

[walsh82]

So I have a 95 mtx with 145,000 on it. I recently have been hearing a rattle from the oil pan area which I suspect to be bearings, it has also been burning oil on start up, which I suspect stem seals. My question is should i just pull the motor out to do these jobs, or do both repairs with the motor in the car. Another problem is I need it as a driver 3 days a week so can't really afford to stretch out the time length on repairs. I do have all necessary tools, jack,compressor etc. minus of course a cherry picker. So basically I'm looking for advice on repairs or perhaps another SHO member to donate some time to another Sho guy. I would of course be willing to feed and booze any helpers! Thanks in advance!

 

[TYSHO]

You can do the rod bearing service without removing the motor, it's the common way around here and does not take more than a day [usually a couple of hours]. Here is a useful website on the rod bearing procedure: http://www.kurtmetros.com/bearings.html


I wouldn't worry about the oil leak too much, unless you're losing a huge amount of oil between changes. There have been quite a few on here who swear by Auto RX to help reduce oil consumption from worn valve stem seals and blow by. If it's not that serious, I would at least try a high milage motor oil. I would try anything before replacing the seals if you're worried about down time.

 

[sperold]

X2 above
Don't take the motor out, that is reserved for the time where you have all the time in the world to do a super deluxe rebuild.
Go to an exhaust place and get them to back off your exhaust manifold studs that hold on your down pipes, but make sure it is a good shop.

 

[JRA2000TL]

Do you think it's too late if he's hearing a little rattle at start up, or do you think the rod journals are fine? I JUST had my heat sheild re-welded at the exhaust shop and I should have told them to loosen my bolts as well. I have 144k.

 

[NebraskaSHO]

Jeremy, I was able to loosen my bolts with a breaker bar, extension, and impact socket. I think I got lucky, but it is possible. I do know jthod broke one on his catless Y Pipe build.

I have 155k on the 89.

 

[itwonder]

If you want to take no chances on delays when planning to do rod bearings, take the car to a muffler shop and have them re-stud the exhaust manifolds. Then you won't have to worry about snapping one off when you pull the Y-pipe to do the rod bearings.

Check for oil in the plug wells. That can be a source of a puff of smoke on start-up. Straightforward to resolve with new valve cover gasket kit. If using synthetic oil, consider a switch to dino oil. If it still puffs, try a high mileage oil, which has seal conditioners. I would try all of those things before considering a valve stem seal job.

 

[TYSHO]

Do you think it's too late if he's hearing a little rattle at start up, or do you think the rod journals are fine?

It would be wise to hurry up and get the oil pan removed. The rattle is from the larger clearances between the bearings and crankshaft, and lack of lubrication. If you're in a time crunch and need the vehicle, go out and buy the thickess motor oil you see on the shelf to keep the bearings, caps, rods, and crankshaft lubed as much as possible. I really wouldn't recommend driving the vehicle, though. It's not accurate to say it's too late, I've replaced bearings in two SHO's with the same symptom and everything was nice and within spec with the new bearings installed.

Don't take the motor out, that is reserved for the time where you have all the time in the world to do a super deluxe rebuild.

LOL



For what it's worth, if you have an impact that would be the best way to go at the exhuast stud nuts. The slow, breaker bar method will allow the stud to deform and snap. It's best to clean the threads as much as possible, before removing the nuts. You also want to back the nut off some, zip it back up, then back it back down, repeating this process so that any rust debris from the threads does not get wedge inbetween the nut and lock it in place where removal would snap the exhaust stud.

 

[rubydist]

You also want to back the nut off some, zip it back up, then back it back down, repeating this process so that any rust debris from the threads does not get wedge in between the nut and lock it in place where removal would snap the exhaust stud.

This ^

That is the single most important piece of advice, in my experience, for getting off rusty or dirty bolts/nuts.

The other important piece that works closely with it is to soak the threads/nuts with penetrating oil like PB Blaster daily for a week prior to attempting to remove the nuts.

 

[walsh82]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I think I will remove the pan and do the bearings next week as those are most important. I can wait on the seals after switching from mobil 1 to a high mileage coventional, to see if that helps. The rattle and smoking are very minimal but im kind of picky . As for it being oil in the wells not the case I just did a partal 120k a few months ago. Seem now is a great time to purchase a y pi

 

[itwonder]

Seem now is a great time to purchase a y pi

Yes, it would be a good time to upgrade the Y-pipe. If you go for that, have a new bolt/spring kit on hand to hook it to the mid-pipe. And get the Walker PN 31372 donut gasket; the Fel-pro ones are prone to leakage.

 

[walsh82]

Yeah the old hardware looks like its ready to crumble!

 

[DemonNeno]

AC/DELCO Pentrating **** has to be the most impressive stuff I've ever laid my hands on. Seriously, this stuff helps me get off duals off of large trucks/Semis.

I'd get new exhaust studs and replace them, anyway. Easy to pound out with a kiss of heat and replacing them would require a larger nut along with the proper one to pull the splines through. Anti seize around the spline is a good idea to pull it through quick, but t he tight clearance wont cause the stud to spin. No big deal. Breaking it in your exhaust isn't too bad if you have air tools (air hammer) and some heat to work with.