stupid 2.8l oil leak

Jesse · Post by **Jesse** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:00 pm

I swear to god I hate this 2.8L p.o.s.!! When I bought the truck it was leaking oil out of the valve covers and the intake, which I heard was common. I bought the gaskets from Napa (since I work there). I put the valve cover gaskets in dry with no silicone and the intake gasket a buddy of mine told me to wipe some extra silicone on the port holes on the gasket and all the way around the outside. Well, i got it running finally and took it out, and its leaking oil again BAD! and its not the valves covers because I had to re-tighten them already, and i know its not the rear main, any ideas?? I need this b*tch to run already so i can drive it to work. Thanx guys!!!!

ranger5.0 · Post by **ranger5.0** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 8:07 pm

That is a pretty open ended question. Can you at least determine where the leak is coming from. I had one leak from front main seal. Normally if you do the regular valve adjustments, the valve cover gaskets do not leak. (12,000 miles or 12 months.) I just bought a sleeve for the harmonic balancer and that cured the front main leak. There is also a oil sending unit in the front of the motor. Look and see if it has failed. It is under the fuel pump.

DBrown · Post by **DBrown** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 4:42 am

what valve cover gaskets did you use? the first time I used the rubber ones I left them dry and it leaked like there was no gasket there. every time since then I use some RTV on them and they have never leaked.

you also have to be careful tightening them because you can bend the flange on the valve covers and cause leaks also.

Jesse · Post by **Jesse** » Wed Feb 22, 2006 8:32 pm

the valve cover gaskets were the cork rubber ones. When i first started it up after i changed the valve & intake gaskets, i could see oil on the rear of the valve cover gasket and noticed that the back bolts had loosened, so I torqued them down a little tighter than i had b4. They are now dry, so I know its not them. And to answer Ranger5.0's ?, I know its not from the front of the engine because its all dry, I'm pretty sure its is either coming from the very rear of the intake or the distributor, but I just put a brand new distributor (all 80 BUCKS WORTH!) but I did notice the o-ring was fairly small, should I try to put a thicker one on it? I guess you guys know how hard it is to see on the back of the motor lol so your help is greatly appreciated!!!!!

Jesse · Post by **Jesse** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:06 pm

YAY!!! i went to wash out the engine bay b4 i started work on the intake and valve cover gaskets and now my front main is leaking!!!! I don't know if i should try and tackle putting a new seal in (since i don't know exactly how to do it lol) because i talked to a guy that has a rebuilt 2.8 for $500 (money that i don't have) How involved is it to change out the front main? do i have to take the engine apart, because if so i might as well just rebuild it while i have it apart, which i also don't have the money for lol. it sucks being a poor redneck!!! i can also get a 5.0 CHEEP for like $200, but i don't know if the stock drivetrain will like it if i adapt it to it. Any ideas??

DBrown · Post by **DBrown** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:17 am

look in your repair manual it should give you a pretty good idea of how much of a job it is. you will need to remove the balancer to do it but it is fairly cheap. if you are doing the labor you are probably talking around $80 to replace ALL the gaskets. you will just have to put the time into it.

Michael99 · Post by **Michael99** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 10:44 am

I have a 1984 Bronco II with the 2.8l engine. I rebuilt the engine myself and even after rebuilding it it still leaked oil. It was my first rebuild and I was majorly dissapointed. I did everything you can think of to that engine to properly rebuild it. But the S.O.B kept leaking oil and I thought the machine shop installed the rear main seal incorrectly but after some troubleshooting I discovered that the oil appeared to be coming from the distributor. I tried everything. I put two FAT O-Rings around the distributor and gobbed it with black rtv sealent and it did nothing!!! After so many gaskets and rtv sealent and even trying a brand new distributor I thought no way in hell it is leaking from the distributor. I decided one weekend to tear down the engine from the top to get a better idea of what was going on. Turns out the distributor was fine but I discovered the the manifold gasket that was made by felpro did not have the cork gasket added in the rear by the distributor. There should be two cork pieces built into the rear and front of the gasket that seal in between the manifold and block. If they are missing DO NOT install it. I dont care how much rtv you use IT WILL LEAK OIL!!!! Also even if it has the cork gaskets use some RTV sealent anyway for extra protection and dont be afraid of using to much. If it oozes out that will just reassure you you have enought there. And people for the love of god do not use that blue rtv sealent for this kind of application. I have seen people who think that the blue stuff is for sealing oil. Oil will break it down. Use the black rtv sealent. As far as valve covers go. Fixing the oil leak around them is simple. First they should ban cork gaskets for valve covers. I am sorry they just dont work as well as rubber ones. And when you install the rubber ones dont install them dry!!! Use the BLACK not blue rtv sealent and put a nice bead on top and bottom of the gasket. The gasket will do the main sealing but the rtv sealent on top and bottom will seal anything else that the gasket may of missed. Also tighten your bolts down tight but dont overdo it. Forget the torque wrench for that. Tighten them in sequence and go until they are tight but not to where you bend the valve cover flaps. I would post some pics on here of what I am talking about with the manifold gasket and the cork on the edges but I no longer have it. I burned it!!! out of anger lol. With that faulty manifold gasket I went through while driving one night 6 quarts of oil in less than 80 miles

. And with the new gasket I have no oil leaks!

But if anyone has questions as to the 2.8 just ask me and I will give you the best advice I can. Here is what I did to my 2.8 in the rebuild

Block bored over .60 and balanced the block
Heads chemical dipped new valve stem seals, valves ground down
New pistons, rings, Rods stress tested
New oil pump, oil screen
All new felpro gaskets
New rear and front seal
Crank shaft machined to specs
All new bearings
Rebuilt holley 2bbl carbruetor
New radiator (dont use a grinder to try to clean the radiator grill lol oops 150.00 mistake)
New hoses, belts, plugs wires, cap, rotor, distributor, distributor pick up module
New coil, solenoid
Good used automatic hubs
New mud tires
Soon to get a winch actually be next week 3-17 :)
LOTS of lights
New altenator
New battery
The best of all is that there is no computer system at all and no smog controll. It is an enginel, transmisssion, transfer case and no electronic crap at all! It is all manual!

The list goes on but I am getting tired of typing lol

deathmetalandrez · Post by **deathmetalandrez** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 1:56 am

cork cork cork! + RTV = remedy for 2.8. use the rubbers on the 2.9's to keep the extra lube away

BroncoII4x4.com

stupid 2.8l oil leak

stupid 2.8l oil leak

It isnt your distributor leaking