I have a 1978 Pinto HB and I noticed it leaks alot of oil when the car sits overnight... How can I tell if it's an oil pan gasket or a rear main seal??
Any info on this will be apreciated.
Thanx
Buy a couple sheets of white posterboard and put them on the ground under the engine and transmission. Weigh down the corners with rocks or somesuch. Check the location (and coloration) of the drips. This will tell you loads. You may have a bad gasket (dry-rotted), a bad front and/or rear seal, or the pan drain plug may be loose. Perhaps the pan has a small hole where it hit a rock. Check for impact dents and the structural integrity of the pan at the "sharp" edges of any you may find.
I'm sorta ahead of ya there... I parked the car in my storage unit, and when I went to take it to my house to work on it I noticed the big puddle of oil underneath the car...It was located about 1'2 way under the oil pan, and would drip rather rapidly with the car off... I'll drive it up on the ramps I have and get underneath it to check it out further.... I just hope it's either a pan gasket or a hole in the pan... I have a spare pan the guy gave me so that won't be a problem if it is a hole in the pan.
As much as it leaks it might just be that.
Well, I've got the car jacked up, and what did I find??? I small pinhole in the pan.. Just to make sure I took some carb cleaner and sprayed the area that I thought leaked, ans sure enough it was..
I have a spare oil pan, so it's going on the car.
Thanx poison for the info
That happened to me with my first Pinto over 10 years ago. When I was a young hothead, me and my buddies would take the Pinto to this yard that had lots of hills. We would take it over steep drops and catch some neat air. Unfortunately that led to a nice sized crack in the oil pan due to landing.
Well,
I finally got it all back together, and put some fresh 10W40 oil in the engine, as that's what the guy gave me a whole case of, and no leaks!!! now that I got that fixed, combined with the new PCV valve, and filter, this car is starting to take shape.... It's not in perfect shape, but it runs good... Now I could only find an oil cap that fit right.
I think if the guy gave you as many parts as he did, he didn't "take you" on your car. He knew there were problems, and at one time probably intended to fix them himself. But, as does happen, other interests took his fancy and the Pinto got put on indefinite hold. So you got a project car and quite a few of the pieces to make the project worthwhile. Once you overcame your initial surprises and frustrations, you got down to business. Look how you feel now. You're learning by doing, which isn't a bad thing.
I paid $300 for Poison and didn't get any spare parts. I'm learning by doing (of course, I've done quite a bit of the same stuff before on other car models) and Poison's taking shape...slowly (painting True Blue has consumed some time).
Yeah, you're giht... I didn't think about that angle... I am learning alot about these cars, and he did give me all those parts.
Thanx for showing me the light... My new project is starting to take shape now though... I'll be happy if I have most the rusty panels off the car by the end of the week. :)
Good to hear things are coming along with the Mean Green Machine Matt! Just slow down on that learning though as I want to get a + feedback before you do as we got on the board about the same time!!! You are about 8 days ahead of me on ownership (my 3 day trip to get mine starts early Saturday morning). Keep working on her and before you know it she will be looking like how you have envisioned her!
Hey Poision, of course you are spending a LOT of time painting True, those spray cans run out pretty quick! Is your finger cramping from holding down the button? lol Just messing with you Joel, I look forward to seeing True Blue in True Blue. Post some pics when done.
Yeah you're right... I'll just have to slow down a bit and let you catch up..lol Where ya gettin yours from? I just went upstate to pick mine up, and it barely made it back... bad tranny slipping from 1-2. The mean grean machine... I like that.. It keeps raining today, so it's on hold, atleast for now... Atleast it doesn't leak anymore oil. :)
QuoteHey Poision, of course you are spending a LOT of time painting True, those spray cans run out pretty quick! Is your finger cramping from holding down the button? lol Just messing with you Joel, I look forward to seeing True Blue in True Blue. Post some pics when done.
Yeah, they do run out a bit quicker than I'd like. Too bad I can't get a 5 gal. can of spray paint. :P As for my fingers, I use the trigger things that snap onto the top of spray cans.
Here she is after one coat of paint. I'll put on 2 or 3 more coats to even the finish and then put on the clear coat.
And another....
man, that's sharp... Looks like Tru Blue is coming along... I hope to have some pix of the Mean green machine soon... just painte the back end with Wal-Mart Kelly Green
6 cans, and all the panels that are staying on the car have been painted.
Where ya gettin yours from?
I'm traveling from Little Rock, Arkansas to St. Petersburg, Florida.
Here she is after one coat of paint. I'll put on 2 or 3 more coats to even the finish and then put on the clear coat.
I like that color on her now that she is covered in it! Looking good! Some SHINEY wheel well trim would really make her stand out.