i was wondering...if there is any empirical evidence of certain oils having less a propensity to seep past gaskets etc...when i first got my 98 i wasnt certain how the PO treated her...i ran a couple buckets of Rotella through the first couple oil changes and it seemed to exacerbate the problem...fixing vacuum leaks corrected 90% of the problem...now the drips are way within reason...but...are there some oils that might work the opposite way and slow the leak even more??? (before i go through the effort of tearing the gear case cover off)...i know i will get some raised eyebrows for the question..but i had to try...vs

 

Oils for gas engines don't hold soot like diesel engine oil is designed to.
That's why diesel oil turns black so fast.
Gasser engine oil lets the soot drop out and form sludge all over inside the engine and will plug up leaks and blowby tubes even.
Switching to diesel oil or even worse to a synthetic can clean up the sludge and unplug the leaks.
Synthetic oils have more of a solvent property and are very good at cleaning up the inside of your engine and uncovering leaks.

 

I thought the general consensus was if you have an oil leak, that the seal was bad, not just leaky oil. If all the seals are good, there will be no leaks no matter the oil.

 

I find running the 0W40 oils in the winter for me seems to find more leaks. 15W40 in the summer and they seem to slow down. I know all the oil gurus around say that the Synthetic 40 or the Dyno 40 have the same viscosity, but that didn't help slow the leaks.

 

I've got the same leaking gear case, but I'm going to replace the gasket and fix the problem

 

And??? Aren't you going to kill something while you're there?

vagabonddreamer, you might consider the same if it's the front case leaking.

 

ya..i ordered the tst kdp kit...and i am replacing the front cover gasket...its the actual case/block gasket that seems to be leaking...that means pulling the cam shaft...i have done some reading here and some say they have discovered gear case bolts to the block that have become loose...might be that is what the problem is...if not...then i gotta go farther...

actually...there is an awesome post on the 1st gen forum where BC1847 replaces his camshaft...basically tears the gear case apart....almost makes me think i might be able to do it...lol...

the oil question was only as a general interest...and in the short term...i dont think i would ever trust oil to seal a gasket...lol...vs

 

Make sure you torque all of the gear case bolts to 18 ft lbs. That is not much, so use a torque wrench. They work loose or the gasket shrinks. I haven't figured out which, but this will usually stop the leak, unless something is cracked.

 

affirmative on that...the case bolts were loose...one was finger tight!!!! kinda freaks you out thinking about the potential if one of those came OUT!! vs