22r what could cause oil to appear here

[MToy]

Recently purchased a 1985 22r block from a junkyard and had it tanked, magnafluxed, and cylinders bored out 30 thousandths. Put it together and have a decent oil leak when running, the oil seems to be coming from the passenger side of the block above the oil filter. I ran the truck a few times wiping the block off each time and a stream seemed to originate from the same spot above the oil filter near the top of the block where it meats the head.

I took the intake manifold off and looked at the block and cant figure out where it is coming from, I have tried 3 filters thinking they might have been clogged or damaged. The block couldn't be cracked or the machine shop would have found it? I don't think any oil passages are near this location on the block besides lower at the filter.

I am just looking for suggestions of what could cause oil to appear at this location. Worried it might be a hole in a oil passage spraying oil, or something else seriously wrong. Going to take it back out and get a closer look if something stupid isn't wrong. Any response would be appreciated, thanks for reading.

my block



not my block

[Green Truck]

It looks like you twisted the chain too tight on the engine hoist. Pretty common problem.

[FuzzyZ]

Originally Posted by Green Truck

It looks like you twisted the chain too tight on the engine hoist. Pretty common problem.

your an idiot.


But seriously. if the block looks good with the intake off. about only other thing besides a cracked head which im sure you looked at would be a messed up head gasket when it was put back together. Probibly going to have to take it back apart.

[richyrich307]

Originally Posted by FuzzyZ

your an idiot.


But seriously. if the block looks good with the intake off. about only other thing besides a cracked head which im sure you looked at would be a messed up head gasket when it was put back together. Probibly going to have to take it back apart.

X2 on the head gasket. Did the machine shop do anything with your head or just the block? They probably checked the deck on the block but what about the cylinder head surface?

[richyrich307]

Bad gasket or warped head.... hopefully gasket

[MToy]

Thanks for the replys, we were worried it could be the head but were unsure of where the oil passages are, the head is a new casted cylinder head so it would be a big surprise if it is cracked.

[Unclejesse88]

It doesn't appear that there are any oil passages in that area, but that doesn't mean that the oil isn't weeping back from the front of the block area. Also, just because the head is a new casting, doesn't mean it is perfect. I've gotten replacement cylinder heads that leaked coolant brand new. So in this case, brand new doesn't mean straight or not cracked.

[Max Volume]

Are you positive its not the valve cover gasket? This might sound stupid but make sure you are using a factory gasket and new factory grommets. We see aftermarket junk leaking all the time. Another common one, although its a bit further back than where you are describing, is the forward most bolt in holding the EGR valve to the cylinder head. The front bolt goes all the way through and needs to have FIPG put on it during install.

[MToy]

We got the engine out and apart, we found that some of the head bolts have some oil flowing to them. I found that I am possibly using the wrong head bolts from a older style 22r and not the ~3.1mm shorter bolts from a 85-95 22r. Also the bolts threaded in hard and could have thrown off the torque when the head was torqued down. We do not have a machinist straight edge but we are going to get one and check the head and block for straightness. We used a woodworking straight edge and they were both off by 4-9 thousandths, but we tried it on a planers table and it was off by 5 thousandths with the same tool so we cant be sure yet.

But most importantly I think the wrong type of lubricant was used in the assembly of the engine, a moly grease was put on the oil pump and after cutting open one of the filters we think it may have clogged some oil passages and caused a higher than normal oil pressure, causing a leak at the head gasket in a head bolt.

I was hesitant to reply again as we have not finished tearing the engine back apart, we got the head off and called it a day. From the scratches on the cylinder walls we think it may have been starved of oil, reassuring our clogged oil passage theory. This engine sat in the garage for a week while we waited for a part so we used a syringe to inject a small amount of oil into each cylinder and cranked the engine with no plugs in to build oil pressure before we started it, it was only run for 2 minutes.

[richyrich307]

wow i think you got lucky then.