Oil leak 85 4AGE -banjo fitting

[AustinTXMk1]

I'm trying to track down an oil leak and suspect that it's coming from the banjo fitting at the side of the sump. My question is, do I need to remove the sump pan to reseal this banjo fitting or can I pull the fitting and reseal without having to remove the sump pan?

Also any suggestions as to what to use to improve the quality and leak tightness of the oil cooler lines? Currently I'm using high pressure fuel injection hose. Suggestions?

I also see that there are bypass kits available. If the oil cooler was originally there and you bypass it what do you do to replace the cooling of the oil crcuit?

Please comment on at least the banjo fitting question as I'd like to try and stop this oil leak. I've already change the oil pump, front and rear main seals, and seals around timming belt. But most of the oil seems to be coming front the oil cooler side of the mil.

Thanks in advance for the help. The mil has about 330K miles on it and runs strong (compression still in spec and within 3% cylinder to cylinder)

[mr2tim]

Hi Ron,

Banjo fitting has gaskets on both the bolt and the pan side and could well be a leaker with one or the other missing. In fact Page LU-13 our BGB, indicates these gaskets are NOT reusable. The Torque figure for this union bolt is only 18ft/lbs so be careful not to overtighten this puppy.

Fuel injection rated hoses are a good choice, they provide a longer use life. Smart choice.

The water cooled oil feature is definately recommended for mid-engined cars which do not get much air cooling effects. Relying on just the radiator is "risky business", if your radiator boils over, you buy a new engine?. In fact, the oil filter bracket has fittings for additional oil coolers such as air-to-oil if you comtemplate dumping the water cooler, but personally I would not.

Your oil "leakage" could possibly be from the "O" ring oil seal at the base of the distributor, if the oil is also inside the dist cap it's the dist seals. The oil pressure sensor screws into the block under the dist cap, but it doesn't have a reputation to leak as do the others.

As for the banjo and union bolt replacement, yes, proceed. The oil pan has a receiver bolt flange welded to the interior of the pan soas to offer a solid base for the banjo to be attached to.

BTW the water pump has a "O" between it and the block too, with 330k miles this may be your next maint item.

(Has this engine been reconditioned?)

mr2tim

[AustinTXMk1]

Originally Posted by mr2tim

Hi Ron,

Banjo fitting has gaskets on both the bolt and the pan side and could well be a leaker with one or the other missing. In fact Page LU-13 our BGB, indicates these gaskets are NOT reusable. The Torque figure for this union bolt is only 18ft/lbs so be careful not to overtighten this puppy.

Fuel injection rated hoses are a good choice, they provide a longer use life. Smart choice.

The water cooled oil feature is definately recommended for mid-engined cars which do not get much air cooling effects. Relying on just the radiator is "risky business", if your radiator boils over, you buy a new engine?. In fact, the oil filter bracket has fittings for additional oil coolers such as air-to-oil if you comtemplate dumping the water cooler, but personally I would not.

Your oil "leakage" could possibly be from the "O" ring oil seal at the base of the distributor, if the oil is also inside the dist cap it's the dist seals. The oil pressure sensor screws into the block under the dist cap, but it doesn't have a reputation to leak as do the others.

As for the banjo and union bolt replacement, yes, proceed. The oil pan has a receiver bolt flange welded to the interior of the pan soas to offer a solid base for the banjo to be attached to.

BTW the water pump has a "O" between it and the block too, with 330k miles this may be your next maint item.

(Has this engine been reconditioned?)

mr2tim

Tim,

Well, to the best of my knowledge this motor hasn't been reconditioned other than what I have described. I paid $1 for the car and have about $600 into it thus far. It quite possibly has more than 330k miles on it since when I got it the speedo wasn't working all the time... the speedo cable was riding in and out of contact - correcting this and the the clock is counting once again. It does have a fresh clutch but this isn't a leak issue.

Thanks for the pointers on the banjo fitting - I'd love to replace these fittings with a good Swagelok type fitting that will clearly put a stop to the leaking issue. I may even be able to replace the banjo fitting with a more reliable and leak tight fitting. I'll have to take a deeper look at the possibilities.

I'll also look at the dist seal and see if this might be a possible source, I'll be replacing the dist cap and rotor later today as I am also chasing a power issue between Idle and about 3000 rpm where I'm getting sluggest response up until the cams wake up! Timing appears to be spot on, but I will double check this too. Could the dist be a fault in terms of any mechanical advance it may have which would be more pronounced at lower revs?

Well the sun is still on the work apron (driveway) and the garage is full of Fiats (124 spiders) and the temperature is a cool 104 currently. A run to the local parts house to collect a pair of rotors for the maduce and we should be about ready to begin to get back to work (fun) and sort some of these things out...

Thanks again for the pointers