1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
This approach to auto repair is not recommended for the home audience - this particular fix was done out of sheer desperation:
I recently took delivery of an out of province 1992 Saab 900S w. 272,000km (Sven by name, my sister's car). It needed to pass inspection for registration and the last and most challenging repair was a major oil leak (litre per 300k / quart per 200 mi) which seemed to originate on the rear passenger side of the engine but which bathed engine, steering rack etc. in oil.
After much crawling around with a broken piece of mirror glass and several applications of Gunk I determined the problem was worse than my darkest suspicions (crankshaft seal) - the oil was leaking from the bulkhead end of the cylinder head gasket and running down the timing cover, the opposite end of the head was leaking enough oil for there to be a sludge deposit between the head and the block.
I really didn't relish the idea of taking off the head to have it milled and replace the gasket etc., I had visions of then wanting to do a little work on the head, etc. (I had bought the car as winter transportation to extend the life of my 'summer' (1992, 900) Saab. So I checked the tension on the cylinder head bolts and lo and behold the bolt nearest the leak was practically loose. So I (took a deep breath and) loosened the bolts in sequence, then retorqued them. I then turned each bolt about another 30 degrees, the loose bolt was good for close to 60 degrees. I closed the engine, changed the oil for Castrol 20w-50 (I had just installed a block heater) - the oil had been changed in December and the car probably had 5w-30 - gave the engine another Gunk treatment and (presto) dry as a bone.
Thanks for listening. And thanks to JohnK for his advice.
posted by 65.94....
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