[VAC] Re: Smoke & Tears

[BELTFEDMG42@xxxxxxx]

  Sorry to jump in so late on this but there seems to be a lot of questions 
on oil leaks and sealing on the board so I thought I would chime in. I work 
as a technician at a Chevy dealership I have 15 years in the field. It feels 
like it has been longer.
  As for sealing Valve covers or oil pans or any sheet metal on an engine RTV 
is by far the best method using a particular brand and type Permatex Ultra 
gray this stuff is by far the best on the market if there was any better I 
would use that. It is more expensive than the other colors but worth every 
penny. Now on to the proper use of RTV all mating surfaces have to be clean 
and dry uniform bead of RTV on one side only and reassemble parts immediately 
not allowing time for RTV to skin like the old days next most common mistake 
is using RTV with a gasket it is a gasket not a gasket sealer gaskets of cork 
and or neoprene are things of the past kinda like leaded fuel there are much 
better ways of sealing now. All of the gaskets in new cars except for head 
gaskets and oil seals are Silicon most now are premolded very easy to use but 
there is no more cork or other types on new manufactured GMs.
  As far as sealing an engine and still seeing smoke someone wrote about 
resealing an engine and still having problems the first thing I would check 
is engine condition it my run fine but the oil control rings my be a weak 
link causing Excessive blowby and pressure in the crank case will escape 
somewhere. I had a car once that had three rear main seals replaced and each 
time it would pop out after a short drive it was then dropped in my lap, 
towed to our shop The first thing I did was check condition of the engine and 
it was bad excessive crank case pressure pushed the crank seal out of an 
otherwise tightly sealed engine. Now to check condition of the engine I start 
with a compression gauge we all know and are familiar with looking for 10% 
difference between highest and lowest reading if more than 10% you can stop 
there you have found your problem unless you wish to further narrow it down 
do a wet test add two ounces of engine oil and retest if compression comes up 
than rings are the problem if not than you have a valve not sealing well, if 
an engine passes the compression test then I perform a leak down test on the 
engine this is done by putting a measured amount of compressed air into the 
cyl.and measuring the amount that is able to escape so  you know the ability 
of the cylinder to seal compression often an engine will pass compression 
check but not a leak down test. As far as getting someone to do a leak down 
test I work in a shop with 17 other Technicians I am the only one there with 
a leak down tester. So good luck finding someone in your area that has a 
tester and can interpret the results of a leak down test.
  It is hard to find a good technician I am embarrassed by my trades 
reputation largely because of lack of training and the inability to bring in 
smart young talent into the field. It is a hard trade to master without many 
rewards.
  Now how to find a good technician look to see if his home phone is listed 
in the phone book if so he is probably honest if not well....same for a shop 
if the owners number is listed same applies I ran a shop for six years that 
my partner then still has open and my number was always listed I was never 
once called at home and have no fear of being called except by some one 
selling something...during dinner.
  I will yield my soap box now sorry I went on so but I thought I would share 
some hard learned lessons with others.
 This info is worth exactly what it cost you.
Thinks to all who have shared info with me about Airstreams which I am very 
new to.
  Derek Garland
73 Excella 31'