[timvantol]

Well I went home for the weekend and decided to do a little 100 mile cruise with my car and a friend with his 69 Chevelle. All of the little problems with my car have all added up to a big pain so I think I am going to take it all back apart.

Transmission was fine for the first 50 miles, but after that the manual valvebody Th400 decided that it didn't like staying in 2nd gear. I would shift it into 2nd gear, but it would only stay in 2nd for about 1-2 seconds and automatically shift itself into 3rd. Would randomly do this for the rest of the evening. Sometimes working, sometimes not. So this tranny will be coming out for the 8th time since 4 months ago.

Oil leaking out of the valve covers has left oil everywhere so I think that I am going to attempt a different valve cover with a breather as a last resort just to make sure that fixes the problem. Either way I think I am going to pull the motor and do a clean up.

Rearend is now leaking oil out of the back cover AND something seems to be bent on the driver side. I tried a different wheel and it still looks like it is wobbling so I am guessing that it is either a bent rearend housing or bent axle. (This could also be my vibration issue?)

I think I am going to take the motor/transmission/rear end out of the car and basically start over from 4 months ago. This time however I am going to do it right hopefully. Here is a list of what I think I am going to try and have done over the summer.

Fix valve cover leak and clean motor
Fix transmission :angry:
Either fix the 12 bolt that is in there or put the stock 12 bolt back in.
New upper and lower control arms for the back
Aluminum Radiator and Electric fans
Roll cage
Anti Roll Bar
Move the battery to the trunk
Front springs
Get rid of all the rubber undercoating and paint it black
Swap stock gas tank for the tank with a sump that I have
Clean and repaint exhaust (Possibly add two resonators to the tailpipes to quiet it down a bit)

Any ideas about what the problem with the transmission could be? If I sat at a stop light for a few seconds it seemed to work for a short while afterward. Full throttle shifting seemed fine.

I checked the PCV valve as suggested and it is working just fine. So I don't think that is the problem with the valve cover leak. Oil pressure is normal so I don't think that is the problem. A valve cover with a breather will go on it this weekend to see if that works.

I have a small vibration that feels an awful lot like a bad u-joint. I changed both front and back u-joints however but that did not fix the problem. Could the rear end be that vibration? It gets much worse when coasting in neutral just like a u-joint going bad.

I just want to make sure that I know what to fix before I take everything apart again. I really don't want to put it together again and have the same problems. Just very frustrated with the car at this time.:sad:

On a good note I put a stock sway bar on it and it drove WAY better. Definitely an improvement!

 

[aukai]

A bent housing would not wobble, it would run straight but not in the right alignment. Sounds like the axle flange is bent. At least that is what my non engineering mind is telling me.

 

[BillyGman]

as far as the rear end leak, do you have a vent tube? And is it clogged up? Did you overfill the rear end housing?

 

[MadmanMark]

Reading your list is very de ja vuey to me, and I think we have similar combos.

First thing to go for me was the TH400. It had a lot of goodies, but still could work in automatic mode. I had some weird revving and thought it might be the torque converter, but eventually I lost one of the gears (can't remember if it was 2nd or 3rd). Got a new rebuild from a smart trans guy with full manual and reverse valve body. That one has held up.

I was lucky that my brother, who has a similar setup to mine, broke a driveshaft before mine broke. I can't imagine ever putting out enough power to break the Denny's shaft in there now.

Traction was my next problem, but some adjustable front shocks and MT ET Streets fixed that. The new traction likely led to the next problem, which was with the axles. I got some stonger Strange street axles in there now.

Oil out the valve covers - I like the thick blue gaskets with the metal inside. It is important to have a perfectly straight flange and keep the bolt torque even (and not too much). Regarding breathers, I'd recommend 1 in each cover routed to a catch can (two breathers can go into 1 can). The best solution is probably a crankcase vacuum pump.

Here's my experience for getting combos setup:
stock = no problems
<450hp = almost no problems
450-550 = lots of little problems
>600 = non-stop big & little problems

 

[RB69SS396Conv]

For the oil leak, I'd suggest making sure there's a bolt in the upper hole on the front of the block, just to the pass side of the water pump. That hole goes RIGHT DIRECTLY INTO the fuel pump drive rod passage. If there's not a bolt there, it will SPEW oil at higher RPMs, but not leak a bit idling. If missing, put a SHORT bolt there (so it doesn't hit the FP rod and lock it up) with a drop of sealer on the threads. Take the car to the car wash along with a couple of cans of engine degreaser, and a screwdirver for taking off the dist cap afterwards to let it dry; and clean up the engine room before working on it, so you can see what you're doing. Soak it in the engine degreaser for about 5-10 minutes, then use the low-pressure high-soap combo on it from every angle especially from below front & sides, then blast the hell out of it with the rinse to clean it off, then use the "wax" to keep the rust and corrosion in check. For that matter, take the bolt with you and put it in before you leave the wash bay, only takes a second or 2 to get to it from underneath.

Trans problem sounds like governor and/or vacuum modulator. First thing to do is get a RED stripe VM; not a green stripe, not a magenta stripe, not a big black can, RED STRIPE. Don't worry about what application it's listed for: just go to the parts store and start looking up VMs for PG, 350 and 400; open the box; and see what's in it. If it has a RED STRIPE, that's the one you want. Change that out first (like $12 and about 5 minutes), see what happens, go from there.

Sounds like you need an axle. Not much sense getting just one. I'd suggest these http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SAG-EV12-2/ Don't accept a substitute, wait until this exact part is available.

I sure wouldn't just rip into the entire car like that until I'd FOUND, IDENTIFIED, AND FIXED all of those other little problems. Few things would be more frustrating than doing all that other work, cranking it up, backing down the driveway, and discovering that some of those other little piddly problems were still there.

Don't get rid of the PCV. That's not the problem there. Therefore hacking it off isn't the solution. Find the leak and fix it instead. Otherwise you'll just end up with a leaky motor that also fouls the oil faster; not exactly an improvement.

 

[Calculated Risk]

A powerglide vac modulator won't fit a TH400. The glides screw in.

 

[timvantol]

I definitely want to fix the problems BEFORE I take it apart. The biggest reason I want to pull everything out is to clean and repaint everything underneath.

There is already a bolt in the front of the block so that's all sealed up well. I can see the oil running down all around my valve covers and it even sprays up on the firewall. I have used 3 different sizes of cork gaskets, a rubber gasket, and a rubber gasket with the steel ring inside. None of these have had any luck sealing. The oil spraying on the firewall leads me to believe that there is too much pressure in there.

Good to know that it probably isn't my 12bolt housing that is messed up. It has 33 spline axles so I will try and get another set of those. I believe that it has a vent, but I haven't checked to see if that is plugged. I am pretty sure I filled it up properly.

The transmission is a manual valve body. I thought I didn't have to mess with the vacuum modulator? The valve body instructions told me to grind a small amount and leave it alone. I haven't gone much into transmissions so I could be completely off here

 

[BillyGman]

Some guys have reported engine oil leak issues with hi=pressure oil pumps, but I'm not sure if that can be a contributing problem or not. Do you have a hi-volume oil pump? Also, if you do have a hi-volume pump, and you aren't using any PCV valve nor even any valve cover breathers at all, that might be causing oil leaks too. You might want to run a PCV valve on one valve cover with a hose hooked to the base of the carb, and with a breather on the opposite valve cover to allow air to be pulled into the engine in case the draw from the pCV hose it to excessive. BTW, what is your oil pressure at idle RPM?

 

[cv67]

How is your pinion bearing?

That oil spraying deal wow. Lotsa pressure in there, cant comment.
Some guys say to measure vacuum then possible eliminate the pvc and add another breather. Like to hear what wolfy, vortechpro and 3v got to say on this.

 

[timvantol]

I have the exact PCV/Breather setup you mentioned. PCV valve on the passenger side to the base of the carb. Breather tank on the driver side. It actually seems as if the driver side valve cover leaks less than the passenger side. Not sure if that is helpful or not.

Oil pressure is around 60psi at warm idle (1000rpm). Full Throttle gets close to 80psi. Cruising at 3000rpm is right at 72psi.

Oil pump is a Melling High Volume. Part #MEL M55HV

 

[estherkilledfred]

Oil pressure is around 60psi at warm idle (1000rpm).

Full Throttle gets close to 80psi.

Cruising at 3000rpm is right at 72psi.

Good Gosh, Gertie!

That's some HIGH oil pressure!!

Extremely high at warm idle, excessively high @ 3000, within normal limits @ full throttle (@ 7500 rpm ).

 

[timvantol]

If I turn the idle down to 700rpm or when I put it in gear it falls right to about 50psi. I have the idle turned up for when I went to the track.

It seems to have a very short operating range if that makes any sense. My old motor would idle at about 40psi and have close to 80psi at full throttle.

 

[crazydavey]

Tim I agree with not tearing it apart just yet unless you feel more comfortable with that, issues that can be cleaned up with a little investigation. Sounds like you do have a problem with the valvebody though. The modulator should be plugged or capped so that shouldn't enter into it. I would contact whoever you got the body from and give them the symptoms and see what they say. Could be you got some contamination in there and all you need to do is remove it, clean everything and reinstall.

What kind of cover do you have on the 12 bolt? I have no idea why but my Moroso has the fill plug too high and it can cause you to overfill. Make sure you use the factory fill hole to check the level, been there, done that....

Unless you have low tension rings there shouldn't be any huge crankcase pressures. The valvecover area is not high pressure so if it's not coming from the breather/PCV then I would switch to a good cast or billet aluminum covers if you don't already have some. A good gasket and some quality sealer like the Right Stuff. When I had a "spraying" issue with the Monte it was coming out of the breather. The baffing was not adequate to contain the splash. I went to these and no more issues...

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MOR-68800/

just some thoughts.....saw the Nova this weekend..looked good...

 

[Ron454]

Sheesh, that's a long list.

Assuming that it's truly a manual Valve body, there is no way it should be shifting 2-3 on it's own.
Check the shift linkage adjustment. Maybe it's off enough that it moves a tiny bit and does the shift for you.
What VB is it?

You need at least one breather on the valve covers. I run one on each and no PCV. I have no leaks. The PVC closes under accel, so then you have no breather action at all.

If you think you have a bent axle flange, rig up a dial indicator to the flange and measure it. You can get an indicator and mag base for less than $50. You could also use it to check the driveshaft runout. Good U-joints in a bent shaft will still vibrate.

Ron

 

[Aaron]

Does the motor have tight clearances and you are running heavy thick oil?

 

[timvantol]

I have some pretty nice billet aluminum valve covers already. Modulator is capped.

There is no oil coming out of the breather. I am going to check the canister and see what it looks like in there. There is oil coming through the PCV valve though. I took the hose off the carburetor side of the valve and there was oil.

I will check on the linkage. I was too frustrated to check it out over the weekend before I left for school. I just talked to the tranny guy and he told me to call him in 10 minutes. Seems like he might know whats up. I will let you know what he says. Valve body is from hughes.

Not sure of the clearances on this motor. I am running Rotella 15w40.

Crazydavy - Yeah the nova wasn't doing so hot this time. Blew both headgaskets and the two back pistons are toast. They figured out that the cooling system isn't working right. Hopefully we can get that figured out before the next race. I will be done with school so hopefully I will be out there next time:hurray:

 

[superstocker72]

i say forget the pcv and run a simple evac system. its technically not for the street, but i see no problem in it. there is really no reason to run a vacuum pump on something other than a "max effort" deal, $1000 for a vacuum pump or a $50 evac system that accomplish the same thing. make sure there are baffles in the valve covers

you dont know bearing clearances, oh gawd
try a lighter oil like 10w30, 15w40 is for diesels and breaking in a flattappet cam when you dont have anything else, yours is a roller cam so a synthetic oil will be great, using that thick oil is hurting power and you dont really need it. and could be making your pressure higher

 

[timvantol]

I know I know
I don't put the motor together I just fork out the $$$$'s
This is why I went way overkill on choosing an engine builder. Apparently spending a bunch of money doesn't always prevent problems. Who knew?

On a more serious note, the engine builder is VERY competent. Not saying he won't make any mistakes, but I don't worry about his part being off. I will try a different oil. I just changed the oil maybe 4-5 hundred miles ago, but if it is going to help then I am by all means changing it and soon.

 

[BillyGman]

I have the exact PCV/Breather setup you mentioned. PCV valve on the passenger side to the base of the carb. Breather tank on the driver side. It actually seems as if the driver side valve cover leaks less than the passenger side. Not sure if that is helpful or not.

Oil pressure is around 60psi at warm idle (1000rpm). Full Throttle gets close to 80psi. Cruising at 3000rpm is right at 72psi.

Oil pump is a Melling High Volume. Part #MEL M55HV

If I turn the idle down to 700rpm or when I put it in gear it falls right to about 50psi. I have the idle turned up for when I went to the track.

It seems to have a very short operating range if that makes any sense. My old motor would idle at about 40psi and have close to 80psi at full throttle.

Good Gosh, Gertie!

That's some HIGH oil pressure!!

Extremely high at warm idle, excessively high @ 3000, within normal limits @ full throttle (@ 7500 rpm ).

Yes, that sounds to me like you definitely have a high pressure oil pump. That's what I kinda figured. You might want to try using a racing type high flow oil filter. I suggest you try this one here that the link leads you to. If you choose to buy this elsewhere, then just make sure that the part number has an R at the end of it. The WIX part# is 51069R

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WIX-51069R/

this filter is higher flowing than regular filters are, and will create less of a restriction for that hi-pressure oil pump that you undoubtedly have in that engine. The filtering media inside of it is a bit more coarse and not quite as fine as regular street car oil filters have, but it's still fine for removing dirt, grit and metal particles from your engine oil.

As far as the suggestion to use a drag race type evacuation system goes, I cannot say that I've never used on for street driving, but it is my understanding that some guys have had problems with the one-way check valves getting clogged up or siezed from alot of street mileage. But I'm merely going on word of mouth on that.

 

[timvantol]

I am actually running that exact oil filter.