nitinnelapudi

I recently purchased a 1983 Oldsmobile Tornado with an Olds 307 5.0L v-8.
Didn't run when i bought it, and come to find out it was the carburetor and the spark plugs that were failing. replaced them and the car fired right up. Now the the car leaks about a liter of oil every time i start it. it just gushes out. the car then starts to scream some thing like a belt squeal but loud and scratchy type of squeal. Anyway the oil is coming from the passenger side right about where the front wheel is, in fact the oil was leaking down the tire. Can someone tell me if this sounds like a problem you've encountered before. Is there an oil pump located in the front passenger side of the car?

Lady72nRob71

This does not sound good...

Since you just got the car, is the right oil filter on it? I had a friend with a 78 Cutlass you had this happen because the parts store sold him the wrong filter. It screwed on but did not seal. The oil pump blasted the oil out. The oil pump is in the engine, so unless the block is cracked, it should not spray out like that. The fuel pump is at the front side of the engine.
If it is more like a fast dribble of oil, check the valve cover gaskets - they have been known to compress, deteriorate, and leak.

I hope the squealing is from the belts - either loose, or oil contaminated. If they are okay, it may be something deeper in the engine (but hope not...)

joe_padavano

Agreed, the oil filter is on the passenger side of the engine and towards the back of the front tire. If the filter is loose or incorrect, oil will spray out. Also check that the oil filter adapter has not come loose. This is the die cast part that the oil filter screws onto. It's held to the block with three bolts. That's about the only way it would get on the tire. Valve cover gasket leaks aren't pressurized and tend to just run down onto the heads and exhaust mainfolds.

Lady72nRob71

Joe - good point. I forgot about the adapter tha tthe filter screws onto...

Given this is a FWD Toro, I was wondering if a large oil leak from the valve covers could migrate quickly to the axle shafts and make it to the tire - probably not. I could not quite remember the design of this beast...

Since oil did get to the tire, I would make sure the brake disc is uncontaminated before driving it.

nitinnelapudi

okay I think I located the cause for oil leak. I started the engine and
noticed th oil coming from a metal tube running from the engine or
behind it to the radiator, it has what looks like 3 nuts holding it
together and the nuts are side by side. I held one of the nuts with a
wrench and tightened the other with another wrench and it seems to be
holding in the fluid which looks thick and smells like oil (thats why i
said it was an oil leak).

Now the problem with the squeal.

1) it happens most of the time when i hit the gas pedal. most of the
time it won't if i just start and engine and let it sit by itself...as i
soon as i hit the gas though, its squeals.

2) when the squealing begins the engine fan seems to slow down a bit
whereas before it was spinning at full blast.

3) before i fixed the oil leak the power steering was jerky. after
tightening the nuts i was talking about in above paragraph, the steering
seems to work better but makes that awful crying sound everytime I turn
the wheel. It sounds like when your steering wheel fluid is down...that
wierd whahhhhhh sound.

4) when i push on the gas the squealing starts and so does the smoke.
it seems to be coming from the engine rather than the exhaust pipe.

joe_padavano

Well, that would be the transmission cooler, and the fluid would be red. Be sure to check the trans fluid level now, as it may have gotten low.

The trans cooler (or oil for that matter) is unrelated to the steering, so that's just coincidence. It really sounds like a loose power steering pump belt, which is common. The PS pump is down low on the front driver's side of the engine. You probably have the pulley with two grooves and two belts, which is even more difficult to adjust properly. If it is the double groove pulley, you first need to loosen the alternator belt (which also goes around the PS pump). Then to tighten the PS pump belt you need to loosen two bolts on the front of the pump (between the pulley and the front of the pump) and a nut on the bottom back of the pump. The two bolts on the front are at about 1 o'clock and 6 o'clock and if the pulley has holes you can bump the engine with the starter until the holes line up with the bolts. Otherwise, you need to stick an open end wrench down between the pulley and the pump.

Once you have all three fasteners loose, use a very large screwdriver to tension the belt. The bracket that the pump is bolted to has a tab bent up next to the nose of the pump and on the side closest to the engine. Stick the screwdriver between the pulley and the pump, on the side of the pump nose closest to the engine. Be sure the screwdriver is between the pump nose and the tab on the bracket and lever against the tab to tighten the belt. While holding this tight, tighten the bolt on the pump at the 1 o'clock position. This is the ONLY place where you should pry on the pump. Otherwise you'll damage the sheet metal reservoir. Once the first bolt is tight, you can remove the screwdriver and tighten the other bolt and nut. Once that's done, tighten the alternator belt as you would normally. This should solve your squealing problem, however be sure that the belts aren't glazed from the squealing. It might just be cheap insurance to replace them.

nitinnelapudi

I thought it might be the ps pump but it confused me when i tightened that nut that the steering started to work better. Anyway, if it is the trans cooler line how does those nuts work? there are three there so what is the order to tighten it. The reason i ask is because now after i started my engine to see where this leak is coming from- i thought it was from the metal tube,... but there was still tons of liquid coming from the engine. I still think its coming from the tube, but now im unsure whether or not i REALLY tightened/fixed those nuts....

Oldsguy

Joe, is it possible the car has a remote oil filter and the adapter is what was loose? Also, is is possible the oil/transmission fluid whichever was leaking sprayed enough of the engine compartment to contaminate his belts?

nitin, you may have not corrected the leak by simply tightening the bolts, if it was the oil filter adapter with a remote filter mount then you may have a bad gasket as well. Is there any way to take a photograph for us to view? Is the front of the engine all dirty and greasy feeling, including the belts? (don't check with the engine running!).

Just some thoughts.

joe_padavano

The only Olds cars that ever had a remote oil cooler from the factory were the diesel cars. I was wondering if this car might have been a diesel originally that was converted to gas. Additionally, a diesel car would have used a hydroboost, which WOULD have an impact on the PS pump squealing.

The problem is that we need some photos to be able to provide intelligent help. For example, I ASSUME we've been talking about the trans cooler lines, but the posts haven't even indicated if we're talking about the driver's side or passenger side of the engine.

nitinnelapudi

sorry, i think i fixed the problem, but just to make sure i'll tell you this info:

a) the line is a metal tube on the passenger side of the engine. it connects to the radiator and has 3 nuts the are side by side that apparently connect two metal tubes together to make one continuous line. i belive the leak was coming from the connection and i tightened them.

b) i also had a loud squeal coming from the car and since it sounded very much like the steering system was faulty...and it was it was very low on ps fluid. so added some and it souds better, very little squealage.

problem now....

the car runs but it smokes out of the tailpipe badly everytime i hit the gas.
also a friend and i were checking the oil and it is full,... looks dirty, but anyway my friend noticed it smelled like fuel....? is this my smoking problem?

the car apparently was sitting for sometime and was periodically started but within the last few mos./yrs it stopped starting altogether...thats the condition i bought it in.

Oldsguy

What color of smoke? Only on hard acceleration? Swipe the tailpipe with your finger, what do you get?

nitinnelapudi

the color seems to be a dark grey or slightly blue. medium-heavy thickness. it happens on acceleration...doesn't have to be hard, just regular pedal travel, i would say 2500 rpm.

Oldsguy

You may have worn rings. Do you get an oily, greasy feel when you swipe the tail pipe? If so, considering the age of the engine, it could be worn rings. Not much you can do about that short of a rebuild.

Lady72nRob71

If it happens after accelerating after several minutes of idling, it could be leaky valve guide seals.
My old Ford has had this same problem happen to it... Compression did check fine and I replaced the seals and the problem stopped. They are rubber, so they deteriorate with age. Now 15 years later, I need to do them again as the problem came back gradually...

If you can do a compression pressure check, you may be able to determine if it is the rings or valve guide seals.