Tell me what you think...

[Sonyman]

i stopped the notorious oil leak from the oil pump drive on my 91 gp ste 3.4 auto with alotta RTV sealant and an tire plug tucked under the neck of the oil pump drive. Also i RTV'd the top cover on the engine block that covers the balance shaft because it was leaking. i was in a financial tight for a gasket so i applied some there also, let it cure over night and tighted every thang back the next day. Anyway my problem is one of my camshafts in the cam carrier seized up from no oil flowing up there, could it be a oil restriction from the or the oil pump drive not put back on correctly? I dont see how that could be because you can only lift the shaft about the space of five quarters stacked from hitting the rear head. Tell me what ya think?

[NOSTZ34]

Well that is plenty


Best of luck on tracking down the issue. Hopefully that will be an easy fix for ya.

[Schurkey]

alotta RTV sealant... Also i RTV'd the top cover on the engine block that covers the balance shaft because it was leaking.

1. I didn't know these engines had a balance shaft. I learn something new every day.

2. RTV is known for migrating to oil and coolant passages and then plugging them. Any chance your cam is seized because the oil passage got a glorp of RTV into it?

3. HOW do you know that the cam is seized? Did the seized cam destroy the bearing surface?

[Sonyman]

This response is for the serious only.....how i know my cam is seized is because the teeth on the timing belt around the cam that's seized is shreaded and that cam will not turn; his twin does. i got another cam carrier off another 3.4 and after cleaning it up, will put on after a detailed check on everything else from the oil pump back up on top. I'll fill you in on what happens...stay tuned.

[pocket-rocket]

You might want to turn the engine over with the starter with the fuel pump relay/fuse removed and valve covers off and watch to see if you get oil to that new cam before declaring it good to avoid toasting this one, just in case your clog is deeper down (oil distribution cover silicone).

[Sonyman]

Gotcha...ill hit ya back when im there

[OldSkoolGP]

The only oil passage in that top cover is where the L-shaped hump in the cover is. It splits the oil flow coming up through the block and sends it to each bank. It also has a check valve in it that keeps oil from draining back down into the block. I don't know how you could have gotten RTV into it unless you took the cover completely off and RTVd the whole mating surface, which would be a mistake. You'd be much better off just getting a new gasket from the dealer. It's just paper and not that expensive.

As far as the oil pump drive, that's a creative way to fix the leak. You had to have done that right, because if it isn't seated and turning the shaft, you would have no oil pressure at all and your whole engine would have seized by now.

[Sonyman]

thats what i was thinking, as usual the oil pressure on a cold start always shows high and as the engine warms up minutes later goes down and fluctuates as the rpm moves...i did however put possibly somewhat a little more than needed RTV on that plate cover my bad. The oil pump drive well like you stated, how can it not be put back on right when you can only lift it under the rear head a distance i'd say about 5 quarters? anyway its something imma have to see what could have caused all this havoc... to be continued

[pocket-rocket]

With that gasket being paper, you could get a flat sheet of gasket material from the parts store and cut your own out if you couldn't afford the factory one (no idea what they cost). Or if you are really hard up, people used to cut gaskets out of cereal boxes back in the muscle car era for a quick fix if they couldn't get the right one right away. I used that trick for a t-stat gasket once on the '63 Pontiac Catalina w/ 389 my grampa let me mess with when I lived with my grandparents growing up.

[OldSkoolGP]

Pocket, are you sure you aren't a Canadian national? That's a straight up Handyman Corner fix if ever there was one.

[pocket-rocket]

Reread where I said quick fix and broke, lol I in no way mentioned it was the correct way to fix it :P Besides, your farther north then I am

[Sonyman]

Give "OldSkoolGP" a cold one from ya boy!..... That was it!. I broke the engine down to the heads yesterday, and took off the plate that covers the balance shaft on top of the block and what do you know....... the main hole where the oil comes from up through the block was completely sealed up by RTV, including one of the smaller oil passage holes from the plate! I said GUIDEDAWG!!! So i ran a hot wire from the starter to the battery, so i can see as the engine turned over to verify the pump drive was a turnin' and oil was a pumpin' and there she blew!!!!! A good 3 inches in the air, metal shavings free! Then i replaced the plate and cranked it again and he skeeted oil through both heads....now i am satisfied. I just put too much RTV. Probably enuff to make sandwiches with but thats exaggerating. Anyway i got another cam carrier. It needs to be cleaned up so the saga continues on.....

[HayesPerformance]

The drive is a part of the oil vein circuit, I have detail pictures from different angles of the whole circuit.