I own a 2004 cav that has been leaking oil now for a few weeks. I searched and searched for the source of the leak and could not find it. That is, until today... On the backside of the engine near the cam cover I have located a crack that is seeping oil. It is so faint I had to use a maglite and an inspection mirror to find it. The engine still runs great (for now) but now I must weigh out my options. Fix the head (welding), buy a new one (stock?performance?lsj?) and of course I am very concerned this will happen again if I go with a stock head. I bought the car new and at around 25k the factory head was replaced because of an oil leak, they said it was a cating defect in the head and not a crack. now I have 52k on the engine and here I am again with an oil leak from the head. Before I dump any money into this problem does anyone out there have any good advice or ideas? I do drive the car hard sometimes but I have never hit the redline, it has never even come close to overheating and I change the oil before it reaches 3k.
Where are you from maybe weather factor plays a bit??
96 CAVALIER Z24 UNDER CONSTRUCTION
As far as weather conditions I am from Tulsa. But I am not finding anyone else having this problem anywhere. Does anyone know if the LSJ head will fit my L61? From what I understand the LSJ head is machined and not cast aluminum like my eco. If this is right, It has to be a better choice, right?
Well, you can add layers of high temp rubber cement over the crack, make sure the surface is clean. Get a lowering temp thermosat,so when reving high, you wont over heat the head. You could also add some thick lucas oil at every oil change. Hopefully the oil pressure does not blow the rubber cement off. Try it. Or, rent a welding machine and weld that part yourself.
if its that small of a crack, some metal epoxy would work, I used it to seal my oil return and it with stood the high tekp from the engine
<img src="http://ad.nicoclub.com/banners/nico-banner1.gif" ></a>
Great. The next thing you know someone will be suggesting that I use some JB weld with a duct tape patch. Welding aluminum heads is a bit of an art , so if I go that route I will let a professional do that. This just makes me want to spend money on a stage 2 head and some nice n/a grind cams.
steve kurtz wrote: Fix the head (welding), buy a new one (stock?performance?lsj?) and of course I am very concerned this will happen again if I go with a stock head.
You do realize that any head you get is just a stock head.
Currently, nobody makes Eco heads except for GM.
sig not found
good thing hypsy is running a gp for the patriot performance head now....id say if the funds can take it just spring for one.
Yeah, I now know they all start out stock. That is why I was asking about the LSJ and whether it was cast like the L61. I just hope the crack doesn't spread any further until I can replace it or get it welded.
speaking of the gp. why wouldnt I just order the stage 2 assembled head with cams directly from lmperformance for 1495.00 and free shipping???
Could the problem be in anyway related to the bottum end at all ? That would suck to see a patriot head grenade as well after 25k as well
My Cav
I give up...
i'm buying a VW those people love trees, so they should love eachother too... "Andy"
God I hope not. The first factory head was replaced because of oil coming through a void in the casting(it was described as an air pocket in the aluminum). This is a visible crack running from where the cam cover sits and is about 3/4 of an in. long. I can only assume it is under pressure since the oil comes out more at higher rpm's. I plan to pull the cover next weekend and see what the damage is on the interior if any. At this point I am not losing any compression and there is no coolant loss. also my oil looks clean and clear, so I know there is no contamination(yet).
what about the lsj? anyone!
The LSJ head doesn't work easily. There are extra things for the LSJ that the L61 doesn't use, the Cam Sensor for one.
Yes Patriot does use GM blanks, but why not when they have found that to be the best, most economical way, to get a performance head out there for an engine that we know has grown in popularity in recent years.
Steve: The LM Performance setup is a Patriot Stage 2 head with OEM cams in it to make the swap go faster. Go with a combo of the Patriot head and Comp cams from me and you'll be much happier.
I used to race cars, now I race myself.
5K PB: 24:50
10K PB: 54:26
I found someone here in Tulsa that says they can probably weld the head without me even removing it from the car. I am taking it in saturday to see for sure. Till then I have to fight the urge to just go and buy a performance head. I have decided that if this works I am going to spend some money on the HPT and bolt on the Tsudo equal length header that has been in a box in my garage for 3 months.The head and cams can come later this summer.
