Coolant Leaking from the front cover...Dang.

[gvisconty]

Engine's got about 1000 miles on a rebuild, started loosing coolant and I found coolant in the oil. Convinced that the problem was the head gasket, I replaced it yesterday. I got it all buttoned up, filled the radiator, and found that I am leaking coolant from the front cover, just above the alternator (just below the coolant passage).

Has anyone replaced the front cover gasket without pulling the engine?

Any other tricks/ideas?

Thanks.

[Aeroshadow]

Just rebuilt a 1750 engine which runs fine but has an oil leak from the front cover/pan block area. I, too am interested in whether the oil pan can be taken off with the engine in place.
If no replies within about a week, I'll let you know my experience!
Alex

[kroehl]

Both the front timing cover and the sump can be removed with the engine in situ but it isn't easy.

For the front timing cover you need to remove the head, the pulley and fan and therefore also the radiator for access but you already drained the fluids to remove the head. Then the sump (hey!) and probably a few other bits and bobs I have forgotten. Quite an undertaking.

The sump can be removed with engine in situ but you need patience and some small fingers to reach some of the bolts above the crossmember. Access can be helped by losening the engine mounts and carefully jacking up the engine.

Engine out begins to sound like an easier proposition all of a sudden, he?

[joecautela]

I did it once. I should've just pulled the mtr back out. It would have been quicker and less time on my back trying to scrape gaskets and such. I won't do it again in the car.

[gvisconty]

I talked to Wes Ingram about something similar a few years ago, he mentioned that he'd replaced rings/bearings/pistons/liners with the engine in place before (he called it a "track rebuild" or something like that), which is the only reason that I'm even considering doing it in place. He also said that it might be faster/easier to pull the engine. I'll report back.

One hint he gave me was to remove the engine mount bolts, and jack up the engine a bit to help getting to all of the upper pan bolts.

[Aeroshadow]

I decided to pull the engine out on my freshly rebuilt 1750 this past weekend since the effort on properly cleaning gaskets etc would be much more difficult with the engine in the car.
Good idea, since it turns out the reintz head gasket was leaking too...discovered when I drained the oil! ( chocolate milk)
Too bad I hadn't thought to do a search prior to using this type of gasket!
By the way don't forget to remove at least one end of the steering linkage that runs under the engine, to pull the engine while leaving the transmission in the car.
(since I didn't have the car on a hoist this time, had a brain cramp and initially forgot the linkage..took a little longer to get the engine out....)
I'd tried to build this 1750 engine with a minimum of silicone so it would be "easier to disassemble if ever needed", but didn't expect it to leak so much.
The last engine I did , a 2L, was pretty well siliconed up, and it never leaked a bit!
Alex

[Andrew]

Do you have pics of where the leak is? The only place coolant goes through the front cover is straight back from the water pump, through the cover, intot the block. There's just a gasket between the pump and the cover, and I think just a gasket between the cover and the block. I belive the only O-ring on that face of the front cover is for the oil passage.

Have you tried torquing down the pump and cover 10mm nuts a bit to see if that helps?

On 2000s, oil in water after a head gasket change can be from lack of sealer around the drain-down area passages in the head gasket at the back of the head. New original Alfa gaskets have no sealer there, which you need to add for old (GTV era) blocks. Jon Norman marks the plastic wrap of his gaskets to show where to put sealer, but I don't know if other sellers do, or if aftermarket gaskets have the same issue.

Andrew Watry