Fixing oil leaks on the 250Ellena

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enio45
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Joined: Wed Jul 02, 2003 6:56 pm
Location: Gilbert, AZ

Fixing oil leaks on the 250Ellena

Post by enio45 »

i had some oil leaks that we have been chasing on the 250 engine, inside plug motor -

currently we have 2 small ones left to fix!!!

one leak i have is at the timing chain tension sprocket to the block gasket. To fix this i need to remove the 4 nuts that hold the sprocket housing to the block.

Question, is this possible to remove this sprocket housing / tensioner without messing up any timing issues.

Will everything stay put if i pull this out , clean, new gaskets and reseal?

Thoughts……ideas and advise needed.
Ed Montini
330 GT 2+2 Series II - 8289
58 Ellena - 0855GT - orig drivetrain
87 El Camino SS
John Vardanian
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Re: Fixing oil leaks on the 250Ellena

Post by John Vardanian »

Good question, Ed. The risk here is the possibility of having the chain come off the crankshaft sprocket. Hopefully you'll get an educated answer. If not, I can envision also having to remove the right sprocket cover and use of a coat hanger wire. Good luck.

john
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enio45
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Re: Fixing oil leaks on the 250Ellena

Post by enio45 »

yes that is my concern for sure -
Ed Montini
330 GT 2+2 Series II - 8289
58 Ellena - 0855GT - orig drivetrain
87 El Camino SS
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tyang
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Re: Fixing oil leaks on the 250Ellena

Post by tyang »

Hi Ed,

If you remove the tensioner, the right side of the chain can loosen enough to skip a tooth on the crank sprocket. I've removed the tensioner with the engine on a stand, and managed to get get everything back in position, but it can be tricky to do it in the car. I had the valve covers off and parked everything on PM 1/6 with marks on the cams in case something went wrong. Does your Ellena have a square cover on the timing chain case that covers the nose of the crank? Francois showed me trick to insert a large screw driver against the bottom of the crank sprocket to keep tension on the chain so when the chain tensioner is released, the chain won't drop below the crank sprocket and skip a tooth. Once everything is tensioned, remove the screw driver and turn the engine over by hand to make sure everything is back on its marks after PM 1/6 shows up again on the flywheel and corresponds to the camshafts. Doing all this with the engine is pretty tough. Make a mistake, and the least amount of damage is having to pull the engine!

Tom
'63 330 America #5053
John Vardanian
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Re: Fixing oil leaks on the 250Ellena

Post by John Vardanian »

Hi Tom, the 3.0 litre Colombo motors do not have a crank nose dampener, so the timing case is capped off. In this picture that cap is off and one can see how that screwdriver trick might do the job. But do you recall if that trick can be done with the motor in place? If so, did it require removing things like the fan and/or the radiator? Thanks for your help.

john
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tyang
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Re: Fixing oil leaks on the 250Ellena

Post by tyang »

John Vardanian wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 1:44 am Hi Tom, the 3.0 litre Colombo motors do not have a crank nose dampener, so the timing case is capped off. In this picture that cap is off and one can see how that screwdriver trick might do the job. But do you recall if that trick can be done with the motor in place? If so, did it require removing things like the fan and/or the radiator? Thanks for your help.

john
Hi John,

Like I said, I did this with the engine on a stand, so I don't know if there is enough room with it in the car. I'm sure a look at the situation will make it clear.

Tom
'63 330 America #5053
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