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I took my newly rebuilt engine out today for a second test run. Everything worked well so far except I noticed a bit of smoke coming from the bonnet louvers when standing. No big deal because I had spilled some coolant while fiddling with the thermostat. The filler is right above the headers with the Raceline water rail so that is not unusual.
When I returned and looked closer I noticed a definite non-coolant smell and found then the left side of the engine bay and the entire underbody splattered with oil. Also, I found the little threaded plug for the TDC indicator tool wedged between starter motor and engine.
Looks like I did not re-tighten it properly (or maybe not at all?). But fortunately I did not lose enough oil to lose oil pressure and even more, the splashing oil vaporized from the hot headers without igniting. I heard such oil fires are really hard to put out.
Anyway, I am feeling quite lucky. One thing that may still show up is a contaminated clutch since the oil probably got into the starter cutout. But I really hope the spinning clutch pack did not allow the oil to soak in....
Gert
When I returned and looked closer I noticed a definite non-coolant smell and found then the left side of the engine bay and the entire underbody splattered with oil. Also, I found the little threaded plug for the TDC indicator tool wedged between starter motor and engine.
Looks like I did not re-tighten it properly (or maybe not at all?). But fortunately I did not lose enough oil to lose oil pressure and even more, the splashing oil vaporized from the hot headers without igniting. I heard such oil fires are really hard to put out.
Anyway, I am feeling quite lucky. One thing that may still show up is a contaminated clutch since the oil probably got into the starter cutout. But I really hope the spinning clutch pack did not allow the oil to soak in....
Gert