Can I safety remove TDC pointer bolt and lower inner slide rail closing plug??
 

Before I do something possibly very stupid, can I remove the TDC pointer assembly bolt and lower inner slide rail closing plug without causing something inside the engine to come apart??

I'm working on an oil leak that I believe was caused mostly from a bad gasket on the vacuum pump. While there, I found that the lower inner slide rail closing plug is so loose I can turn it with my fingers. I want to remove it and apply gasket sealer and re-torque to insure I don't have a leak there again.

Thanks
Joe

Joe:

Nothing will come loose unless you pull the lower bolt pin and the upper one a the same time. The upper inner bolt pin unscrews as one piece, the lower has a plug.

Use a new aluminum crunch washer under the plug -- if there isn't one there, that is why it is leaking. You can tell which one gets the washer -- it will have a flange and machined flat on the block. Use permatex on the other one. My brother left the washer out on his, helped with the oil leak. Big pain to replace on the W115, probably easier on the W123.

Peter

Thanks Peter,

I just removed them both. The aluminum washer is under the lower plug. The one holding the timing pointer had no washer under it.

I believe at least part of my major oil leak, and maybe most of it, was due to that plug being less than finger tight. I can't quite figure out how it got so loose, but it was.

Now I await the gasket (and other needed parts) from FASTLANE before putting the vacuum pump back on. I can think about how to get the turbo oil return tube seal at the upper oil pan removed and replaced.

Thanks again...

Joe

You're welcome Joe! I wish I'd had this forum before I started taking things apart -- could have prevented a number of "extra" repairs fixing things I didn't need to!

Quite a bit of oil will come out that plug if it isn't tight! My guess is that someone didn't torque it down well enough in the first place -- it's much to hard to get to for someone to take if off just to see what is under it!

I'd try to loosen the oil pipe bolts on the turbo before I took the turbo itself or the mainfolds off. A new gasket will be required, of course, but that isn't a big deal. Getting it back on will be more of a pain than taking it off -- I had to loosen the turbo itself on the Volvo to the the oil lines back on -- I think my back still hurts from that!

I suspect that you will find you oil consumption will be "normal" when you get all the leaks fixed!

Peter