Hello Everyone,

It's been a while since I have been participating in the chats here, just not enough time..sorry.

I have a question for the skilled rebuilders out there.

I had my 2.1L automatic 1988 engine rebuilt last winter. It had 235,000 Miles on it and was rebuilt once before. I replaced the heads, rods, pistons and almost everything in it.

I have just over 4,500 miles on it. A mix of highway and local hilly roads.

To break it in for the for the first 3500 miles I used Standard Dino Oil. I changed it at 500 miles, 1000 Miles and again at 3500 Miles to remove any metal in the engine due to the break in of all the new parts.
At first it leaked a bit then toward the end of the 3500 miles it stopped. When I say leak, I mean I used to see a 3-4 Inch puddle under the van every time time I drove it. Then it became a 2" puddle till it just stopped at the end of the 3500 miles.

Once I hit 3500, I replaced the oil and Mahle filter with Mobil1 15-50. It leaked again, but now it was like a 2" puddle, with another 1,000 miles on it the oil the leaks have slowed a lot, but I am still seeing some oil pooling under the engine. I am not seeing puddle like I did before but is this normal or do I need to have the engine crank case tighten on the bottom of the engine?

Here are some photos of what I am seeing.
http://gallery.me.com/rmstewart#100147

If you can give me your thoughts I would appreciate it.

My thinking was that it might need a re-tightening now it's broken in a bit.
I am just wondering if this is something I can do myself?
If so, how? It appears to just use a bolt over some special screw.

Thanks for help!

Hope are all having a nice cool summer.

All the best,
Robert
Bloomingburg, NY