Poll, let's get real

[NMVair]

Haven't posted in a while, so Hello all!
My question is do Corvairs have to leak? And do they have to spew bad smells when the heater is on?
The two are not necessarily related so.... But it seems like plugging holes in a barrel when it comes to oil leaks on my 64 with a 68, 140.
And I don't think its exhaust fumes but something is afoul with my heater.
You don't have to cure my issues but im wondering if this is just how its going to be or are there good smelling heaters on cars that don't leak out there?

[66vairguy]

Haven't posted in a while, so Hello all!
My question is do Corvairs have to leak? And do they have to spew bad smells when the heater is on?
The two are not necessarily related so.... But it seems like plugging holes in a barrel when it comes to oil leaks on my 64 with a 68, 140.
And I don't think its exhaust fumes but something is afoul with my heater.
You don't have to cure my issues but im wondering if this is just how its going to be or are there good smelling heaters on cars that don't leak out there?

When younger and naive - I thought there was no reason a Corvair had to leak oil. Now I think it is just a matter of time before some darn leak has to be fixed

Not being a smart A$$&, but yes you can make the heater smell GREAT at least on an LM -- just take it COMPLETELY apart and uses Simple Green (on LM center duct) and clean all the engine tin, clean out and fix heater box, rebuild ENGINE and the heater will NOT smell. Once an engine leak starts you have to get on it before oil and crud accumulate in the heater system AGAIN!!!

I know all this work is not practical unless you are restoring the car(s) as I was. That said I have two 66 cars that have great working heaters that DO NOT smell.

Unfortunately I have an oil leak on one car that looks like the harmonic balancer seal quit!!!!!!! So I will be fixing that this summer

[caraholic4life]

When our Corvair's rolled off of the assembly line, the rubber "O" Rings that were used to seal the push rod tubes did their job acceptably for a very short period of time and the heaters worked well without any odd smell or odor.

Unfortunately after a while, the "O" Rings got hard and allowed oil to leak into the shrouds that served as heater duct work.

Over time the residue associated with these leaks as well as from other areas, found their way into the rest of the duct work associated with the heating system. This resulted in what became a perpetual smell or odor even after better more efficient "O" Rings were developed and installed in the vehicles.

As noted above, the only practical method to resolve the issue is to first properly seal the engine so it no longer leaks any oil into the heater associated components.

Next it would be necessary to completely disassemble every component related to the heating system and thoroughly clean any and all of the oil residue from every surface, this would include the heater box assembly and even the defroster ductwork.

Some of the most difficult components to clean well would be the long sections of duct work found on some models and the hoses concealed in the rockers on other models.

Any and all of the Heater Hoses would probably require replacement since they might be nearly impossible to clean well enough to remove all of the residue.

The up side would be that after all the effort expended, if done well, the heater system should work well if sealed properly and kept free of any future oil contamination.

[flamingchariots]

I agree with the replies so far. Most people associate the oil stink with faulty o-rings and gaskets/seals.

I do recollect that about 15 years ago, we (4 of us) would proudly drive our '65 4-door to church and sit in the second row.
Fact is, we really reeked from exhaust fumes that were being drawn into the heater.
After repairing the exhaust pipes correctly, along with the oil cooler seals, all the o-rings and manifold gaskets, there was no more smell... didn't even have to clean the heater ducts!

[66vairguy]

Years ago I read an article about why the Corvair was cancelled. Of course Ralph Nader gets a lot of criticism, but the article pointed out that as Corvairs aged they earned a horrible reputation for leaking oil and having a STINKY heater and BOTH issues were expensive to fix. This prompted re-sale values to plummet. Nobody wants to buy a car that will have poor re-sale value (remember in the 60 folks who bought new cars tended to do so every 3 to 4 years, so trade-in values were important).

No doubt the Mustang stole a lot of new Corvair sales, but in fact a number of things gave the Corvair a bad reputation.

A sway bar in 1960, better pushrod tube "O" rings, and no emissions controls and the story would have been different.

Just a reminder you never know how the future will unfold.

[Brizo]

All these responses pretty much nailed it. The Corvair does have many more "potential" leak points than other engines. But even many modern cars seep eventually, but it dosent matter much since all they do is loose a few drops a day on the ground and usually dosent get any worse. At that rate, most minor leaks are too expensive to fix today. It makes more sense to just let them leak. There were plenty of cars in the '60s that leaked more than Corvairs , take the small block Chevy V8 for one... it leaked more oil on american roads than anything! Since most Corvairs a "summer" cars now, heater odors are not an issue.

[jimbrandberg]

The Corvair engine does not have to leak oil. It's totally a matter of persistence.
The heater doesn't have to stink. Another consideration is leaky exhaust, they say carbon monoxide isn't so good for you.
I'm always working on other peoples Corvairs which precludes persistence on my own.
I've daily drove Corvairs through Minnesota winters for a lot of years. For real.

[Dennis66]

I wish my two Subarus were as "dry" as my Corvair. They tend to develop a leak in an oil return passage that can only be fixed by replacing the head gaskets. This is usually an engine removal job, although some have done it with the engine still in the car.
I don't recall my small blocks being big oil leakers.

[66vairguy]

I wish my two Subarus were as "dry" as my Corvair. They tend to develop a leak in an oil return passage that can only be fixed by replacing the head gaskets. This is usually an engine removal job, although some have done it with the engine still in the car.
I don't recall my small blocks being big oil leakers.

The old cast iron head SBC did NOT have machined surfaces for the valve cover gasket, just cast surface - HUGE LEAKERS after a year or two (just out of warranty of course). I installed many SBC valve cover gasket every year or two and used a lot of sealer!! Of course GM saved money by not machining that gasket surface!!!!

Not sure about the later SBC, but I know the SBC engines with aluminum heads had a machined valve cover gasket surface.

At least that what my old brain recalls

[Dennis66]

I guess thinking back, I did purchase at least one (64 Belair) that was completely coated with a black oily residue. Bought the cat for a demolition derby car and scrapped it after two races. Most small block cars I bought did get a quick gunk wash down, and sometimes a coat of Chevrolet orange (Georgia rebuild we called it). I also have to admit that I usually didn't keep a car that long (part of how I've owned over 100 cars in my life). I also recall one old "Chevy trick" was to use Corvair valve cover spreader bars on the sheet metal valve covers. Then I also had the cars where I put aluminum valve covers. We used to use Permatex back in those days. By time I was into doing it professionally (as a fleet mechanic), I was dealing mainly with the Chevy 366 V-8s (big block engines). Then you had the old cork gaskets vs the rubber gaskets that we often replaced them with.