egerson

I had my 58 in shop and paid for a REAR MAIN SEAL replacement. After driving it home, there is definite oil on the the bell housing and a drip of oil can be seen hanging down. ( See photo. You might have to zoom in to see the drip, the stain on the paper underneath and the reflection of light from the oil on the bell housing behind the oil drain plug.) When wiped off and left in the garage undriven, there does not seem to be any more oil leakage or drips. So I can imagine after the repair was done, it was "dry". But it is seems to still be leaking from somewhere after driving it.

QUESTION: can the REAR MAIN SEAL on a 58 be properly repaired so that it does NOT leak after driving or is this a know issue? The Corvette-only repair shop promised me a dry transmission and no more oil drips on my garage floor. Is this possible if done correctly???
thanks
ED G

ILBMF

Hard to tell, but it looks like the leak is coming from up high on the engine like maybe a valve cover gasket

SDVette

I can't tell much from your photo.. but I can say that a FelPro rear seal, installed correctly (halves offset), has not leaked a drop on my '61 in the past 3 years (about 6000 miles).
Is the leak the same as before the repair?

Bluestripe67

In order to remove the vagueness of this issue, you need to surgically clean the engine, top to bottom. Then you can trace the leak. It could be the intake gasket at the china wall, the oil pressure line connection, it could be one of the valve covers, maybe the breather tube and worst of all, a cam oil gallery plug. Did I miss anything? As previously stated, the job done right is leak proof. Dennis

GTOguy

X3 on not leaking if done properly. You need to verify where the leak is actually coming from.

59BlueSilver

I'm having the same problem on my 350. Does adding that dye to your oil help any in locating the leak?

SDVette

I've not used the dye.. but I guess if you can't clean the motor well, the dye might make it easier to find the source.
I believe it was JohnZ that recommended talcum powder.. I have not tried that myself.

I will say that some SBC oil leaks are a bear to track down.
I've had them from valve covers, timing covers, loose fuel pump bolts, intake front, intake rear, oil pan, and the rear main seal!

ILBMF

From what I see in the pic there's oil running down from up top on at least the on passenger side of the bell housing. I would rule out the rear main and move to the top rear of the engine for the source based on what I can see.

Frankie the Fink

Valve covers and oil pressure gauge 'hard line' fitting at the block are your culprits. RARELY the round gasket around the distributor. Take a strong flashlight and mirror and look carefully at the back of the engine at the valve covers, intake, oil gauge pipe, dizzy area. If you don't see anything at first take some paper towels and Simple Green and clean that whole rear area a bit, drive the car a few hundred miles, and check again.

Finally, make sure your road draft tube is snug in the block and tightened down.

The dye works as you wear special glasses and a special light pen to find the fluid leak (with the kit I have anyway). But you should be able to spot it just fine without that IMO.