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I have been chasing an oil leak and can not figure out where it’s coming from. I find oil coming off the bell housing flex plate but once the flex plate was removed the fly wheel was dry as a bone, no oil on it. There seemed to have been a minute amount of oil sitting inside the starter gear area. I did end up replacing the rear main seal and the oil pan gasket. (Installed correct direction, with a sealer on the cap and torqued correct,
so on and so forth) the leak from prior to doing the rear main seal and oil pan gasket is the exact same as after.
Upon doing the rear main seal and installing the oil pan gasket there is fresh oil in the engine with zinc additive and then small oil spot on the floor is dark oil no consistent with the oil in the engine currently. This whole thing has me scratching my head.
Does the dark oil SMELL like oil or does it smell like manual transmission fluid????
I’m thinking it could be trans now that I look as stuff more. It’s as if the oil was sitting inside the bellhousing walls mostly bottom then running out.
im going to pop the fill plug and see how much fluid is in it.
I have a similar oil leak on my 73 SB with manual tranny. I replaced the valve covers with new cork gaskets, and have never seen any oil drips on the sides of the heads. There is a good amount of oil that accumulates on my starter wires. The PO had the starter replaced, I have checked the starter bolts and they are tight. Also there are oil drops on the oil pan in front of the drain plug, I bought a new plug, but the drip is still their, but it doesn’t seem to be coming from the drain plug. The oil leak is not Hugh, but a pain in the ***. Are these cars supposed to Leak?
Also since the rear main seal was replaced the engine doesn’t sound right cranking or running. It’s only ran for maybe 5 seconds 2 times. This odd sound doesn’t make me comfortable running it.
Your oil sump pickup maybe getting tapped by the crank.
This happened to me after replacing the pan, and inadvertently shifting/rotating the pickup with the pan baffle.
Lesson Learned #482!
I came across a similar area leak that was difficult to pin down. Quick check, can you please remove your distributor cap and tell me if there is any oil inside.
Cheers, Greg
The noise sounds like something in the pan/crank, hard to tell from a video. If the leak is engine oil it sure looks like the rear main but it is also dark so...trans? FWIW, I get a drop of engine oil on the right side of my automatic trans pan every once in awhile...Definately engine oil. Turns out the oil pressure sending unit on the left side of the distributor weeps a little oil that seeps down the left side of the bell housing past the filter, along the lower edge of the bell housing to the left side lip of the trans pan, It then works it's way across the front lip to the right side and then to the back where it drips a drop here and there. My point is sometimes anything is possible with leaks...a good strong light helps and if every thing looks dry spray Arid Extra Dry where you suspect, the white power turns dark real quick with oil...(Old Harley trick)... Hope it's not the seal again but since you probably need to drop the pan check it real good...
Do you have oil pressure? Just asking incase it is a pick up issue...
Is the oil pump pickup brazed to the pump?
If not the pickup may have been moved during the pan installation.
I would drop the pan again and check everything.
I would also check and the flywheel and clutch bolts to make sure nothing is hitting there.
Are you missing any tools?
Lets back track your steps.
Pan removal.
Pump removal.
Rear Main cap removal.
Install new seal. Clutch / Flywheel was never touched.
Was the main cap seated in the block evenly before you torqued the bolts?
Are you sure the oil pump drive shaft engaged under the distributor shaft properly?
I doubt the pickup screen would interfere with a crank weight. If it was loose, it would fall to the pan bottom.
I would remove the bellhousing stone guard first. Crank it for a second and listen again.
And rear oil leaks can often be, rear china wall or missing distributor base gasket.
Last edited by HeadsU.P.; Oct 1, 2021 at 05:13 PM.
Please help.
