3000 MK1 Engine Oil Leak

Hey, i have a strong oil leak at the back of the
egine.I have a rebuid 3000 engine with Crankshaft oil seal kit, i already changed the gasket as i mounted an Alu.Sump including the backplatte one.
But it is still the same.
Any idea wehre the oil could come from.
Thanks.

Are you sure it isn't coming from the rocker cover? The covers become physically distorted (bent) from overtightening and don't seal well so they are torqued down even tighter until the are so warped they don't seal. The leak is often at the back of the head and can't be seen running down the back of the engine. The other place is midway, between the two top bolts.

The usual fix for this is to bend it back into shape and reweld the stiffeners that are often broken.

Second guess is the oil filter assembly. Third guess the flex hose for the oil pressure sensor.

I go along with Thom. I has oil dripping off my bell housing. Thinking the worst I pulled the tranny and replaced the front seal. Next day same problem. Looked a little closer and low and behold the valve cover was leaking at the rear and running down the backing plate. A trick that I use for the valve cover gasket is to glue it to the valve cover with 3M weather strip ahesive. I let it cure for an hour or so before I install the valve cover. That keep it in place when I install the valve cover. I also put axel grease on the gasket where it mates with the head. That way it doesn't stick when I remove it to ajust the valves.

Thanks,
i am sure it is not coming from the rocker cover,
there are no oil trace outside the clutch housing.

Before you pull the engine and replace that new rear seal, I have one other unusual thought. Are the engine breathers working? I have seen cars that have had their breathers plugged and had oil pouring out of the rear seal because of the back pressure. It's a longshot, especially based upon the description of the problem.

Hi, Thom. This interests me. Where are the engine breathers? Leak is my cars middle name (first being "Darn"). Thanks as always, Rich

Tahoe

It's the hose that runs from the back carb. to the "T" on the rocker cover to the "L" pipe on the back sidecover on the generator side of the engine.

I have seen these intentionaly plugged, because the owner didn't like all that oil going into his carbs! (His undercarrige was well lubricated). I have also seen mud daubers build a home in the hose and plug it. How the dauber got into the hose in the first place could not be explained by the owner.

Ah, yes not thinking in those tearms. I was thinking about the block having holes or something. Thank you.

Hi,

Before you get too involved with replacing the oil seal, you'd be best off making sure you know exactly where it's coming from. There are a lot of places around the engine block where the oil could be leaking, and it can sometimes dribble from an area that isn't directly underneath the source.

I'd wipe away as much oil from the block as possible, then start the engine again until you see oil leaking. Shut down the engine, and then take a good close look underneath the block with a utility light to trace exactly where it's coming from.

Another idea would be to add a tracer to the oil, then use a black light to see exactly where the source is.

Scooter

[ 08-12-2003: Message edited by: Scooter ]</p>