Richgreenster

I just finished redoing my oil pan gasket and guess what. I still have a massive leak. Here is the low down on it. My oil pan gasket is very dry. No leak from there, but I have about a quarter size drip coming form the lower right rear of the motor. It seems to be coming form the bell housing bolt. It seems to be dry all around it. I need help.... I cant figure it out. I have attached pic. Please any help is very much appreciated.

Richgreenster

first pic is showing that the oil pan gasket is dry
second pic is showing where the oil is showing its self first. notice that it seems to originate from here. Inside the bell housing is dry. So I dont think that it is the rms.
third pic is a closer pic showing that it is dry above it.
fourth pic shows how much oil after about 2min of running. Also it is interesting to note that I just switched from Mobil 1 to Royal Purple and the oil from the leak still looks tan not purple. I have only run the car for maybe 5 min since I redid the oil pan gasket.

Richgreenster

If no one has any idea, could you send pics of a block in that area. Maybe a pic from the flywheel side and one form the inside looking out. thanks

951Saga

My oil would pool in the same spot as your last photo when my cam tower gasket leaked.

951Saga

This is the best I have.

Richgreenster

Thanks! The oil seems to be coming from the lower right exactly where the horizontal webbing runs to. So where above that point could it be leaking. I will check the cam tower gasket tonight.

Tom M'Guinn

Hard to tell from the description and pictures, but one always has to worry about a leaking rear main seal when you see oil in the back like that. If you lie (lay?) on your back with a flashlight you can look straight up behinf the flywheel to see if the rear main is leaking.

951Saga

Also check the cork gasket at the very back of the cam tower.

Richgreenster

I checked my motor tonight. It ran dry until it heated up then it began to drip again. It is very dry at the top. I just rebuilt the motor so it is very clean and easy to tell. I can see clear up to the head from below and it seems to be very dry. Also I do not think that it is the rear main. It just does not seem like it would run out where it does. It really seems to follow the lower right webbing straight to that bolt hole. (see the pic that Jason Penczak posted)

Well it looks like I will have to pull the bell housing off to see what is going on under it.

One last question. Could it be coming from the OAS? It seems to be on the other side of the block and would run down that way but if any of you guys have had one fail. Where did the oil run to?

Richgreenster

No the AOS is out. It is not that. What would happen if one of the top two bell housing bolts was tapped all the way through? If any body has a block apart, can you look to see if this would create a leak? Please Thank you.

Also what is that thing between the top two bell housing bolt holes? Near the rubber hose in Jasons Pic.

minho78

+1.

Richgreenster

I can see the top of the block and from below I can reach my hand up and feel the entire top of the block. It is dry and clean. If it was my cam tower wouldn't it be wet there?

After looking at a block that was torn apart, it looks like the top bell housing bolts would be leaking coolant not oil if they were tapped through. The weird thing about this leak is that when the motor is on or off, the rear main seal is as dry as can be. If it was leaking from there wouldn't oil slowly run down to the bottom of the seal and show that it is wet?
It seems as though the right bottom bell housing bolt has the oil leak. If any of you guys have a rear main leaking doesn't it get the seal itself wet and run down directly below the seal? Mine does not.

I think that I will have to take the trans and bell housing out of the car to find this leak. Fun fun! What else would I do with 13 hours. LOL

If I do! Have any of you guys ever started the motor with out the bell housing (starter) in the car? I want to run the motor to find exactly where this block is leaking.

Richgreenster

By the way , Jason your picture has helped me a ton. Thanks again for posting it..

951Saga

You're welcome Rich. I try and take photos of the all the work I’ve done, but some times I rush or just forget. It’s always good when some one can use them for reference and I also have them on a slide show screen saver at work.

You are correct, if the rear main leaked, oil would run down the backside of the pan.

bob164

Could it be leaking from the freez plug above the web on the right in Jason's picture? This is the "main oil duct" and if the engine was hot tanked the plug would have been replaced. If it wasn't sealed properly it could be the source of the leak, oil would run down the right web and appear to be comming from the bell housing bolt.

Just a thought.