So my 440 is leaking a little bit of oil and I can't find the source. It's pooling up on the front passenger side lip of the oil pan. (Pic below) I changed valve cover gaskets already and solved that leak, I thread sealed the fuel pump bolts and pushrod plug. Where else should I be looking, in stumped. Oil level is remaining pretty normal after drives so it's not a big leak but would like to figure it out. Leak doesn't occur during idle but if I drive it around the block it leaks. Possibly too much crankcase pressure?
Could be crankcase pressure do you have a decent PCV system set up ?
Often the corner of the block between the oil pan block & timing cover an leak but it is more likely on a small block than a big block with the one piece oil pan gasket .
Oli leaks on the passenger side are always more common as oil is thrown to that side by the crankshaft
The valley pan gasket can leak in the corners too.
Look at the fuel pump.... Brake clean throughly, short drive inspect.....
Replaced a valve cover gasket on the 383 last week, and there was still oil leaking... turns out the bolts holding the valve cover were a little bit too long and were hitting and not holding the cover tight. removed a little bit from each and it's now tight. Might be worth a try...
Ben
Quote from: benlavigne on July 31, 2017, 11:25:26 AM
Replaced a valve cover gasket on the 383 last week, and there was still oil leaking... turns out the bolts holding the valve cover were a little bit too long and were hitting and not holding the cover tight. removed a little bit from each and it's now tight. Might be worth a try...
Ben
That's a easy thing to do on a big block. Those outer corner holes are pretty shallow on them. That would be something to really inspect because a person might be mistaken the bolt bottoming instead of being tight. The last one I did I installed the factory studs and nuts but the person who worked on it before had bolts that were to long and causing a leak.
When I changed my valve cover gaskets, I used arp studs instead of bolts. Seems to be holding a lot better but I'll check just to be sure. Seems like above my fuel pump is dry so don't think it's dripping from above. The fuel pump pushrod pipe plug is a little wet but think it's dripping to there, not the culprit itself. I thread sealed it, drove again and still happening. Kinda feels like it may be coming from somewhere around the timing chain cover area. My block is painted black so it's hard to see just about anything... :pullinghair:
Ha, ha: That's why I hate black engines (also why some other people like them).
So I inspected a little further and found that my breather and pcv are contacting or really close to hitting the valve cover baffle. I'm guessing that is probably causing a restriction at the very least. I have this billet breather and pcv from summit, the stems look really long. Could that be causing such intense crankcase pressure that it is blowing out of anywhere it can find a pinhole?
It is certainly possible.
A properly functioning PCV is very important , even with a good system I buckled the intake valley pan up against the intake , imagine the pressure to invert that pan with the side locked down !!
My mistake was pushing it back down , the next pass it split it in 1/2 , should have just left it alone !!
I ended up running an evac system to the header collectors , I used a split sysem with a regular PCV Valve for street driving & low RPM & the evac for high RPM & Racing the worked opposite too so one would close if the other opened
So I tested my pcv and it seems to be functioning properly. When I removed the valve cover and checked clearance to the baffle, it seems normal in comparison to a few other pcv's/breathers/valve covers I had to try out.
I think my issue with the oil leak may be associated more to the valve covers and the gaskets. When removing the valve covers, I had oil on both sides of my gasket so definitely not sealing well at all. I noticed oil pooled on the valley pan and also dripping from the bottom of the trans, looks like it ran down the back of the engine. I noticed the lip of the valve cover was preventing it from sitting flat on the head. Actually, the lip does not allow the valve cover to "wrap" around the head. Also, after further inspection, the gasket doesn't fit within the lips of the valve cover. I'm using moroso rubber with steel core gaskets. Valve covers are some cheapo chrome ones. I have aluminum fabricated valve covers that have a flat surface, no lip, but when I tried to install them, they would not clear the distributor.
Have a few ideas:
1.removing the valve cover studs and running bolts on the passenger side, that may help get the aluminum covers with no lip on...
2. run double cork gaskets on the current valve covers with a lip
3. grind the lips on the current valve covers where the issues are to make them sit flat
Makes sense , alum valve covers will not conform to the head as the head is just left cast & is far from flat which is why Mopar used steel covers
I have aluminum stealth heads if that matters...
I'm not a fan of double gasketting. I feel that two gaskets combined with overtorqueing fasteners just leads to warped parts. I would take a short flat edge to the valve cover sealing surfaces and see how far from flat they are. If they can be hammer and dolleyed flat again I would do that and grind them so they can fit flush.
Quote from: RUNCHARGER on August 17, 2017, 06:54:17 PM
I'm not a fan of double gasketting. I feel that two gaskets combined with overtorqueing fasteners just leads to warped parts. I would take a short flat edge to the valve cover sealing surfaces and see how far from flat they are. If they can be hammer and dolleyed flat again I would do that and grind them so they can fit flush.
:iagree:
On my 340's I run the Mopar Performance covers. I had to grind the lip off the edge where it was hitting the intake. Glued a thick composite type material gasket to the valve cover.
I have installed those Stealth heads with a Edlebrock Performer Rpm intake and stamped reproduction chrome valve covers and didn't have any issues or leaks.
So resurfacing this, fixed my valve cover oil leak but I still have something leaking. Used some uv dye and the balancer is coated in oil, oil on lower passenger side of the timing cover, oil pooled on the passemgwe side and front of the k frame. Can't tell where it's coming from but looks like the balancer is slinging it around and making it hard to trace.
So far I've confirmed the following are not the cause: valve cover gaskets, fuel pump bolts, fuel pump push rod plug, oil filter, pvc seems to be working fine, intake gasket. Lowest bolt on the Timing cover on the passenger side was able to be tigjtened a quarter turn, all others were good. Not sure if that would cause a decent leak?
About to remove be alternator, power steering pump and water pump assembly to get a better look. Any other ideas before I do that?
I will just throw this out there. Front timing cover crank seal or possibly a groove worn into balancer. Oil level correct? (to much oil) :thinking:
I would bet what Shane said as well.
Hmmm I have an aftermarket hemi pan, put in 6 quarts then 1/2 a quart of zinc break in additive. When I look at the dipstick it is reading over the full mark. Possible that 1/2 quart over is doing this? I'm ready to drain the oil anyways for its first change. From what I've read the hemi pan holds 6 quarts including the filter, is that right? I'm using a shorty wix oil filter also, not sure if that matters?
While you wouldn't think that small amount over full would do anything and it may not. But you need to start there and see what happens. Usually over full causes issue overloading the rear main under acceleration. But you need to eliminate that possibility first.
Thanks Shane, going to start with lowering the oil level. Looking through the parts list from the engine builder, he used a melling high volume pump. Oil pressure seems to hang around 75-80 at first startup and when driving. Drops a little when you let off the gas, is that too high? Should I be running a different pump? It's a 512 stroker
That is a bit high but it may drop when the engine has a few more miles on it. Is that with a factory gauge?
Speedhut gauge with electronic sending unit
That oil pressure sounds exactly right for a fresh motor. That's where my motors usually run until they warm up.
So I haven't done much here yet but I think I found my issue and I feel like an idiot, but I guess that's how you learn right? Saw another slight leak onto the starter. Almost positive that is being caused by the driver side valve cover gasket; when I pulled the cover, the moroso rubber gaskets had a slit in them, probably from the steel valve cover lip that didn't fit over the head.
In regards to the "oil" on the passenger side front of the engine, it's not oil, it's coolant. I put UV dye in the oil to trace the leaks in the beginning and that helped a ton in finding out how horrible my old valve covers were sealing. Apparently, the coolant glows under a black light straight out of the bottle without any additives. Stupid me for now reaching down and touching the fluid, I just saw the same neon green and assumed it was more of the oil leaks I was chasing.
I had issues a few months back with my water pump leaking so it may be more of that or it may be the housing itself. I'll be pulling that off to inspect and hopefully fix the leaks once and for all. I'll keep you guys updated.
Quote from: dave73chally on November 16, 2017, 05:43:06 AM
I had issues a few months back with my water pump leaking so it may be more of that or it may be the housing itself. I'll be pulling that off to inspect and hopefully fix the leaks once and for all. I'll keep you guys updated.
A lot of times the coolant leak is from the thermostat housing, so I would start at the top of the motor and work your way down.
Quote from: 303 Mopar on November 16, 2017, 05:45:35 AM
Quote from: dave73chally on November 16, 2017, 05:43:06 AM
I had issues a few months back with my water pump leaking so it may be more of that or it may be the housing itself. I'll be pulling that off to inspect and hopefully fix the leaks once and for all. I'll keep you guys updated.
A lot of times the coolant leak is from the thermostat housing, so I would start at the top of the motor and work your way down.
Already inspected that heavily. Also inspected as much as I can see from the top side and there are no traces of leaks.
Keep on it. It sounds like you are getting it figured out. Leaks drive me crazy.
Quote from: Shane Kelley on November 13, 2017, 05:42:28 AM
That oil pressure sounds exactly right for a fresh motor. That's where my motors usually run until they warm up.
I agree :bigthumb:
Pressurized the coolant system, found a small leak in the lower rad hose that was spraying. Fixed that, went for a drive, now still an oil leak. Guess I had an oil leak and a coolant leak, well at least one is fixed. Still can't source the oil leak, might be behind the balancer? This is going to drive me to the nut house...
Just checking if you ever figured this out....I have the same leak down the passenger side and so far I haven't figured it out. Seems to be worse when I drive it hard. I will check the sender. thnx, John
I dont have a lift, and cant see much from top passenger side, so heres from the bottom
Quote from: moparmaniacc on April 02, 2018, 04:30:49 PM
I dont have a lift, and cant see much from top passenger side, so heres from the bottom
You said it coming from the front right? Just noticing oil on the flywheel ,rear main? Unless it's blowing back there?
My last motor had a rear main seal leak and that made the clutch slip. This is different.
I agree with Brad , that looks like rear main , there is no way it should get onto the clutch as it will be thrown off the engine side of the flywheel & not get to the back side of the flywheel where the clutch is
Chryco is on the right track. I was having the same issue with oil leaking on the right front of the engine. It turned out to be a crappy timing chain gasket. If you remember, the original Mopar gasket had "sealing" rings built into the gasket for the 4 3/8ths (the 4 lower ones) bolts of the cover. Most aftermarket gaskets do NOT have these. I could run the engine and actually see oil start to trickle from these bolts.....a good RTV sealer at these areas and on the bolts themselves solves the issue.
Been awhile but figured I'd give an update. My leak is coming from the timing cover locating pin on the passenger side. Found it by cleaning up the block real good, putting in some uv dye and tracing with a black light. See picture below - it's upside down for some reason but the green line is the leak that is pooling on the corner of the oil pan, then onto the k frame and then ground. Tricky little sob!!
For now, it's going to stay like that. It's such a minor leak I'll just keep checking the oil level every trip until I want to take it off the rode for a few while I tear it down. Guessing there is no way to fix other than pulling the cover and resealing?
Nice find with the UV dye :bigthumb: The timing cover gasket must have split at the pin location. What a pain!
Flipped it.
With it very clean you could apply some right stuff between the cover & block where the leak is & possibly seal it up without pulling it
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ATP-AT-205-Re-Seal-Stops-Leaks-8-Ounce-Bottle/292044457208?epid=855198284&hash=item43ff34c4f8:g:bTQAAOSwiYlaAcQR&vxp=mtr