Help solve oil leak

[albarnett_99 13]

Hey guys, need some help trying to find the source of a pesky oil leak. I figured some of you who are more mechanically inclined could share some ideas.

 

After taking the beast out for a long drive today, I parked it in the street in front of my house to research the source of a strange noise coming from right side when downshifting or launching hard. Car sat there for about 15 mintues before I decided to pull it back into the garage and park it on the 4 post lift for further inspection. After I parked it in the garage, I went back to the street and noticed a nice sized stain with fresh oil. While inspecting the frontend I noticed a bunch of oil on the dust cover, right frame rail, and on bottom of toploader case.

 

I don't see any signs of leaks from rear of motor (valve covers, intake) or from oil pan. All bolts on intake manifold and valve covers are tight. Just replaced these gaskets in the Spring. Not sure where else to look. Any ideas or suggestions?

[albarnett_99 13]

Hey guys, need some help trying to find the source of a pesky oil leak. I figured some of you who are more mechanically inclined could share some ideas.

 

After taking the beast out for a long drive today, I parked it in the street in front of my house to research the source of a strange noise coming from right side when downshifting or launching hard. Car sat there for about 15 mintues before I decided to pull it back into the garage and park it on the 4 post lift for further inspection. After I parked it in the garage, I went back to the street and noticed a nice sized stain with fresh oil. While inspecting the frontend I noticed a bunch of oil on the dust cover, right frame rail, and on bottom of toploader case.

 

I don't see any signs of leaks from rear of motor (valve covers, intake) or from oil pan. All bolts on intake manifold and valve covers are tight. Just replaced these gaskets in the Spring. Not sure where else to look. Any ideas or suggestions?

[bnickel 10,004]

well that pretty much leaves the rear main seal then.

[bnickel 10,004]

well that pretty much leaves the rear main seal then.

[6T9Mach1 12]

well that pretty much leaves the rear main seal then.

 

That is what I was thinking as well.

[6T9Mach1 12]

well that pretty much leaves the rear main seal then.

 

That is what I was thinking as well.

[albarnett_99 13]

Thanks for the responses. Unfortunately, this is what I suspected. Would this problem be made worse if oil pressure was too high? Recently I have noticed that the oil pressure is buried on the factory gauge and will come down to H at stop lights.

 

I have been reading up on the possible causes of this and was thinking of changing the oil and filter tomorrow (10W30 to 5W30 or other) to see if that helps both issues. If not, I will first try to solve the oil pressure issue with a new pump and pickup and go from there.

 

Is there anything to be too concerned with a rear mail seal leak? From everything I have read, this pretty much requires yanking the motor to fix.:sad:

I'm not ready to do that just yet!

[albarnett_99 13]

Thanks for the responses. Unfortunately, this is what I suspected. Would this problem be made worse if oil pressure was too high? Recently I have noticed that the oil pressure is buried on the factory gauge and will come down to H at stop lights.

 

I have been reading up on the possible causes of this and was thinking of changing the oil and filter tomorrow (10W30 to 5W30 or other) to see if that helps both issues. If not, I will first try to solve the oil pressure issue with a new pump and pickup and go from there.

 

Is there anything to be too concerned with a rear mail seal leak? From everything I have read, this pretty much requires yanking the motor to fix.:sad:

I'm not ready to do that just yet!

[bnickel 10,004]

if you're gauge is correct and the oil pressure is that high you'll do more damage not fixing it than you can imagine. that much oil pressure will wash the bearings out and cause bearing failure. of course it could also cause the seals to leak, that much pressure will find the weakest seal and blow it out so that could very wel be the root cause of the leak as well.

[bnickel 10,004]

if you're gauge is correct and the oil pressure is that high you'll do more damage not fixing it than you can imagine. that much oil pressure will wash the bearings out and cause bearing failure. of course it could also cause the seals to leak, that much pressure will find the weakest seal and blow it out so that could very wel be the root cause of the leak as well.

[SlimeGold 69 15]

If your hearing a noise when down shifting or launching hard I would pull the trans out or pull the dust cover at least and check if the flywheel is lose or the front bearing retainer is broke on the trans. Are you sure it's motor oil or gear lube? The flywheel bolts will leak oil around them if loose and that may be the source of your noise also. But if your slinging that much oil out the clutch disk is probably soaked with oil anyways so it will need to come apart. You could put a rear main seal in by pulling the trans and dropping the oil pan but get alot of sleep the night before. My oil pressure guage reads very high on my car and I have no leaks but high oil pressure is not good. Put a real guage on it first before you tear into the oil pump. If it is the rear main seal, the old two piece seal is no fun to change.

[SlimeGold 69 15]

If your hearing a noise when down shifting or launching hard I would pull the trans out or pull the dust cover at least and check if the flywheel is lose or the front bearing retainer is broke on the trans. Are you sure it's motor oil or gear lube? The flywheel bolts will leak oil around them if loose and that may be the source of your noise also. But if your slinging that much oil out the clutch disk is probably soaked with oil anyways so it will need to come apart. You could put a rear main seal in by pulling the trans and dropping the oil pan but get alot of sleep the night before. My oil pressure guage reads very high on my car and I have no leaks but high oil pressure is not good. Put a real guage on it first before you tear into the oil pump. If it is the rear main seal, the old two piece seal is no fun to change.

[dkm004 11]

hey 6T9Mach1. what tranny are you running and did you use a stall conv to run the XE268h ? I was looking at that cam , but was told that it wouldnt run without a 2000 stall. So I oppted for the 270 Magnum .

[dkm004 11]

hey 6T9Mach1. what tranny are you running and did you use a stall conv to run the XE268h ? I was looking at that cam , but was told that it wouldnt run without a 2000 stall. So I oppted for the 270 Magnum .

[6T9Mach1 12]

I've got an FMX and I am running a modified stock converter that has a stall speed 400 rpms higher than stock. I think that you would be able to get by with a xe268 just fine; I have mine idling at 600 rpms in drive and it just has a nice lope to it.

[6T9Mach1 12]

I've got an FMX and I am running a modified stock converter that has a stall speed 400 rpms higher than stock. I think that you would be able to get by with a xe268 just fine; I have mine idling at 600 rpms in drive and it just has a nice lope to it.