My 49 3100 has the original 216 that I got running approx 6K miles ago. It's running surprisingly well for an engine that sat for 45 yrs...
The bottom end is the same as when I got it (odometer shows 99K miles) but I had the head rebuilt to get it running. It has a bypass oil filter also.
Once I got it running I settled on 15w40 oil.
It's leaked out of both ends since I got it running.
With warmer temps I noticed my oil pressure running lower (around 13-14 psi at speed, perhaps 5 at idle. During the winter it would pump upto 30 when cold, now it barely reaches 15), so I decided to drop the pan and have a look see.
The pickup screen was alittle clogged but other wise the oil pump looked OK
I dropped the main bearings and plastigauged them and got .0025-.003 between them. There were no shims so I put them back as is. While I had the rear out I went ahead and installed a new rope seal in the bottom but decided against dropping the crank to replace the top.
Long story short.
With new pan gaskets the front barely leaks, only a couple drops at shutdown but the rear leak has changed.
Now it only leaks at idle. I can see a slow drip, drip, drip at idle but when I give it any rpm above idle the drip stops. It barely leaks at shutdown if I don't idle it long before I shut it down.
I don't know but I find that sorta odd. I'd think w/increased oil pressure it would drip faster instead of not dripping at all.
I just changed the oil to 20w50 to see if the oil pressure would increase and the results are neglegable but it did seem to slow the drip out of the rear.
I'm leaning on going back to 15w40 on the next change as I didn't see any increase in oil pressure and the oil is much cheaper.
Is it odd or SOP for these Stovebolts?
Dave
