Guys, I have a 1950 3100 with a 216 motor. It has developed an oil leak after I shut the motor off that ends up being about a 6" circle on the ground. It appears most of it is coming out of the hole in the flywheel housing cover. It also looks like a very small amount is coming from the front oil seal and working its way along the bottom of the oil pan rearward. I have some questions: Is the flywheel housing cover removable with the engine in the car? Will that give me a better idea of where the oil is coming from? Can the rear main seal be changed out with the engine in the car? Will only changing out the bottom half of the rear main seal be a worthless fix?
Do you have any guidance for this newby as to what I should be focusing on?
Rear main seal and possibly the transmission itself. Check the oil level in the tranny.
1950 Chevrolet 3100 (Ol' Roy)
1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe |1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1969 Pontiac GTO (The Dishpit) I 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
What Otto said, plus the pushrod cover. Look at the very back lower corner of the cover, just above the starter. Take a can of brake cleaner or like, spray and wipe the area clean then keep an eye on it. Jon G pointed me in that direction recently and a leak there was responsible for a lot of what I was calling a rear main leak.
Jerry M. Be sure your oil level is correct,if too full will leak like that. Cover is easy to take off,look with a good light,also if you have positive crankcase ventilation can affect it. On the other hand be sure the crankcase can get air so vacuum wont colapse your oil pan.
It's called the clutch underpan. The shop manual says you can remove it to access the clutch retracting springs so I believe it should come off okay. The flywheel is close to the block so you may not be able to see much. The rear main seal is a common source for oil leaks at the rear of the engine. There are metal plugs at the rear of the block that rarely leak oil. There is also one large metal plug that rarely leaks and if it does, will be coolant. Oil can also leak from the rear of the valve cover and sneak it's way between the clutch housing (bell housing) and the block.
The rear main rope seal needs to leak a little oil (weep) in order to form a seal. Same as old tractors and boat propeller shafts.
Last edited by buoymaker; 06/07/20224:16 AM.
"Adding CFM to a truck will only help at engine speeds you don't want to use." "I found there was nothing to gain beyond 400 CFM."
Well, I checked the transmission fluid level today and that is still full, so it is not that. I have also removed the Clutch Underpan to get a better look at where the oil is coming from. I have a friend coming over this weekend to examine further and I will report back on what I find. Thanks for the suggestions.
