The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Oil Leak below Distributor

I have a leak that is coming down from around where the distributor mounts to the block. 55 1st, 235. I'm sure there has to be a gasket here....so how hard is it to replace this gasket? Will I have to pull the distrib gears up to replace the gasket? And will this mess up anything that will prevent me from adjusting the timing when it is put back together.

Thanks,
Robert

it'd be unusual to get any oil out the distributor hole, are you sure it's not from the bottom of the side cover right above? if you're sure it needs it, you can just pull the distributor out without causing any problems - just note the position of the rotor and watch how it moves as you pull it out so you can get it back right, not 180* out

Bill

There is no gasket on the distributor. I would suspect the side cover as Bill said. You could also have to much crank case pressure forcing oil up and around the distributor.

Its not the side case cover, I just replaced the gasket on it....cause I thought that was the source. I cleaned the engine block so I could see clearly that is coming from the block where the distributor sits.

What can be done about the higher crank case pressure?

Thanks

If you feel that there is excess pressure in the crankcase, pull the breather pipe, take the top off and see if it is plugged. Do the same with the inlet vent.

If there are no slots in the valve cover(1955 and later) it should have a vented oil filler cap on the valve cover. I would make sure that is clean or buy a new one.
As for the road draft tube I burn them out. If you have a wood stove you can put it in the fire until it gets red hot, then let it cool and blow it out. I use a Propane weed burner installed in the tube to burn them out.
Someone may get on here and say there is horse hair in the tube that will burn out, but I have cut a number of them apart and have found nothing, so burning them out is fine.

The engine is PCV setup, manifold to the top of the down draft tube (which is clean/clear) and a newer valve cover with breather cap. The leak has just begun fairly recently and the engine runs smooth and quiet. I'll try cleaning the breather cap and see what that does.

Thanks

I swapped out the breather valve cover cap and the leaks stopped.

It seems like 2 months is a short period of time to get blocked by the valve blow-back. Is that normal?

Thanks

Robert,

Do you have an original PCV set-up? Can you post photos of it?

A PCV system should have a sealed (non venting) oil filler cap. If venting/cleaning the vented filler cap solves your problem, you have something plugged somewhere else in the PCV system.

I may be misinterpreting how your PVC system is set-up. Maybe someone else will correct me or explain how your system works and why it might have gotten lblocked?

Original PVC systems had a solid cap and drew clean air out of the air cleaner with a tube to the valve cover, through the engine to the PVC valve and then to the intake manifold, a closed system as Tim mentioned.
Most conversion PVC systems draw fresh air in a vented oil filler cap(not air cleaner). If that is how yours is set up I would say your PVC valve is not working or is in backwards, blowing oil out the cap. The filler cap should stay clean for many miles unless you are in dusty conditions.

Isn't there supposed to be an O-ring on the Distributor shaft. If that's gone or bad, wouldn't that cause a leak?

Some rebuilt distributors come with an O-ring installed in a groove in the housing, but if you use the O-ring it will lock the distributor from rotating by the vacuum advance.