Hot Rods oil leak on 383 stroker sbc

Clean the area well , tape a piece. of paper towel or rag to the curved section of the cover above the pan gasket and below the front seal. This will tell you whether it's the seal or pan gasket. Oil usually run up to the seal from the pan but it will run down from the seal to the pan. It's acceptable to use silicon where the cover and the pan come together .....
There should not be any significant pressure in the pan...the amount of oil being slung off the chain is negligible...there have been some reports of front seals being non concentric and damper hubs machined undersize......

 

2OLD2FAST thanks for the tip. I will do this as soon as the hurricane passes. The last time we had a storm this bad it's name was HUGO. 'Nuf said...………….Now to batten down the hatches...…………..

 

What oil are you using?

 

I had an elusive leak on my 355, actually more than 1, been tracking them down. Did the fuel pump rod bolt thing, re-torqued the oil pan. Caught a leak at my oil gauge sender right off, another from my stamped Dart valve covers. I have a cheap chrome timing chain cover, that contributes a little. That I'm going to clean off well and add a little silicone sealer to. Biggest one was actually from my dipstick tube. I run an early Chevy II oil pan. I guess I shaved the o-ring a bit when I reinstalled the tube. That's fixed. Park the car over a clean piece of cardboard and it shows how much progress you've made.

 

I'm using Valvoline racing oil 20/50 wt. with zink. My front cover is stock that has been powder coated inside with teflon. I am going to use 2OLD2FAST suggestion as stated above and see how that goes. Thanks for your response. Nothing like the HAMB...…………..

 

Well sports fans, I think I found my oil leak. There is a leak at the front of the intake manifold where you apply the black sealant. The motor block is painted black so its a little hard to see. I am going to remove some of the sealant and replace it to see if that will stop it. If not I will REMOVE the intake and reseal it. Thanks for all the advise and will repost any up dates...………...

 

Thanks for posting your findings. Sometimes guys post a problem, ask for help to diagnose and then do not provide feedback on the resolution -- leaving everybody hanging. Your courteous; I'm glad that you got it resolved.

 

Finn Jensen, I dig what you are saying and sometime it is agrivating.. 26hotrod...……..

 

I got turned onto The Right Stuff for sealing the ends of Chevy intake manifolds. Lay down a 1/4" bead and drop the intake in place. Mask off anywhere you don't want the sealant.. don't ask me how I know...

 

Put the intake on with no end rails measure the gap, remove and install rtv

 

Sounds like you guys know what you are talking about. Haven't cranked it since I applied sealant to the leak area. Probably will crank it Monday and will let you know how it goes. It's still raining here. Slosh,slosh…….

 

Guess what!!?? I still got a leak. In the near future I will be pulling the engine to change the transmission torque convertor and at that time we will apply the suggestions in this thread to STOP THE LEAK!!!!!! Thanks everyone…...

 

Just a heads up...I was chasing a small leak for a while and figured it was the rear main seal. I searched and found a thread saying to try a PCV valve from autozone PCV1009. That was 6 months ago and it worked...a $1.00 part and still no leak. I couldn’t believe when I pulled out of the garage and there wasn’t a puddle of oil on the ground.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

LBCD thanks. I will give that a shot. Autozone is right down the street from me...……..

 

I thought I had a rear main seal leak for years, not too bad but irritating. One day I had to remove the distributor to change the 20 year old Pertronix module and I found the oil pressure sender for the idiot light was dripping, Changed it and rear main seal stopped leaking at the time. What a coincidence!!!

 

dirty, never realized those 2 were connected.....

 

Sorry I misspelled your name. It's dirty...…...

 

dirrty

 

Finally got it right...………….

 

Easy way to find most oil leak's. This, uv light, and uv glasses can almost guarantee you will find that leak after a drive.

 

Back in the day working at a chevy dealership. 3 different dealers tried to repair a oil leak on a 350 chevy engine. I got the car to replace the engine. Found the leak to be a missing distributer gasket that goes between the manifold and the bottom of the distributer where it meets the intake manifold.
Thanks Ron.

 

you stated earlier that the crank had a small groove in it...they make a sleave to put over the crank snout to take up the slack then lightly oil the seal...….helped me years ago

 

Thanks everyone for all the comments. Nothing like the HAMB...….

 

The sleeve goes on the damper , the damper goes on the crank snout , but I know you knew that ...