Oil Leak Timing Cover/Crank ?

[barkleydave]

While doing brakes on a 31 Slant I noticed a pesky oil leak. Oil is leaking on the right front of the engine in the area of the timing cover and running down the splash pan. No oil is on the left side of the engine pan bolts or pan.

Is this a major chore to replace timing cover seal and possibly the crank seal? Less Andrews book provides little help with this.

Thanks

[Chuck Sea/Tac]

Which is the right side of the engine? Is it leaking around the side cover? To pull the front timing cover off , you have to hold the engine up and remove the front motor mount.

[Dollar Bill]

Below PDF will give you an overview of what is involved in changing the rope seals:

[Big hammer]

I just read on another site about this oil leak, remove each bolt one at a time and seal the bolt that is a through hole, easy try it may fix!

[kenparker]

Dollar Bill. Very nice article on "Leakless Pan Gasket> Thanks for posting. But one more note. Some of the Rope Seals are coated or soaked in some king of parrifin and soaking in oil does not do any good - the oil will not soak in. Depends on manufacturer.

[SeaSlugs]

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Originally Posted by kenparker

Dollar Bill. Very nice article on "Leakless Pan Gasket> Thanks for posting. But one more note. Some of the Rope Seals are coated or soaked in some king of parrifin and soaking in oil does not do any good - the oil will not soak in. Depends on manufacturer.

yea its like a waxy feel - it is still woven rope so you can kinda push and pull the "pores" open and let them soak that way.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

It looked like Minerva had a leaking crank seal. It was oil wicking around an upper cover bolt & out the crack in the lockwasher. A little "pucky" fixed it.
A good way to find the ORIGIN of an oil leak, is to dust the area with Talcum Powder.
Bill Trick

[barkleydave]

Thanks looks like a messy job in the future.

[barkleydave]

Right side of engine looking from rear of engine forward. (Carb side)

[barkleydave]

Going to try sealing bolt threads... any recommendations for best sealant to use? Thanks...

[SeaSlugs]

ive used rtv with good luck - use the stuff that sets up in oily places (black i think).

[jw hash]

before you take your engine apart. pin point the leak. some times the oil return tube leaks and runs down on the lip of the pan. and you think it is the pan gasket, this is real common. so either take a mirror and light or look closely from under the car. again try to pin point the leak.

[duke36]

We've been using the white Permatex thread sealant 80633 or in tube with good results. If it's the front of the oil pan, then the rope seals around the front pulley are probably the culprit. The front pan bolts and a couple other side bolts should be sealed as posted. The orig. style asbestos rope is available from China or India but no one stocks it in the US. The teflon stuff is hit and miss. To answer Dave's ?, the timing cover can be a little challenging to install with the teflon rope to get it to compress and get the bolts started. The oil pan side in not difficult. There are other threads covering the pros/ cons of the modern nitrile or neoprene seals.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

I don't remember where, but one gasket set I bought, had the MOST PERFECTLY formed front seal! Just dropped in & the cover went on EASILY! It looked like it was formed in a MOLD!
Call your Suppliers & inquire about it.
ALSO, I once had manifold gaskets, made from COMMON gasket material, like you would buy off a ROLL, at a parts store. They'd probably burn out in 5 MINUTES!!!
Bill W.

[V4F]

you can grease the rope seal instead of soaking

[katy]

Back in the day it was common to call the front crankshaft seals chicken sh*ts, just walk in to a Ford dealer parts department and ask for a couple of chicken sh*ts and they new what you wanted.

[Clem Clement]

that side piece should not have split washers on the bolts as they leak oil thru the split.