Oil leak

[louieglen]

I bought a 31 a few days back, drove around the drive let it set at a fast idle for 15 minutes no sign of oil leakage, put in the garage. The next morning there was a puddle of oil under it. I had a mower sitting there, maybe the oil was there and I missed it. A few day's later i backed out of the garage let in run while I cleaned the garage, probably 45 minutes, no oil not even a drop. Put it back in garage the next morning saw a puddle of oil, I mean a puddle maybe a 1/5 of a cup. Any Ideas?

[aermotor]

First thing I would do is check the oil level, should stabilize about halfway between full and add.

[Bob Bidonde]

Oil that leaks out of the rear main bearing goes to the bottom of the flywheel housing where it meets a wad of felt material. The felt material covers the drain hole in the flywheel housing, so it needs time to saturate the felt before the oil leaks through it. The drain hole has a large cotter pin hanging from it that you can see under the car.
Make sure the oil level is as stated above, and also make sure the crankcase breather tube is not obstructed.

[louieglen]

It isn't coming from the flywheel housing. I put a piece cardboard under it, Did it the same as before. The oil seems to be coming in front, and to the right of the flywheel housing. I'm a few months away from 90yo. and haven't crawled under, but have looked under.

[1955cj5]

I'm guessing your garage floor is level, but how about the driveway? Upslope, downslope?

I'm not sure just how that would affect a leak though, unless the oil pooled somewhere then found it's way out when the car was level.

My '29 was missing the gasket that is supposed to be between the flywheel housing and the engine. The gasket that seals the rear end of the cam.

It would leak as shown in the first picture.

The second picture shows the end of the cam.


.

[Ramman]

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Forward and to the right of the flywheel housing?
Check the valve cover and oil return tube seals.

[Lee29coupe]

I replaced oil pan gasket and bottom rope seal. I’ve had a leaky steering box, it’s a coupe so I just top steering oil off before I drive it. Steering shaft is a pain to remove on a coupe so i added it to the to do list. At first I thought it it it was the oil pan gasket but on closer inspection it was the oil from steering box. Oil leaks can really fool you. The valve cover is a very common place for leaks that are sometimes so small to catch unless you keep wiping and looking. Another oil leak was the bottom oil return tube mount on the valve cover, bolt mount was cracked , so small could not see it at first, some time the bolt was tightened and the bottom of mount bracket was cracked making it not seal. If it is an oil pan leak let it leak till it stops, note where and fill back up. Let it leak down again then mark that on the dip stick, that is your new oil top off mark. That’s how the old boys did in the day did it, as long as there are a few quarts in the oil pan it will not affect oil feed, the oil pan is just a bucket to catch and hold oil. Check it often and change it a little more often due to less oil in reserve to dilut dirty oil. Never admit a leak is yours, just for self esteem and blame it on the other guys leaky “A”. Watch out for EPA and a depends works good if you want to hide leak for a show or tour. Good luck and have fun!

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by louieglen

It isn't coming from the flywheel housing. I put a piece cardboard under it, Did it the same as before. The oil seems to be coming in front, and to the right of the flywheel housing. I'm a few months away from 90yo. and haven't crawled under, but have looked under.

I had a leak similar to yours I could not locate.

I used UV dye in the oil https://smile.amazon.com/Interdynami...42&sr=8-6&th=1 and with a blacklight flashlight I could 'see' where the oil was coming from. Turned out the oil return line was leaking and running along the pan rail.

Silver solder on the joint cured the leak.

[Ordsgt]

I also had a leak that took awhile to find. As Lee indicated my leak turned out to be from the Tappet cover. It was a leak all the way in the rear that leaked onto the oil pan bolting ridge and went back till it looked like it was from the flywheel housing. upon removal of the cover found it was missing about 1/2 inch of gasket in the rear of the cover.

[rich40701]

Mine leaks out of the back of the Transmission, its easy to tell the thick transmission fluid from the engine oil. Just keeping it topped up for now a Mitchell is replacing it soon.

[louieglen]

Thanks fellow's I will keep looking.