Sudden heavy oil leak

[Kuruton]

Hello again!

Back with another question. I recently installed a Holley Sniper 2 on my 440 and afterwards have had a major oil leak once the engines warm. Its leaking near the front timing cover but hard to pinpoint exactly. If I let it keep running, it would probably dump a quart in 30 minutes.

I'll give a timeline of what I've done to see if anyone can help narrow it down.

About 2 months ago I installed a new oil pan (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/TRD-9496) and a gasket/windage tray (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-G2339) to fix a small oil leak I was having. After this install I wasn't having any noticeable leaks but probably only ran the car 5-10 times over 10 minutes.

A month ago, I started the install of my holley sniper kit, it took about 2 weeks because I had to wait on different parts to come in. This entailed: replacing mechanical fuel pump with electric and using a block-off plate, swapping carb with sniper unit, swapping distributor with hei hyperspark, wiring, coils, etc.

The leak started immediately after my conversion.

I initially thought somehow I maybe warped the pan during testing by maybe running it a bit hot, so I swapped to a traditional gasket and some additional rtv, but the issue persisted.

Then, I thought maybe my block-off plate wasn't sealing right, so I reinstalled it with a new gasket and rtv, but that didn't fix it either..

Now that I'm typing this, I'm wondering if it's possible it might be coming from the distributor... it's hard to pinpoint, just that it dripping from front edge of the oil pan where it meets the timing cover. Could definitely be coming from higher up, but not from the valves or anything..

I left it at the office today, but I can check the distributor better tomorrow(office is 15 mins from home and thought that would be a good test because I thought the issue was resolved)

Is there somewhere else I should be checking? Thanks!

 

[Ricks72Chlgr440]

Hello again!

Back with another question. I recently installed a Holley Sniper 2 on my 440 and afterwards have had a major oil leak once the engines warm. Its leaking near the front timing cover but hard to pinpoint exactly. If I let it keep running, it would probably dump a quart in 30 minutes.

I'll give a timeline of what I've done to see if anyone can help narrow it down.

About 2 months ago I installed a new oil pan (Trans-Dapt Performance Products 9496 Trans-Dapt Performance OEM Replacement Oil Pans | Summit Racing) and a gasket/windage tray (Summit Racing SUM-G2339 Summit Racing™ Molded Gasket Windage Trays | Summit Racing) to fix a small oil leak I was having. After this install I wasn't having any noticeable leaks but probably only ran the car 5-10 times over 10 minutes.

A month ago, I started the install of my holley sniper kit, it took about 2 weeks because I had to wait on different parts to come in. This entailed: replacing mechanical fuel pump with electric and using a block-off plate, swapping carb with sniper unit, swapping distributor with hei hyperspark, wiring, coils, etc.

The leak started immediately after my conversion.

I initially thought somehow I maybe warped the pan during testing by maybe running it a bit hot, so I swapped to a traditional gasket and some additional rtv, but the issue persisted.

Then, I thought maybe my block-off plate wasn't sealing right, so I reinstalled it with a new gasket and rtv, but that didn't fix it either..

Now that I'm typing this, I'm wondering if it's possible it might be coming from the distributor... it's hard to pinpoint, just that it dripping from front edge of the oil pan where it meets the timing cover. Could definitely be coming from higher up, but not from the valves or anything..

I left it at the office today, but I can check the distributor better tomorrow(office is 15 mins from home and thought that would be a good test because I thought the issue was resolved)

Is there somewhere else I should be checking? Thanks!

It would be unusual for the distributor to leak, as it has an O-ring seal where it enters the block and it must engage the intermediate shaft to function. You might want to apply some engine degreaser to the front of your engine to clean things up, then after all is dry, run the engine and start looking for where the oil is coming from. Losing that much oil you should be able to find the source at this point. If you still can't find the leak, then you might want to apply some special dye to the oil and use a black light to see where it is coming from. A product example:

Amazon.com

 

[Kuruton]

It would be unusual for the distributor to leak, as it has an O-ring seal where it enters the block and it must engage the intermediate shaft to function. You might want to apply some engine degreaser to the front of your engine to clean things up, then after all is dry, run the engine and start looking for where the oil is coming from. Losing that much oil you should be able to find the source at this point. If you still can't find the leak, then you might want to apply some special dye to the oil and use a black light to see where it is coming from. A product example:

Amazon.com

Appreciate the response. I think it'd be easier for me to tell if I can get it on the lift. I can tell there's a lot of oil on the front lip of the oil pan and that's where it's all dripping down, but it's hard to say if it's the oil pan, or maybe behind the timing cover and leaking down. Theres a bit of oil on the harmonic balancer, trans cooling lines, etc. Do you know if it's possible to get a leak like that with a bad crank seal or something?

Thanks for the heads up about the dye as well, will go that route if I can't figure it out.

 

[Ricks72Chlgr440]

Appreciate the response. I think it'd be easier for me to tell if I can get it on the lift. I can tell there's a lot of oil on the front lip of the oil pan and that's where it's all dripping down, but it's hard to say if it's the oil pan, or maybe behind the timing cover and leaking down. Theres a bit of oil on the harmonic balancer, trans cooling lines, etc. Do you know if it's possible to get a leak like that with a bad crank seal or something?

Thanks for the heads up about the dye as well, will go that route if I can't figure it out.

It would be a huge coincidence if the seal started leaking after your Sniper installation. I assume you have the PCV valve connected to the throttle body? If not, the engine can build up crankcase pressure and start blowing oil out of the seals. Just a thought.

 

[Kuruton]

It would be a huge coincidence if the seal started leaking after your Sniper installation. I assume you have the PCV valve connected to the throttle body? If not, the engine can build up crankcase pressure and start blowing oil out of the seals. Just a thought.

Come to think of it, I did do a bit of jerry-rigging on the pcv.

The snipers pcv port was significantly smaller than my carb, so I rigged together a bit of an adapter that acted as a fixed orifice pcv, but maybe I did a **** job and it's not allowing enough air to flow.

 

[Ricks72Chlgr440]

Come to think of it, I did do a bit of jerry-rigging on the pcv.

The snipers pcv port was significantly smaller than my carb, so I rigged together a bit of an adapter that acted as a fixed orifice pcv, but maybe I did a **** job and it's not allowing enough air to flow.

With the engine running, pull the PCV and see if there is good vacuum. That should reveal if there is a problem!

 

[Kuruton]

With the engine running, pull the PCV and see if there is good vacuum. That should reveal if there is a problem!

Man, if that's the issue, I owe you a beer. I'll give it a try tomorrow and report back. Hopefully won't have ruined too many gaskets/seals if so.

 

[1972 AAR Cuda]

I find it helpful to follow the leak and usually at the highest point where you find oil is where the leak is coming from. For instance if you have oil at the bottom of the distributor (coming down the side of the timing cover) it could be the valve cover, the distributor, or the valley pan china rail. I am not trying to suggest these are the problem, just looking at a method to find the leaks originating point.

 

[Kuruton]

Man, if that's the issue, I owe you a beer. I'll give it a try tomorrow and report back. Hopefully won't have ruined too many gaskets/seals if so.

With the engine running, pull the PCV and see if there is good vacuum. That should reveal if there is a problem!

Let me know where to mail the beers! Fixed up the pcv and not a drop of oil!

 

[Ricks72Chlgr440]

Let me know where to mail the beers! Fixed up the pcv and not a drop of oil!

Glad you found the problem, and it was an easy fix! Yay!

 

[mebeblown]

Hello again!

Back with another question. I recently installed a Holley Sniper 2 on my 440 and afterwards have had a major oil leak once the engines warm. Its leaking near the front timing cover but hard to pinpoint exactly. If I let it keep running, it would probably dump a quart in 30 minutes.

I'll give a timeline of what I've done to see if anyone can help narrow it down.

About 2 months ago I installed a new oil pan (Trans-Dapt Performance Products 9496 Trans-Dapt Performance OEM Replacement Oil Pans | Summit Racing) and a gasket/windage tray (Summit Racing SUM-G2339 Summit Racing™ Molded Gasket Windage Trays | Summit Racing) to fix a small oil leak I was having. After this install I wasn't having any noticeable leaks but probably only ran the car 5-10 times over 10 minutes.

A month ago, I started the install of my holley sniper kit, it took about 2 weeks because I had to wait on different parts to come in. This entailed: replacing mechanical fuel pump with electric and using a block-off plate, swapping carb with sniper unit, swapping distributor with hei hyperspark, wiring, coils, etc.

The leak started immediately after my conversion.

I initially thought somehow I maybe warped the pan during testing by maybe running it a bit hot, so I swapped to a traditional gasket and some additional rtv, but the issue persisted.

Then, I thought maybe my block-off plate wasn't sealing right, so I reinstalled it with a new gasket and rtv, but that didn't fix it either..

Now that I'm typing this, I'm wondering if it's possible it might be coming from the distributor... it's hard to pinpoint, just that it dripping from front edge of the oil pan where it meets the timing cover. Could definitely be coming from higher up, but not from the valves or anything..

I left it at the office today, but I can check the distributor better tomorrow(office is 15 mins from home and thought that would be a good test because I thought the issue was resolved)

Is there somewhere else I should be checking? Thanks!

I always use the sealer " The right stuff " will never leak oil at the pan / timing chain cover. I've ran my 340ci Blower motor 48 years in my 73 Challenger and not one drop of oil has leaked.