Valley pan leak on 440

[rp23g7]

I have been chasing a slight oil leak since i picked up the car.

Seems to loose a quart every 150-200 miles or so.

It could be burning some, but i have a little drip once a day when i park the car.

I thought it may be the drain plug but i got under and wiped it off and let it sit for a day and it didnt reappear from sitting.

So, i wiped everything off under there, and under the intake manifold, and drove it for a week. I may have a slight rear main leak too, i thought it was the oil sender but i looked back there and nothing looks wet.

I looked last night and there is some oil collecting at the front of the valley pan, grrr, looks like i am going to be yanking off the manifold.

Do i need a inner and outer gasket for each side and a front and rear valley seal, who makes the best gasket kit for this these days.

[b5blue]

Fel-Pro makes several, heat block-off if your running aluminum intake (I drilled a 1/8 hole to let some heat get to my six-pack choke well, works good) different thickness gaskets are available and the best way to know which to use (I found out the hard way) is to set the intake and shim it to proper fit then use that to gauge how thick of gaskets you need. The only way I stopped getting an oil leak on top of my valley pan was to use the gaskets above and below the valley pan. The front and back "China wall" gaskets get a nice blob of RTV in the corners. After re-doing mine with a standard kit I learned differences in intake, heads and block require some checking on the thickness of gaskets for the "sandwich" for proper fit, had I known I would have bought an extra set of the thinner ones and not had to ream out the holes on my intake to get it all back together. (You can't go get more gaskets with your only ride torn apart!) I used Gaskachinch to hold the top gasket to the intake and bottom gasket to the heads, that lets the valley pan shift as everything settles down. Good Luck and be prepared, take your time. 

[rp23g7]

Fel-Pro makes several, heat block-off if your running aluminum intake (I drilled a 1/8 hole to let some heat get to my six-pack choke well, works good) different thickness gaskets are available and the best way to know which to use (I found out the hard way) is to set the intake and shim it to proper fit then use that to gauge how thick of gaskets you need. The only way I stopped getting an oil leak on top of my valley pan was to use the gaskets above and below the valley pan. The front and back "China wall" gaskets get a nice blob of RTV in the corners. After re-doing mine with a standard kit I learned differences in intake, heads and block require some checking on the thickness of gaskets for the "sandwich" for proper fit, had I known I would have bought an extra set of the thinner ones and not had to ream out the holes on my intake to get it all back together. (You can't go get more gaskets with your only ride torn apart!) I used Gaskachinch to hold the top gasket to the intake and bottom gasket to the heads, that lets the valley pan shift as everything settles down. Good Luck and be prepared, take your time. 

Thanks for the info b5.  I looked at it when i got home, looks like it was leaking from one of the front corners.  I took the front rail off, cleaned it good and siliconed it back up.  I will check it next time i drive and see what it looks like. 

You drive a six pack as your daily driver?

[BSB67]

If you are losing a quart every 150 to 200 miles, I don't think that fixing a drip or two will change you oil loss problem.

[rp23g7]

If you are losing a quart every 150 to 200 miles, I don't think that fixing a drip or two will change you oil loss problem.

I think it may be burning it, there is not enough of a mess under the car for it to be leaking that much, valve stem seals, here i come.

[b5blue]

Yea for the last 8 years....or so been very reliable too! I had a fairly large mess on my valley pan by the time I racked up 500 miles or so (after the rebuild) and was chasing vacuum leaks not knowing the center carb had a wrong gasket on the base. (and not knowing my re-manufactured dist. was a complete mess, chasing timing problems) I switched out the 509 cam after wiping out 3 lobes and removed the closed chamber heads in favor of 346's and 9.5 to 1 Speed Pro hyper pistons to let me run 89 Oct. improve street-ability. I learned allot on that build the hard way as my son had my beater car for school/work leaving me no backup ride. Thanks for the  Someday my car will look as nice as yours does!

[rp23g7]

Yea for the last 8 years....or so been very reliable too! I had a fairly large mess on my valley pan by the time I racked up 500 miles or so (after the rebuild) and was chasing vacuum leaks not knowing the center carb had a wrong gasket on the base. (and not knowing my re-manufactured dist. was a complete mess, chasing timing problems) I switched out the 509 cam after wiping out 3 lobes and removed the closed chamber heads in favor of 346's and 9.5 to 1 Speed Pro hyper pistons to let me run 89 Oct. improve street-ability. I learned allot on that build the hard way as my son had my beater car for school/work leaving me no backup ride. Thanks for the  Someday my car will look as nice as yours does!

Wow, youve been busy, one of these days i may have a six pack, maybe

[rp23g7]

Gonna go get some carb cleaner and degreaser today after work and maybe for valve cover gaskets and teflon tape for the oil sender and clean everything and find out where that leak is coming from.



I cleaned  the front rail and sealed it the other day, drove 60 miles or so since and checked, oil had made its way forward from the rear of the valley pan i think, so i suspect the rear rail leaking somewhere.  GRRR oil leaks, hate em, hate em, hate em.

[b5blue]

That's what mine was doing, oil can get from the valley pan along the intake but you will see it coming from there. 

[rp23g7]

So, Does anyone have a picture of the rear valley area of a 440?

I got some carb cleaner and sprayed around when the engine was running, nothing, so i started removing the 3 bolts that hold the rear rail and rear of the pan down.

Turns out there is a small sheet metal plate that was being held down by the bolts and the rail. HMMM thats strange. It was about as wide as the pan and about 6 inches long and the top corners were radiused. It didnt look like it did anything. I felt under the rear of the manifold as best i could but didnt feel anything strange.

There was a little bit of fresh oil on the bottom of this plate. I cleaned it and cleaned the rear of the sealing area on the rear of the valley pan, put it and the rail back on and tightened it back up.

[b5blue]

The bars belong there, front and back, they should be thicker than sheetmetal though. About as thick as a penny. They are the same bar front and back mine are factory with square ends not rounded. 

[rp23g7]

The bars belong there, front and back, they should be thicker than sheetmetal though. About as thick as a penny. They are the same bar front and back mine are factory with square ends not rounded. 

Yeah, the bars i know, but i have no idea what that piece of sheetmetal was for.  It was painted engine color, and looked like it had been there since the engine was painted.  Had a unpainted strip where the bar was covering it on the end.  The valley pan is unpainted, obviously has been replaced before.

I can take a picture if anyone is interested.

[b5blue]

Hey if it was a large tab like thing it was a keeper for the sound deadening pad used on many C body's that rested on top of the valley pan.  (some kind of foam/foil looking thing) 

[rp23g7]

Hey if it was a large tab like thing it was a keeper for the sound deadening pad used on many C body's that rested on top of the valley pan.  (some kind of foam/foil looking thing) 

Oh gotcha, the engine is from a 70 Chrysler