Oil Leak

[markbob]

Hello Boys,

have finished running my 318 in the 69.....runs great....

I have developed an oil leak on the passenger side behind and above the oil filter near the tranny dust cover plate.


I checked the security of the oil pan bolts....they seemed a bit loose, so I tightened them up....

After I ran the engine up to temp....I saw that I still had some drips of oil under the motor....
I investigated, and figured I cinch the bolts up a bit....It appeared that I had not tightened them at all....

I checked the service manual and it says to torque them to 15 lbs.....

any thoughts on this?

thanks,

Mark

[ws23rt]

Your pan gasket could be what gives a false torque reading on the bolts. As the bolts are torqued up the gasket gets thinner. Going around to all the bolts until they are at spec should do it. However if the gasket is too soft the pan will distort where the bolts are. This can happen if the bolts are torqued fully the first time around. If that is the case and the pan bolting surface is no longer flat than you need to remove it and make it flat again.
When I put one on for the first time I go around all the bolts over and over bit by bit till it comes up snug. Than a final torque check.
The pan metal is rather thin and soft.

[markbob]

Hello All,

I just got home and investigated the oil leak some more.....

nothing from the top of the motor....oil sending unit, manifold, and valve covers all dry...
the oil pan looks okay as well.....

it appears that the oil filter mounting plate is not sealing properly.....

I have cleaned the area, and torqued the fitting a bit more.....hoping this will seal the leak...
the area around the mounting plate was seeping oil....will see how this works....

anyone else dealt with this problem....any other solutions other than replacing the plate and gasket?

thanks,

Mark

[polywideblock]

do you have one of the right angle adapters fitted ?

[markbob]

No

[A383Wing]

common problem with that plate leaking....just get a new gasket kit for the plate, clean everything up, and re-install