how much oil dripping is normal ?

Pa Joe

Pa Joe

Senior Member
Got my 28 tudor a few months ago, and after making a lot of repairs and improvments I would take it for a test drive. After I park it, I notice oil in the driveway. I know they drip a little. I had flathead 8s that did the same thing, but this is a good size puddle. Every time I run it then park it, I get the big puddle. Checked the ******, still full, checked the dip stick, down a little. Just wondering , Whats normal?
 
Catch a sample in a container (plastic baking pan?) then try to determine by color, viscosity and smell whether it is engine oil or transmission lube.
 
a drip or two could be considered normal, but anything that is described as a puddle is not. It could be as simple as a loose or overtightened oil pan gasket, bad rear cork gasket, or there may be an issue with the rear main drain tube. Its easy enough to drop the pan and check things out, while the pan is out, clean out the sludge if it is not a recent rebuild.
 
What you are describing is not the way it should be.

It could be as simple as loose oil pan bolts, but there are other potential issues.

One common source of oil leaking is a plugged or missing rear oil drain tube. If you don't have it, I would suggest that you get Les Andrew's Model A Ford Mechanic's Handbook, Volume 1. It will help you understand a lot about your Model A. Then, I would pull the oil pan, check everything out, correct any obvious problems, and install a new oil pan gasket. That would be a good first step in my opinion.
 
when i change my oil i only put in aprox. 4 1/2 qts. about 1/4 in. down from full on the dip stick, i still have a small oil leak but not as bad if i go to the full mark.
I've seen a few A model's that don't leak at all but most leak some. esp. if you don't park them on a level spot, not nose up. i allways put a peice of cardboard under the eng when i park it at the end of the day and change it about every 2-3 mo's.
mine don't leak enough to tear the eng. down, and mine is just a driver, almost 80 years old, jmho.
 
If the oil on my dipstick just covers the "L", I don't get a big puddle every time I park it. But if I have any more oil in the crankcase, it just leaks out. So try keeping the oil level relatively low. It won't hurt anything as long as you keep an eye on the dipstick.
 
THanks guys. All good info. I do have Les Andrews books. I'll look it up. I didn't know about the drain tube. And I did notice that the previous owner put enough oil in it that it was actually past the full mark on the Dip Stick. My next move will be to drop the pan \, check it out, replace the gaskets. If that don't fix it, I will at least learned from it. thanks Joe
 
After you have gone thru the obvious things, and still have a leak, go to the website of Antique engine rebuilding in Skokie Ill. You can google antique engine rebuilding and find him... He has an explanation of what to do to fix. I followed his directions about pulling the rear main bearing, and setting the clearance to about 1 thousandths, and my car doesn't leak a drop of oil now, where it was leaking a lot before. My engine had been rebuilt and new mains poured but the rebuilder didn't shim it to the correct tolerances. I'm a happy camper now when I park my A on the driveway.
 
Before you drop the pan do the simple things first. Drop the level of oil in the pan as suggested, then if it still leaks too much you may have to remove shims to get the clearance down to 1 or 2 thousandths. I just removed shims from a fresh rebuild that had .006 clearance on the rear main.

My well worn noisey engine doesn't leak a drop, but will burn about a quart between oil changes.
 
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after I park on level ground and go eat lunch if the puddle from the rear main is less than the size of a quarter when I get back, I'm not going to get too shook up.

ask 10 owners, you'll get 10 answers. :p
 
Pa Joe said:
Got my 28 tudor a few months ago, and after making a lot of repairs and improvments I would take it for a test drive. After I park it, I notice oil in the driveway. I know they drip a little. I had flathead 8s that did the same thing, but this is a good size puddle. Every time I run it then park it, I get the big puddle. Checked the ******, still full, checked the dip saare you over fillingre you over fillingtick, down a little. Just wondering , Whats normal?[/Are you over filling.
Click to expand...
 
Pa Joe said:
Got my 28 tudor a few months ago, and after making a lot of repairs and improvments I would take it for a test drive. After I park it, I notice oil in the driveway. I know they drip a little. I had flathead 8s that did the same thing, but this is a good size puddle. Every time I run it then park it, I get the big puddle. Checked the ******, still full, checked the dip stick, down a little. Just wondering , Whats normal?
Click to expand...
Seems like you are overfilling
 
I'll second the notion of checking the oil level first.

I had a large "frisbee" size leak that was directly traced to too much oil (1/8 inch over the F).

Marc
 
i had the same problem, turned out my oil fill cap was pushed on to far. I would check that first. it's quick and easy. you would not believe the kind of leak this can cause.
 
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