Major oil leak on rebuilt engine

Doctor's Ford

Doctor's Ford

Senior Member
I posted this on the early V8 forum but likely will get a lot of help from the model A crowd. It is about an ongoing major rear main oil leak on my model B 1933 sedan with a totally restored engine.

I hope am posting correctly. This is the first time I try to transfer a post from one forum to another. Thanks for any advice. Manuel


http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152463
 
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I read your post on the V8 forum and would like to expand on what Kurt suggested. The oil tube on the rear main did not have to be brazed in place because it was broken off. The broken piece could have been removed and a new tube installed correctly. Also, with new babbitt, the welch plug in the front of the cap should be removed and the channel cleaned with a 3/8" drill bit. If this channel is stopped up the engine will leak profusely.

I will read the posts more closely and see if I can offer any more suggestions. Hope you have recovered from your recent issues and feel better.
 
I read your follow up post on the other forum and saw the leak started after about 30 minutes run. Try running the engine with the oil cap removed and see if it still leaks. Could be building up pressure in the pan causing the leak.
 
Mike V. Florida said:
Have you contacted the rebuilder?
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At this point, that would be an exercise in futility if the rebuilder didn't want to discuss the issue since, he has been in the motor and done a complete disassembly and made modifications. Still, I would contact him if for no more than suggestions.
 
I replaced the oil fill cap with a new one and my rebuilt engine started to leak at the rear main. I couldn't believe it but the stop tabs on the new cap weren't bent out to stop the cap so it built up pressure in the crankcase, unfortunately the oil caused a leak behind the cam, had to pull the engine and replace the housing gasket.
 
I had to removed the car from the rebuilder shop 8 months ago because he was lying to me repeatedly. After 3 and a half years at his shop the engine was finallly done by then. The same week I started the engine at home to do some testing and the major leak was evident. No way he would help me then so I started the process of repair on my own. Guys, keep in mind the car is not in the USA. There is very little if any "consumer protection" around here and once you got into these situations you are stuck, unless you want to act "a la Clint Eastwood" style. I would continue the process by myself, hopefully with your help and will try not to irritate anyone with my questions. Manuel
 
Appears questions are always like good, healthy clean fuel for any vehicle Forum which incidentally keeps it going.

But answers can sometimes be similar to questionable exhaust fumes ..... sometimes when one sees them, one has more questions than answers ........ or something like that.

Just keep asking .... your questions will always be appreciated.
 
To bad you machined off the slinger. Now you will have a oil leak for sure. The Babbitt job does not look good. Did you check the end play, it should be .004=.006 your crank looks like in the picture that it has way more clearance than that.

Things that cause rear main leaks. To much clearance, to much end play, cap not flat on mounting surface, shims not touching the crank shaft, plugged return hole in rear main cap, return tube screwed to far in cap, return tube loose in cap, return tube to short, to much pressure in crank case, new style rear main seal.plus some I for got. Other words ever thing has to be done right.

Good luck with the engine
 
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Sometimes if finances are not an obstacle it is better to take it to a true professional, have him tear it apart and have a look see ! It just sometimes us not worth the frustration. Wayne
 
Doctor's Ford said:
I had to removed the car from the rebuilder shop 8 months ago because he was lying to me repeatedly. After 3 and a half years at his shop the engine was finally done by then.
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So I think we can drop the word rebuilt from this discussion.

It needs to get torn down and every thing checked.
 
Mike, it looks like the engine needs to be re-built by someone that will do a professional and correct job. I agree with George on all the counts he stated.
 
I'm no expert on this but before I pulled the engine, I would drop the pan and check the return tube. Make sure that it is clear and installed properly. Ed
 
James Rogers said:
Mike, it looks like the engine needs to be re-built by someone that will do a professional and correct job. I agree with George on all the counts he stated.
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What I did a poor job of saying is after hearing about the long wait and finding that kind of leak, who knows what other short cuts the guy took just to get it out of his shop.

Yes, it needs a true professional to go back over it.
 
The only time I have had a problem with a rebuilt engine it turned out to be too much clearance on the rear main bearing. I tried to fix it by removing shims but still had too much clearance in the horizontal direction so I gave up. Unfortunately other projects had delayed the discovery well beyond the warranty period. Leaving out the gasket between the engine and the flywheel housing is the most common mistake.

Charlie Stephens
 
One home solution for absolute last resort to solving this oil leak matter is to score a groove in an s-shape on the rear main cap and drill a 3/16 hole through to the oil vent channel about in the middle of the cap. Sometimes this successfully results in reducing the back pressure and allowing oil to flow into the engine rather than out the rear main...last resort for homework before sending to the shop. Good luck Manuel
 
It is always best to fix the real problem. If it has to much clearance you are going to have problems before long. Just fix it right and only have to fix it once.
 
If some one bored the main oversize then took out shims to make it right clearance, it is not going to work.... It will still be over size on the horizontal. It is going to leak oil no matter what you do. Trust me on this.
 
Drilling a bleed hole in the rear cap would allow the pressure to escape in the hydrodynamic oil wedge that forms to lift the journal off the babbit, which is not ideal for long bearing life. Same as oil grooves that go all the way across the bearing to the edge, but probably even worse.
I recently blocked one up with babbitt puddling stick and hand scraped back to flush to remove the leakage path
SAJ in NZ
 
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The Babbitt is a complete loss. The bearings never seen a peening tool, and was poured at the wrong temperature, by looking at all the holes in the babbitt. From the other side the babbitt would look like a picture I will post.

I don't know what the end clearance is that George asked about, but I would guess a lot, or just to much.

All I can say about a Silicone head gasket, is I have never seen one that didn't leak, and most don't fit a T, or A block right. These are not ones we put on, but are from other builders.

The pulley fits in with the rest of the builders caliber of skill.

The last thing are the valves that look like they are ground down in the block a long ways. That is one of the major causes of no power, and over heating.

Herm.
 

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