Oil Leak?

J

James G

Junior Member
Hello. I am new to the Ford Barn and just purchased my first 1931 Model A.

Drove it 200 miles this weekend most notably cruising the Hines Park "Nothing But the Classics" in S/E Michigan. Returned home and noted that there appears to be oil coming out of the oil filler tube. The cap that is on there is chrome and appears to be standard - checked in a some parts websites and it seems to be the one they sell for that engine.

Oil sprayed on the side of the engine and the blow back has lightly coated some of the starter. I also see some seepage from the head-gasket. Is this normal? Is there a replacement oil cap that would solve this problem?

Btw - the car performed very well. It has very few miles on the rebuilt engine - about 250.

Any insights would be appreciated.
 
Welcome to the hobby and the the Barn.

Seepage from the gasket should not be happening. Was the head retorqued? Should be done at least twice and sometimes more before the gasket compresses completely.

As for the blow by, lets hope the rings are still seating. Place a sock over the oil fill to catch the blow by until the problem goes away.
 
It may be that the rings are not completely seated.

It may also be the wrong oil fill tube. There were several variations through out the production of the Model A to try to reduce the oil mist from coming out the oil fill tube.

A little oil from the oil fill tube is not too uncommon especially after driving "at Speed" for a period of time.

My opinion

Chris W.
 
Welcome. At only 250 miles the engine is likely not broken in yet. Take it easy for the next 500-750. For your blowby, try a copper scrub pad stuffed and secured into the cap. It will allow breathing but also eliminate a lot of oil escaping. Retorque your head nuts (in the proper order! to 55#) with your engine cool. That may stop the head leak.
 
Oil coming from the filler tube will happen especially if the car is driven hard. An old cure is to stick a sock over it, but, I don't recommend it.

As some others have said, it may be because the engine is still new. Which means the engine shouldn't be driven too hard.
 
Be sure you are not over filled with oil. A shop changed oil in a friends car and they filled it until the oil was up to the mark on the dip stick. Only problem was, they thought the stick was down all the way, but it was hanging up on the tang. It was up about a half inch.
 
Don't drive if too hard and keep a close watch on it. Have someone from the local club check the head torque and retiree if necessary.
Welcome to the hobby. Wayne.
 
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