Oil leak on fresh 302 build

[willtel]

I just got my Bronco running after a long rebuild and it appears I have an oil leak on the front of the engine. Oil is pooling in the area I circled below.

Any ideas where it is coming from? The valve covers and intake seem clean along with the base of the distributor.

 

[NYLES]

if thats the only place its pooling would have to be a valve cover

 

[half cab]

302-351W are known for this. My 351 has the same prob and I believe it's comin from the base of the distributor on mine.I clean it and it slowly trinkles back in.I have seen alot of them though with it being the front of the intake.Good luck,but I bet it's one of the two.

Gene

 

[NYLES]

half cab wouldnt it puddle near the dizzy if was under the intake? thats why i blamed the valve cover, and I think he is supposed to use the 25$ valve cover gaskets with the steel in em on those covers.

 

[JohnJohn]

First guess would be intake leak under the water neck. I have a similar leak at the back of my intake but have been putting off redoing the intake gasket and RTV.

 

[willtel]

Thanks for the insight guys. I will take a closer look at lunchtime but I am almost positive the distributor side is dry, I don't think there is any way for the oil to get over the hump and pool on the opposite side of the timing cover.

I also don't think it is the valve cover. All around the base of the cover is dry and I would assume than most leaks from the cover would trail down to the exhaust ports and burn off on the headers.

I suppose it very well could be the intake under the water neck. Ugh, that will be a mess to fix. Why can't it ever be the simple stuff?

 

[kayakersteve]

Seams like classic front cork intake mainfold gasket leak to me!

 

[addicted]

Does your dizzy have an o ring? And if so, what kind of condition is it in?

 

[NYLES]

dizzy oring would put oil on other side of water inlet

 

[willtel]

I checked it more at lunch time and have a few more details. Valve cover is defiantly dry, dizzy is dry, the intake under the water neck seems dry. No cork gasket, this engine was assembled by a good dirt track engine builder so I'm assuming he used good stuff.

I did change the water pump before I started the engine, it had an aluminum Edelbrock on it but the heater connections were wrong so I swapped it for a Super Cooler from Tom's.

Is it possible that it is weeping from the timing cover? I will try to get some better pictures tonight.

 

[NYLES]

how bout clean it all up crank it and watch it?

 

[half cab]

how bout clean it all up crank it and watch it?

X2 on nat NYLES.After lookin closer at mine it is the intake leaking under the water neck.I had something like this one other time happen to me and it was the T-chain cover weepin? It's very slow on mine,but if it were new build I would think---Thats just my luck---?:?

 

[joshd1971bronco]

I was going to mention the timing cover. If you didn't get it sealed up there, it's possible it could be seeping oil from the timing chain area (seems unlikely..but).

How MUCH is it leaking? Does that pool form after 5 minutes of idling or 2 hours of highway driving?

 

[DirtDonk]

I've had two leaks that pool in that spot over the years. One was the very corner of the intake there at the head/block junction, and the other was the timing cover gasket.
Since you say you can't see any seepage from above, near the manifold joints, it's a bet it's coming from the cover/block junction.
It's not pressurized oil, but there is a lot of "flingage" going on around there from the timing chain.
Another possibility is some excess pressure buildup from a non-functioning PCV system. Yours all plumbed up and working?

Paul

 

[nabes68]

mine is leaking there also but it is antifreeze. not sure is leaking from the timing chain cover water port or the thermostat housing gasket what do you guys think and how hard is the timing chain gasket to change will I need to pull the pan for that?

 

[fmcpeters]

For antifreeze leak make sure you dont have a leak at your hoses

 

[nabes68]

i will check that

 

[willtel]

Thanks again for the info.

I thought about watching the leak as the engine ran but it seems to be a slow leak, the puddle in the first picture was after driving about 25 miles on the Interstate at around 3000rpm. Everything on the engine is new, I'm using this PCV valve vented from the passenger side valve cover. Would it be a good idea to add another one to the drivers side valve cover?

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/BSP-22120/?rtype=10

 

[NYLES]

driver side should be vented

 

[willtel]

driver side should be vented

Well sumbitch. I'm going to pull the covers this weekend and adjust the valves so I will add another vent on the drivers side at the same time. I guess more vents can't be bad but too few vents could cause issues.

Anything else I need to do to verify that my PCV system is ok?