Not Oil Pressure Sending Unit - Leak?

-
69cudaownr

69cudaownr

FABO Gold Member
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2008
Messages
384
Reaction score
289
Location
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Follow up to my original post. It’s not the oil pressure sending unit. 318 engine.
I replaced it, go for a drive and the area near it is dry.
The shaft of the distributor is covered in oil. Anyone have an idea of what I’m dealing with??
Review; the intake gasket and seal are new. The distributor drive O ring and gasket are new.
 
Rear intake leak. I had the same issue. Did you use the end seals or just a layer of silicone?

Mine wouldn't leak just idling, as soon as you drove around it would leak.
 
Grab a paper towel and some painters tape and tape it down on the back of the engine

Go for a drive and see where the towel stains
 
I can try that. (Paper towel) The confusing part is that the oil is on the shaft of the distributor and on top of the distributor hold down clamp. The oil would have to be airborne from the intake to be where it is. If the oil is airborne from the intake why isn’t it on the firewall?
It’s like the distributor is leaking. Does oil go up inside the shaft? As I write this I’m wondering if the distributor shaft housing could have a crack.
 
69cudaownr said:
I can try that. (Paper towel) The confusing part is that the oil is on the shaft of the distributor and on top of the distributor hold down clamp. The oil would have to be airborne from the intake to be where it is. If the oil is airborne from the intake why isn’t it on the firewall?
It’s like the distributor is leaking. Does oil go up inside the shaft? As I write this I’m wondering if the distributor shaft housing could have a crack.
Click to expand...

oil on a running engine can do strange things
i had an engine in my duster i swore had a leaking 90 degree oil filter adapter on it
i removed it, resealed it, replaced it and reinstalled it darn near a dozen times

everything would be dry while idling, id go for a drive and the filter would be wet
the filter being the highest part of the engine that was wet that must have been the issue, right?
wrong

i finally taped a towel around the filter (making sure it sat up high enough to cover the adapter) and went for a test drive

unsurprisingly, the towel was wet when i get back

what was surprising was that when i started unwinding the paper towel, i found it was only wet on the outside, and dry on the inside

that lead me down the right path to find my rear main seal was leaking, the oil would hit the torque converter and the converter would fling it up to my oil filter




by putting some paper towel on the engine you will be able to see if the oil your seeing is coming or going
there is a "shaft" inside your distributor housing, but i would find it hard to believe that oil would make its way up there and leak out
 
forgot to ask, someone else mentioned the valve cover gaskets, how is your PCV set up?
if that is plugged i can see a valve cover on the edge blowing by
 
I fought an oil drip on my car for a couple years. The engine block I painted gloss black. Which I would never do again. I could have swore it was coming from the valve covers in the back. Then I regasketed the intake, I determined it had to be the rear main.
It wasn't until I took the engine out and put the oil pan on another engine and painted it orange that I found what was leaking.

The Milodon pan painted gold had a weld that was leaking. When we installed it on the other 340 we painted it orange to vover up the now deteriorated gold coating and after install it had the same drips on the floor.

Since that time we fill the pans up with Diesel or heating oil up past the welds and let them sit on newspaper . You would be surprise how many we find that leak at the welds.

Oil leaks are sometimes very hard to locate. Just when you think , "That's it I fixed it" and then more oil. Good luck I am sure you'll find it. Many on here give good ideas of where to look. Remember It can spray and piss from a distance like i could 50 years ago. Check for a cracked valve cover. Just a guess.

That reminds me 55 years ago I could piss over the hood of my dads old Plymouth . Now! I have a hard time pissing passed the tips of my sneakers
 
Last edited:
Any photos? After market parts ie... intake, distributor valve covers? Post some good photos of the engine if possible.
 
Sorry for late response, up early and on the road for a 5 hour drive to mom’s.
Valve covers not leaking. PCV is at the front, not near the location.
Its a points distributor. The shaft body has some square design to it so you can clearly see oil gathered in the crevices. If you’re right Kim, that the distributor shaft body can leak, then my guess is that is the problem.
I won’t get back to diagnosis until after the weekend now. Thanks for the help from all of you.
 
Some distributors had a port at the bottom of the base with a little spring loaded flap that u could oil the bottom bushing. Oil can come up the shaft and leak out. Kim
 
oil is coming up the distributor shaft and comes out the two vent holes on the underside portion. Excessive crankcase pressure, worn shaft bushings, plugged drain back holes lower bushing. As mention before, do you run a pcv. You may need one with more flow.
 
mderoy340 said:
oil is coming up the distributor shaft and comes out the two vent holes on the underside portion. Excessive crankcase pressure, worn shaft bushings, plugged drain back holes lower bushing. As mention before, do you run a pcv. You may need one with more flow.
Click to expand...

yes I run one.
 
Ok the crankcase pressure issue makes sense. I will look into that and it explains the distributor oil leak.
Thanks again to all.
 
mderoy340 said:
oil is coming up the distributor shaft and comes out the two vent holes on the underside portion. Excessive crankcase pressure, worn shaft bushings, plugged drain back holes lower bushing. As mention before, do you run a pcv. You may need one with more flow.
Click to expand...

Update - This is the correct problem. The PCV problem had been noted and corrected a while ago and the distributor leak was likely a result of the pvc issue. I removed the old distributor and had @halifaxhops build me a new one. I just got it installed and voila!, there is no longer oil around the distributor and of course the engine is purring like a lion. (kittens purr too softly, lol)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top