318 stroker oil leak :(

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666mopower666

666mopower666

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Hey everyone I'm stumped on this one,

My 318 was rebuilt to a 392 with 302 heads and i used arp head studs and torqued to spec. Machine work and rotating assemly install was done by Carlson Machine in Salmon Arm BC:burnout: in 2010, but an injury stopped me from bolting it all up until January this year, then when i did get it all in the car a faulty alternator fried my wiring harness all the way to the dash :( so now i finally got it all together and successfully broke in the mutha thumpa cam with no issues :)

Problem is moderate oil leak on rear of block while running, (i can crank to 80psi with ignition grounded and not a drop of oil) oils pours enough to leave a drip trail down the road on its maiden voyage (only a half block and back home again) First i thought it was rear main seal leaking from sitting for so long but removed the inspection cover of the 904 auto trans and flywheel/flexplate both dry, oil pan gasket also looks dry except where oil is dripping down at the rear. The oil looks like it dripping from rear of both head gaskets and drips onto both exhaust pipes and also flowing from back of oil pan and down to oil drain plug.:wack: Oil pressure gauge tube is also wet but i checked it while running and revving and its a very minor leak not enough to cause my headaches. I while be taking care of this prob ASAP

question is shud i retorque the head studs and hope it cures my woes or do i need to pull the heads and do it all over? I'm nervous about retorquing because of the sealant on the "wet" studs and figure that to get proper torque I have to first back the bolt off the head studs and then retorque to spec? But wouldn't this cause the sealant to fail and thus leave me with water/oil leaks anyways???:blah5:

Any advice would be awesome, I want this beast running for our local Mopar show this weekend at O'keefe ranch in Vernon, BC Canada eh

Oh and the motor is in a 70 Dart swinger
 
I suspect your head gaskets are fine. You'd leak water too if they were that bad....... Need to check the rear corners of the intake to block.
 
sounds like either a valve cover gasket leak or like stated before it could be the rear intake valley gasket
 
did you check the valve cover gaskets.They should be hand tightened,too much will cause them to leak.
Also the oile sending unit may be leaking.
 
Sounds like the one my friend just put together, I asked him about the intake he said he put the rubber seals in the front and rear and I said take them out throw away and use silicone no one uses them any more we did and no morre leaks.
 
They're form my understanding allen fittings on the back of the engine in which are removed for proper cleaning of oil galleries. It could be one of those. I have the same problem but it doesn't leak as bad as yours. Mine will leave a half a dollar size oil spill after I park and turn off the ignition. I installed brand new oil pan, oil pan gasket, rear main seal (upper and lower), distributor gasket, valve cover gaskets, checked the oil pressure gauge fitting at the block and it STILL leaks! I ran this by the members here and they agreed that it just has to be one of those fittings. I'm just not in the mood to pull the engine for that small of a leak.
 
wow thanks for the amazing fast responses guys!!!

I checked the valve covers and intake area at back of block ( ya i used the cork gasket there) and wiped all surfaces with shop towels and only a faint trace of oil at rear of passenger valve cover.

I got the car up on ramps and looking underneath the drivers rear oil pan gasket is slipped out a bit but all this oil looks like its coming from above. the oil filter adapter bolt is dry, the adapter itself has some oil but so does the starter on the other side, looks to be the same amount side to side so i don't think the 90 adapter is at fault.

also i stuck my finger in the bell housing and there is some oil pooled up in there, i have been running without the small dust shield (its buried somewhere in the shop lol) so i think the oil flowing into the bellhousing from wherever this dam leak is, i have a ratchet shifter installed and the cable goes underneath the bellhousing and its dripping oil too, it's wet from higher up.

My block is painted white so i thought it'd be easy to spot :(

if it was the oil galley plugs or rear main seal that would leak into the bell housing and slosh all over the flex plate while its running right??? the flex plate and torque convertor both look dry and wiping with a rag i don't get any oil picked up off them

when the wifes off work i'll do a lil more investigating and retorque all the intake bolts to rule them out.
 
Mine gets on the engine and bells housing (manual trans) but not on the clutches and pressure plate. I'd imagine if it did then my clutch would be slipping. It's not slipping lol

Oil leaks will drive a man insane. I just finally said the heck with it and let it leak.
 
if it was the oil galley plugs or rear main seal that would leak into the bell housing and slosh all over the flex plate while its running right??? the flex plate and torque convertor both look dry and wiping with a rag i don't get any oil picked up off them.

Yes. Those and the rear cam plug would almost certainly be contained to just the inside of the bellhousing area.

Might want to brakeclean everything off good and have a helper start the engine while your watching everything.
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Intake, dude. I can't tell you how hard it was to seal mine. Also, my MP valve covers hit any manifold I used. It was hard to tell, but once I figured it out I ground a notch in them and they sit flush.
 
ya thats my next step i got the block wiped n cleaned up best i can and haha i'm sure the wife will enjoy startin it up while i climb to the under belly and try my best to dodge drops of hot oil!!

Thanks Rick and everyone else

I'll snap some pics next time i'm out there too and see what you guys might spot that i'm missing, from what i see from underneath the oil starts from the flange on the head but that could be just running there from sumwere else since its the lowest spot on the heads
 
Mopar to ya said:
Intake, dude. I can't tell you how hard it was to seal mine. Also, my MP valve covers hit any manifold I used. It was hard to tell, but once I figured it out I ground a notch in them and they sit flush.
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I can't figure out why Mopar Performance don't notch their valve covers to clear the intake!!!

I know good and well they have been informed about it for crying out loud!!! lol
 
mullinax95 said:
I can't figure out why Mopar Performance don't notch their valve covers to clear the intake!!!

I know good and well they have been informed about it for crying out loud!!! lol
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Well, my Moroso fabricated aluminum did the same thing. For a VC made to fit a specific engine, you have to wonder what the hell is going on.
 
OldmanRick said:
if it was the oil galley plugs or rear main seal that would leak into the bell housing and slosh all over the flex plate while its running right??? the flex plate and torque convertor both look dry and wiping with a rag i don't get any oil picked up off them.

Yes. Those and the rear cam plug would almost certainly be contained to just the inside of the bellhousing area.

Might want to brakeclean everything off good and have a helper start the engine while your watching everything.
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X2, it was the cam plug on my 340, it drove me crazy! I pulled the trans and flywheel and replaced it. I was a lot younger then....
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Robbie2734 said:
OldmanRick said:
X2, it was the cam plug on my 340, it drove me crazy! I pulled the trans and flywheel and replaced it. I was a lot younger then....
Click to expand...

Yea Robbie, sucks when 50 cent parts cause issues. I bought two brand "C" cars years ago and had freeze plugs leak behind the motor mounts on both. What a pain in the a** for some stupid crap.
Click to expand...
 
Mopar to ya said:
Well, my Moroso fabricated aluminum did the same thing. For a VC made to fit a specific engine, you have to wonder what the hell is going on.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing they just figured the design based on stock intake but the percentage of the "performance" valve covers going on a stock intaked engine is very low I bet. lol
 
Stroker=crank pressure.Do you run EVAP system?They work great for releasing crank pressure.The pressure will find a weak spot to leak.JMO:D
 
i got a few pics snapped first one is just after shut off and shows the leak in all its glory:banghead:

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another pic looks like a drop on the flex plate but others clearly show streaks runnin down the sides f inspection cover, wiped a clean shop rag on the flex plate and no signs of oil on it grrrrrrrrrrr i say lol. somehow oil got onto the bottom of the oil pan and the car is sitting nose up on ramps.

the last shot shows where head and block meet and is it just me or does it look like seepage from there? wouldnt think enough to ooze like it shows but i just dont know!!!

thanks guys i'd be begging a shop for answers to my questions if it wasn't for u fellow moparaphiles :D
 
evap i run pvc and k&n breather not sure if thats what you mean but thats what i got lol and i'm thinkin of pulling the intake and redoin that just to completly rule it out or hopefully cure my ailments
 
Thanks for the pics. I honestly still can't tell. I know it's hard to get pics from the top, but it may help. I woudn't worry about the front shot right now until the rear leak can be determined. Gettin' late on the east coast for me now. I'll check in tomorrow and add anything if i can.
 
Get some red or black silicone and pull your intake and use plenty of the stuff and it will seal. The fan blows the oil around making it hard to tell where it come from but its your intake, Good luck.
 
Have you checked the rear of the intake back where the distributor is? Wipe that area clean with fresh paper towels then run the engine again and see if oil develops there. Its usually hard to see a rear intake leak cause they usually leak in the corners by the heads and with the firewall and plug wires in the way its hard to get eyes back there.

Hopefully you get this fixed soon. Sounds like a really cool engine....
 
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