Help 360 Magnum dumped all its oil when started

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SlateBarracuda

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View attachment 1715350186 Hi guys, I have a 74 barracuda with a newer 360 Magnum crate engine, with about a 1000 miles on it and a year old, I changed the oil since its been about a year since the engine was installed. I went to start it up and it dumped all its oil on the ground. Looks to be coming from the bell housing I'm not 100%, not a trace of oil on the oil pan near the drain plug and the oil filter is really clean other than where it faces the bell housing which has a small amount of oil on it. Headers are clean directly below the oil filter. I started the car up, let it run for about 45-60 seconds, then pull out of the garage. Sounded like a rougher start then normal, then I heard the valves tapping and some smoke so I shut it off. Ran for maybe a minute. Any ideas? I thought maybe the oil pump or rear main seal blew, but it looks like all 5 quarts ended up on the ground in less than a minute! I have no idea why. See Pic for the oil "spot"

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Do you have a mechanical oil pressure gauge? If you do, Check the fitting at the back of the block, by the distributor, oil line might be cracked. Just realized you said magnum 360, I'm not sure were the oil sender unit is mounted on them.
 
Magnums are notorious for the filter gasket staying on the block. Spun new filter on over the old one. Double gasketed.
 
Did old gasket stick to the block? New oil filter gasket on top of old filter gasket could make like squishing a mouthful of water out of your lips. At 50psi, might not get any near the filter.
 
Dave 74 Dart said:
Do you have a mechanical oil pressure gauge? If you do, Check the fitting at the back of the block, by the distributor, oil line might be cracked. Just realized you said magnum 360, I'm not sure were the oil sender unit is mounted on them.
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Magnums are the same location as LA blocks.

I would check the oil filter also. I've partially filled a filter, lubed the gasket and installed a filter on my dart only to realize that the gasket had fallen off and was laying in the ground!
 
Double gasketed filter. Pretty common for the old seal to stick on the block. The bell housing area is the lowest point so it would naturally look like it was coming from there.
 
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Could this be a long-dormant issue with using the wrong oil pan? I remember my oil pan gasket being kinda weird at the rear main
 
1994redram said:
Magnums are the same location as LA blocks.

I would check the oil filter also. I've partially filled a filter, lubed the gasket and installed a filter on my dart only to realize that the gasket had fallen off and was laying in the ground!
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Not a missing gasket either, It was there when I took off the oil filter. Also not a double gasket either.
 
I saw one once where a torque converter bolt came loose and busted out the oil galley plug on the back of the block, it also busted one of the rear freeze plugs, I sure hope this is not what yours did. Actually I think it was the plug at the back of the camshaft that looks like a freeze plug.
 
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Put a new filter on fill with oil and start it again . Bet you it was the filter... can’t think of anywhere else it could come from if you didn’t disassemble the engine and it ran fine before.
 
jos51700 said:
Could this be a long-dormant issue with using the wrong oil pan? I remember my oil pan gasket being kinda weird at the rear main
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Probably not since it the motor came with the oil pan. Also the oil pan never leaked a drop of oil before this. It was a crate engine that sat for six year, maybe the oil pan sealswent bad?
 
mbaird said:
Put a new filter on fill with oil and start it again . Bet you it was the filter... can’t think of anywhere else it could come from if you didn’t disassemble the engine and it ran fine before.
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Yeah its strange, ran fine 2 weeks ago no issues with oil leaks whatsoever, I would guess a leak would star small and get worse over time, this car dumped 4 or 5 Quarts in under a minute.
 
Any leak from the rear of the engine would have dumped it on the TQ Conv and oil would have been slung all over.
Maybe someone is plunking you... damn spell check!
I once poured a bit of oil under a guys Harley... lol. He just about rebuilt the engine...Lmao
 
Mark the distributor location and rotor, pull it, then prime it with a good drill and priming shaft.
 
SlateBarracuda said:
View attachment 1715350186 Hi guys, I have a 74 barracuda with a newer 360 Magnum crate engine, with about a 1000 miles on it and a year old, I changed the oil since its been about a year since the engine was installed. I went to start it up and it dumped all its oil on the ground. Looks to be coming from the bell housing I'm not 100%, not a trace of oil on the oil pan near the drain plug and the oil filter is really clean other than where it faces the bell housing which has a small amount of oil on it. Headers are clean directly below the oil filter. I started the car up, let it run for about 45-60 seconds, then pull out of the garage. Sounded like a rougher start then normal, then I heard the valves tapping and some smoke so I shut it off. Ran for maybe a minute. Any ideas? I thought maybe the oil pump or rear main seal blew, but it looks like all 5 quarts ended up on the ground in less than a minute! I have no idea why. See Pic for the oil "spot"

View attachment 1715350186

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Look at the oil filter base plate on the block... There are a couple different ones and they look the same, but the depth of the 'ridges' are different and may cause the problem that you are having...
 
oil filter base plate may have backed off a bit when you took the filter off .
 
I wonder if the threads on the filter are bad, maybe tightened up before you squished the o-ring, I would also check to make sure the nipple is tight in the block.
 
Looked in the morning and sure enough there was another gasket sitting under the car on the ground. It must have fallen off when I removed the oil filter to check for it. I should stop working on cars at night. Heading out to buy some more oil and a filter.
 
Make sure you drain all the oil from the pan, before you put new oil in, so you don't over fill it.

Dave
 
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