318 oil leak on front of engine; bolt holes
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Category: Repairs and Maintenance
Forum Name: Engine Repair
Forum Discription: Engine problems and solutions
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=50671
Printed Date: November-22-2024 at 7:36pm
Topic: 318 oil leak on front of engine; bolt holes
Posted By: Forrest
Subject: 318 oil leak on front of engine; bolt holes
Date Posted: June-07-2022 at 2:13am
| Hi everyone, I have a 1968 barracuda with a recently rebuilt (by PO) 318 Chrysler. It leaks oil out the front and slings it around the engine compartment. I naturally assumed it was the front crank seal. However after removing the harmonic balancer, there is NO signs of oil around the seal. I did notice 2 bolt holes on the timing cover down low by the oil pan on both sides. They go into the block a ways, could this be an issue? There is also an empty bolt hole mid way up the right side of the timing cover (3rd hole, longer bolt). Newer timing covers don’t have these holes. Anyone know what these are for? Any help would be appreciated before I move forward with tearing into it more. |
Replies:
Posted By: KENO
Date Posted: June-07-2022 at 7:30am
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You don't say if you just got the boat and always had the leak or if you had it for a while and it just started to leak. Do you see signs of oil from any of those 3 holes?
Or any oil from the rubber oil pan seal that goes under the timing cover or the mating surface where the pan bolts to the timing cover Here's a marked up picture with yellow lines pointing to your what I'd guess are your 3 bolt holes, a green line where the rubber oil pan seal goes and blue lines where the oil pan gaskets meet the timing cover  If in doubt about the leak location, I'd probably buy a timing cover gasket set and pull the cover and redo the gaskets. Those covers were on 318 poly engines and carried over to the later 318 LM engines for a while, with those 3 holes not used, if I remember right, which may or may not be the case, Lots of timing cover gasket sets come with those holes punched, whether there are bolts holes in those spots or not, on the block and timing cover. It's fairly easy to screw up the rubber seal
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Posted By: Forrest
Date Posted: June-07-2022 at 9:03pm
Thanks for the info KENO. When I got the boat it had been recently rebuilt and ran by the previous owner a few times. The bilge didn't have any oil in it when I got it. I purchased the boat in August 2021 and only ran it a handful of times and it leaked from the start. I spent most of that time tuning the carb and timing with the engine cover off and the oil would sling a spray up the sides of the interior. Would a leak in the oil pan/timing gasket get oil onto the harmonic balancer and sling like this? I'll try to include a photo or 2. There is oil around the rubber pan seal. Thanks again    |
Posted By: pjsmoreno
Date Posted: June-08-2022 at 7:02am
| By looking at one of the pictures, looks like sometime is wrong with your crankshaft seal. |
Posted By: KENO
Date Posted: June-08-2022 at 7:23am
I think what he thinks Picture #1 looks like a pretty ugly beat up seal, maybe the picture is deceptive. Is the balancer seal surface smooth? FelPro 17780 is a part number for a 318 Reverse Rotation timing cover seal. You'd need a gasket set and this seal also since it's real easy to find gasket sets, but they come with a normal rotation seal and you'd substitute the Felpro 17780 for it.
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pjsmoreno wrote:Posted By: pjsmoreno
Date Posted: June-08-2022 at 10:38am
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Looks like maybe the crankshaft harmonic balancer pinched
the seal when it was put on. Happening to me once before. |
Posted By: Forrest
Date Posted: June-08-2022 at 12:49pm
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The Crankshaft seal was my first thought, so I bought the correct reverse rotation seal. But when I took it apart to begin the process, I noticed the area around the seal is completely dry and clean. Including the inside of the dust cup on the harmonic balancer. Is this normal with a bad crank seal? Thanks again.
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Posted By: KENO
Date Posted: June-08-2022 at 2:06pm
If the seal area was dry and the inside of the cup was dry, I can't imagine the seal being the culprit. But that leads to the question of.................. what was wet or maybe the wettest with oil? Have you tried putting bolts in the mystery holes? Just stating the obvious that you already know, but something had to be leaking onto something that was spinning How's the area around the fuel pump mounting gasket?
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Posted By: pjsmoreno
Date Posted: June-09-2022 at 7:34am
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Keno is on the right path. Comes down to trouble shooting the problem. Wonder if its leaking while just running, cruising or coming
to a stop on the water? |
Posted By: Forrest
Date Posted: June-09-2022 at 12:52pm
| It really slings oil while running (a small mist). Probably because the RPMs are up. I'm gonna check it out this weekend and let you know what I find out. Thanks again |