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Topic: Oil leak at top rear of engine

in Forum: C3 Engines


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Oil leak at top rear of engine (1/8)
 4/26/17 4:55pm
jeffs74coupe
Former Member

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Fairfield, PA - USA

Vette(s):
1974 Stingray coupe 350/automatic


Joined: 9/16/2016
Posts: 8

 "74 350 with Edelbrock performer intake.  I bought the car with this engine/manifold and it always had small drops at rear of engine.  Recently distributor to HEI with tach drive.  Started engine, no problems.  Took car for drive and smelled burning oil.  Looked at engine, found puddle on rear below the distributor on the driver side.  Pulled distributor, made sure gasket was there and not broken (put on new one with distributor).  Wiped up oil and sprayed with brake cleaner-all bright and clean.  Started engine, let it idle a good 5 minutes-no oil.  Took her for a drive around the block, and it's got a puddle on the back of the block again.  Any ideas where this is coming from, and how to fix it?

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Re: Oil leak at top rear of engine (2/8)
 4/26/17 7:31pm
F4GaryGold Member
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Grapevine, TX - USA

Vette(s):
1972 LT-1 convertible with factory air.


Joined: 8/26/2006
Posts: 1406

Rear valley of the intake manifold would be my guess.

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Re: Oil leak at top rear of engine (3/8)
 4/26/17 7:52pm
manchestersharkLifetime Member
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Equinunk, PA - USA

Vette(s):
1972 conv, 4-speed, 350, 200hp, numbers match, rally wheels, war bonnett yellow w/white top. good condition, nice driver.


Joined: 10/31/2007
Posts: 2382

YUP! My guess also. If they used the O.E.M. style rubber gasket and not RTV, it probably slid out of position when the manifold was installed. They get real slippery when put on wet. Dry is not so bad, but still need to be extra careful when lowering the manifold into position. Gonna need to pull it to do a good job.

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Re: Oil leak at top rear of engine (4/8)
 4/27/17 2:00am
73shark
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Overland Park, KS - USA

Vette(s):
1973 Orange Metallic Coupe (orig owner), L82, 4 spd (WR), PS, (A/C & PW (I installed from wrecked 73)), leather, AM/FM Stereo, ran with '65 FI unit earlier & will again some day.


Joined: 7/9/2003
Posts: 864

Valve cover gaskets or oil pressure gauge fitting. But intake rear gasket most likely.

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1973 L-82 4 spd

Re: Oil leak at top rear of engine (5/8)
 4/27/17 7:22pm
Tomtall
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Vette(s):
1973 Coupe -- 454 / 4 speed - Black on Black, Greenwood aftermarket turbo hood, Greenwood GTO style front bumper.American Racing Vector rims.


Joined: 3/5/2016
Posts: 43

Jeff - A easy way to rule out the sending unit is to temporarally remove the sending unit and install a pipe plug in the sender hole to block it off. If your leak quits, you've found your source. When I was 17 I got bit resealing an intake only to find out it was the sender all along. a lot of wasted time.
Re: Oil leak at top rear of engine (6/8)
 5/7/17 7:53pm
jeffs74coupe
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Fairfield, PA - USA

Vette(s):
1974 Stingray coupe 350/automatic


Joined: 9/16/2016
Posts: 8

After consulting with my local Hi-performance Chevy mechanic and race car builder, I removed the intake manifold.  Found the rubber gasket at the rear was glued in with a little red silicone, which was where the leak was (the silicone had blown out, the gasket was still in place).  cleaned off all surfaces, replaced gaskets on the heads )glued them down with Permatex "The Right Stuff" which was recommended by the mechanic, and built up about 1/4 inch of The Right Stuff at the front and rear of the block.  Torqued manifold back down, no more leaks!  Thanks for all the suggestions, it turned out to be what I had suspected all along.  By the way, the oil pressure sender is on the side of the block, there is a plug in the rear.

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Re: Oil leak at top rear of engine (7/8)
 5/7/17 9:04pm
manchestersharkLifetime Member
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Equinunk, PA - USA

Vette(s):
1972 conv, 4-speed, 350, 200hp, numbers match, rally wheels, war bonnett yellow w/white top. good condition, nice driver.


Joined: 10/31/2007
Posts: 2382

GREAT! Have replaced many of them the same way. BTW, the sender on the side of the block near the filter is ELECTRIC. The one on top of the block near the distributor is for the pressure line for the gauge in the cluster in the center. It is a wet line from the oil gally. It shows REAL pressure. Not electric.

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Re: Oil leak at top rear of engine (8/8)
 6/23/18 5:56pm
Snipescastle2
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Warrensburg, MO - USA

Vette(s):
1994 coupe


Joined: 6/20/2018
Posts: 3

If the previous owner installed the intake with the rubber seals at the front and rear of the block and also used RTV sealer, that would cause a leak, you want to use either or, but not both. HTH, Ben Smith
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