VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Oil Leak, Refresh my memory

How does the oil return to the crankcase from the timing gear case.
I put together a 32 engine to put in my 31 tow truck. It does not leak when running so I guess the slinger is doing it's job. after running for 15 minutes or so when I shut it off it will start leaking at the front of the motor and mark it's spot with a good 12 in. diameter puddle of oil and then stop leaking. I'm thinking that the oil builds up in the timing gear area and runs out around the harmnonic balancer. I put the front plate off the 31 motor on the 32 to use the one bolt mount for bolting the motor in place. They appeared to be the same except for the 2 bolt mount on the 32 vs. one bolt mount on the 31. I'm thinking the oil is not returning to the crankcase while runnning. If I run it for just a few minutes it does not leak. I'm wondering if the new gasket between the block and the front plate could be restricting the return of the oil.
Cleon

Cleon,
There is a drain hole in the front main bearing cap that might be plugged. The hole is located near the bottom of the timing cover and leads to the crankcase. Seems the slinger is ok but either too much oil is draining into the timing gear area or the drain is plugged. Did you put the oil nozzle in place? It drips oil onto the timing gear set. It it is not there then too much oil will flow into the timing gear cover. Or if the hole is too large might let too much oil pass.

Cleon Eck,

I had been battling the same problem in the past and I believe I resolved the problem.

There were several posting made on this forum over the past two years and the valuable experience dispensed by those that are in the know helped me pinpoint my particular front main bearing oil leak problem and it lead me to find that the clearance in the bearing was too large and allowed far too much oil to pass under pressure from the front main for the drain hole to accommodate.

Here are a couple of links to the postings that started me on the road to a solution. There are a few more I can look for later if you need them:

VCCA Chatter September 2005
VCCA Chatter November 2005

Mike

Chipper the nozzle is in place. I'm just going to have to dig into it and see what the problem is.
Cleon

Cleon,
The only sources of oil to the timing gear area are the nozzle, the front cam bearing (actually no separate bearing just a machined surface in the block) and the front main bearing. First is checking the hole in the front main cap. If it is clear then check the clearance on the front main. The other sources of oil should not be too much for the drain passage. However the front main can transfer much more oil if the gap is too large even when it is lubricated by gravity from the well above it.

Actually the front main on his 1932 engine is pressure lubricated and can pump a lot of oil into the timing gear area if the bearing is "loose".
I would remove the cap and see if any thing is out of place and remove some shims if possible.

In going back to refresh my memory, there was a thread some time back discussing this problem and the following was found. The camshaft retainer was bad in some way. This allowed the oil pressure fed to the front cam bearing to pour out of the front of the engine. You might check the camsshaft end play, perhaps the cam gear isn't pressed on all the way. If you could pressurize the system and watch the oil flow it might help.

Gene,
You are right on again. Got to thinking '31 truck and forgot the engine was a '32. Sure glad you and others are there to get me back on track. '32 was the first six with pressure fed mains and cam bearings.

Gene I did adjust the main bearings and I did press a new cam gear on the camshaft. I belive those 2 items are OK. I have gone on to freeing up the brake linkages for now. I find sometimes its better for me to go on to something else when I'm faced with a disapointment like this oil leak. And then get back to it later whith a better attitude. I will let you all know what I find after the holidays. Have a Merry Christmas
Cleon

I know the feeling when problems arise..been there/done that.

Merry Christmas to you and all the folks in the Lone Star State.

Update on the oil leak. I removed the timing gear cover this morning. I had forgoten it is not necessary to remove the oil pan on these engines and that was a pleasant surprise. I was dreading that. Any way I ran a piece of welding rod through the small hole directly under the crank gear, and put it all back together and it appears to have been the fix. NO Leaks. I wonder if the new gasket I installed between the block and the front plate was covering the opening. I did not feel a lot of resistance when I inserted the welding rod. Oh Well. Life's good again.
Cleon

Congratulations Cleon!

It is nice to hear that some major problems can be solved with the simplest fix on the first go.

Sounds like it was your lucky day

Must be one of the Garage Gremlins took his finger from the hole. Guess the light of day got him to find another hiding place. Sure is nice when a simple fix works.

Chipper, is that the same garage gremlin that hides my tools from me?

Save the welding rod and use it as a magic wand...Oscar

Could be or one of their cousins. There is a whole clan of them. Some hide tools, others flip switches, some even block passages or other annoying things. They are only mischievious not dangerous.

What ever it is that causes all this stuff, it bugs the crap out of me!