VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Oil leak between engine and bellhouse

Hello,
my 1930 Chevrolet roadster has an oil leak when I start the engine, after a few minutes the oil leakage stops. What can be the cause and how can I repair it.
And how can I take out the clutchplate without lifting the engine out of the car?

Hello chevybensman,
Try a computer search, type in: '1930 chevy-clutch removal'. This should take you to the VCCACHAT.ORG discussion. Three pages long but worth the reading. It discusses both the oil issues and clutch removal without engine removal procedure. Repair and Shop manuals are mandatory as well as photos and drawings to refer back to. There are tips on how-to also discussed. Oil may come from numerous locations, such as 1. back of valve cover. 2. overfilled oil pan/crankcase. 3. plugged roller ball drain in rear main bearing cap. 4. leaky oil pan gasket/loose oil pan bolts. This discussion explained how the clutch and bell-housing area got oily even though the rear main/crankshaft area where dry=leaky oil pan gasket-road speed flowing oil aft into an open slot/gap in the clutch/flywheel inspection cover. Anyway, lots of stuff to consider. Keep us posted.

Hello Harrys31 coach,

thanks for your reply, I will have a look the pages you told me. Number 2 and 4 I allready have done and both options are oke!
I have allready lookes in the Chevrolet repair manual 1929-1932 six -cylinder cars and trucks, but I cant find the location of the roller ball drain. I hope I can find it after removal of the oil pan.
I will keep this thread when I have news.

Hello chevybensman,
With regards to the roller ball drain located within the rear main bearing cap. It was found that if the vehicle was parked facing uphill on a steep hill, oil from the oil pan would flood the rear main bearing area and leak out behind the rear main bearing and into the flywheel/bell-housing area. I understand that the front and rear main crankshaft bearings are not pressure oiled like the middle bearing is. Oil is allowed to flow thru the bearings and drain back to the oil pan. The rear main crankshaft bearing cap employs a drain shaft that has a roller ball within. It is retained from falling out by a pin. It's job is to rest against the pin under normal conditions and allow oil to flow around it back to the pan. When the vehicle is pointed uphill, the roller ball rolls rearward to seal off the drain shaft and stop oil from the pan from leaking out the back of the engine at the crankshaft. With sludge and gum the roller ball could become stuck in the blocking position and not allow oil to drain to the oil pan. Therefore oil pools at the rear main with no place to go but out the back of the engine. If I am not correct about this, others here will set things correctly.

Hello all,

Today I removed the sump pan and indeed saw the hole with pin and the ball. The ball is indeed stuck and does not rest against the pin.
Now my next question is: How do I get that ball loose, I've tried several things, but it stays stuck and doesn't move. Now injected penetrating oil and hope that it comes loose. Does anyone have a way to get the ball loose?
Thanks in advance.

Here is a picture of the pin and ball
[img]https://myalbum.com/album/5ZNdA5oVcN7o[/img]

You should be able to take a piece of mechanics wire and poke it against the ball and break it loose. Keep spraying penetrating oil, or some type of cleaner to clean the ball and its bore to help keep it from sticking again. However the oil draining out may be an indicator of a further problem. There is an oil pocket above the bearing. When the engine is turned off that oil can drain out past the bearing if the bearing clearance is out of specs.

While the pan is down, take the cap off and clean it proper, The ball on my 37 had a pin you could drive out and take it apart. Then you could check the bearing clearance. No more than .0015.

I agree that you should remove the ball if possible. The one in my ”˜37 had a hard coating of dried oil and dirt on it. The drain passages were also coated and needed cleaned. The build-up prevented the ball from sealing properly and restricted the drain flow.

Remember to clean the groove that the slinger fits into. I sprayed brake cleaner and used a piece of safety wire to clean the portion of the groove that is in the block.

Hello everyone,
after a night in which the penetrating oil was able to do its job, I went to look under the Chevrolet again and with a light tap against the ball it came loose and rolled nicely against the pin, also nice clean oil flowed from the pipe. After that I cleaned the pipe with a thin pin and checked if the ball was nice and clean, and that was clean. The ball was pushed back a few times, and each time it came back against the pin without any problems. Then sprayed penetrating oil against the ball and in the corridor again and then clean everything thoroughly again tomorrow.
It looks like the problem has been solved.
Thanks for all the reactions

Hello chevybensman,
With finding out that the roller ball was stuck, you should inspect all of the lower engine for sludge buildup and clean those areas also. Tell us if your oil pan bottom had sludge or not. Do a thorough cleaning job now and have no regrets later. What is the issue with your clutch assembly?

I agree with Harrys31coach that a thorough cleaning of the bottom end is in order. Don't forget to clean out the oil reservoirs that feed lubricant to the main and cam shaft bearings.

Cheers, Dean

Don't forget about old fashioned pipe cleaners. If you see a package at an estate sale cheap its always handy to pick some up. They work great in an instance like this.