Timing cover plate seal against oilpan missing

7173Mustangs.com

Help Support 7173Mustangs.com:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Robsweden

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 18, 2016
Messages
490
Reaction score
145
Location
Sweden
My Car
Mach 1 73 351c
Hi

The other day I noticed a leak comming from the timingcoverplate. It was leaking between the plate and the block. I pulled Everything out, and when I was going to put back the timingcover I couldnt press in the halfmoon rubber seal against the oil pan. I tried but no. Time was running out and as I had RTV on the block and the gasket I just put the timing cover back. I squezzed in rtv in the Little gap against the oilpan.

Will it start leaking directly ? probably I have to lower the pan and put the seal in. Or can it be put in with the timingcover ?

Engine is 351c

Regards Rob

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Robsweden...

The way to really take care of the situation is to loosen, or drop the oil pan, remove the timing cover plate, and reinstall with a fresh rubber end seal. As you've just found out...it's one thing to pull the front cover off over those two solid dowel pins in the block....and another thing entirely to try to wedge the cover back into place with the oil pan bolted up. I know, I know, it's grimy under there and the crossmember of the frame won't allow the pan to just drop out should you desire to clean it out and install all-new pan gaskets.........but it's not the end of the world. Take your time and do a thorough job of it, and you will be rewarded with a dry undercarriage . You might as well also replace the harmonic balancer seal in the front cover plate, seeing as a new Timing Cover Gasket Set should come with the cover gasket, crank balancer seal, and the new half-round cover-to-pan rubber seal anyway. Perhaps you don't have the garage yourself there in Sweden where you can do this yourself, but most good mechanics can attack this issue for you on their shop's lift. But yeah, you need to drop the pan to put the front cover back on right.

 
Hi Spike and thanks

I have the Place to do it so I will as soon as possible. Will it leak directly or can it last some time ?

Regards Rob

 
You know, not being there to see it, I couldn't say how long your seal-up would last.  Oil leaks, like electricity finding ground, oft-times find a path not so obvious. If oil leaks are a gremlin with your engine, be sure the positive crankcase ventilation ( pcv ) system is in place and working.  I've had some customers whom I've built new engines for complain that they've got an oil leak problem,....only to find that they don't have a pcv system, or proper breathers ( in the case of a racing engine). So, make sure you've got a pcv valve in a hose coming from one valve cover to the base of the carb or spacer, and another hose from the opposing valve cover introducing air into the engine from the air cleaner assembly.

 
Everything else is in Place PCV etc. Il give a try to see how long it will last.

Thanks Spike

 
Back
Top