[western star]

I am trying to figure out which plan of attack to use here. The pan gaskets were new a few months ago and the motor never leaked alot of oil but lately I am getting oil dripping out of the flywheel inspection cover from the little hole at bottom. I got underneath it this morning and removed the cover to have a peak. The clutch is dry as is the flywheel but the inside of the bellhousing is wet. Something is throwing it around in there. I looked up between the flywheel and the motor and it appears to be dry. There is oil around the rubber gasket at the back of the oil pan. If it is a leaking pan gasket how would the oil get inside the bellhousing? When I put the new pan gasket on I used silicone on both sides of the cork but did not use any on the rubber gaskets. I usually do but for some reason I forgot to. If it was a rear main seal, where would the oil drip to? I also thought that if the back of the pan was leaking it is possible that it's running down the tin cover and catching the lip on the flywheel inspection cover and in. Just trying to avoid pulling the trans and clutch etc if it's not the rear main seal. Any ideas?

[DoubleVision]

first off, be positive it`s oil and not gear oil, the smell should tell the difference, gear oil after many miles of use gets thin like motor oil does and looks almost the same. if it is gear oil then I`d say the front seal in the tranny is leaking, check the gear oil level in the trans and see if it`s low, if it is it`s a good possibility it`s the seal. if you think you should change the gear oil I`d recommend moroso`s "climbing" gear lube, this stuff climbs the gears with a sticky action that helps the shifts become real smooth and almost effortless, it also reduces trans wear. being it`s thicker it may reduce the tranny leak all the more.

[302 Z28]

Agree with Doblevision, but you mentioned the pan gaskets were new, why? I would suspect the rear main oil seal.

Vince

[western star]

Sorry I should have said that before. I did suspect the trans at first but I changed the oil in the 3 speed recently and replaced the rear seal also. The trans is tight. I checked the level and it's fine. The oil that is coming out is definatly not gear lube. I changed the pan gaskets because we had the engine out replacing the cam, intake etc etc and repainted the motor. Replaced all the gaskets. When a rear seal leaks, where will the oil end up usually?

[el]

im in the same place the rear pan seal is leaking like a sive i its ok on start up then beginns to flow/ what pattern of leakage may identify a rear oil pan seal leak

[1970CamARo(327)]

my 327 leaked all the time. we changed the seals 3 times and it wouldnt stop leaking, the oil senser was lose on top where the manifold was and the oil went all the way down to my tranny. i got that tight and good but i still had a leak. i looked at my oil filter and it had not been put on right, the seal on it bent to the side when we put it on, maybe you should take a look at thses 2 places and see if that could be it, and maybe your manifold might be leaking from the back aswell. but it dosent hurt to take a look.

Good luck