Working on 442 this evening, came across this sitting where the manifold and cylinder heads meet, little puddle of oil. Stuck a napkin in there to soak it up and more to its place. Not sure what happened, been driving it around this summer no issue, and never seen this before. Not sure where the rtv went. So do i need to pull the manifold and reseal it?

 

Try retorquing before resorting to pulling the intake.
Is it leaking anywhere else?

 

Not leaking anywhere else. I can put my fingertip in there and feel a gap. I'll try retorqueing.

 

Ive heard of guys putting some sealant in with a syringe.
Personally, I’d dab it with a napkin every so often and not worry about it.
(but I’m lazy…and if a race car isn’t leaking oil…it means it’s out of oil)

-peter

 

I would suspect a valve cover leak. But it might not be that. If thats what you got after several months, it might not be worth pulling the intake manifold.

 

I guess my concern was that under pressure oil would be shooting out of there. Would that not happen? Could i dry it up the best i could and shoot some rtv in there to try and seal it?

 

There is no high pressure oil in that area. You are either dealing with crankcase pressure pushing a little oil out past the gasket or as was mentioned a valve cover leak.

 

^^^^this

 

Just make sure to clean the area really well with some brake or carb cleaner to degrease it first, or the RTV will never seal.

 

I have had several 455 with aluminum manifolds collect oil there. I never figured out the problem. I would guess it’s coming from the valve cover.