Good morning people. I own a 72 olds cutlass supreme 350 sbo 4bl. Its my daily driver and last week I noticed a few drops of oil around the oil pan gasket. I went under and tightened the screws around the pan and noticed the gasket spreading. So surley I need to replace. Not my question is how can I tell if the rear main seal is leaking? The leak has began to leak more and im wondering what caused the leak (gasket failed, engine ran hot). Im a novice mechanic and need all the help I can get. Thanks yall

 

Has the engine ever been rebuilt? If so, who did it?

Not gonna lie, sometimes i see a couple drops of oil around my oil pan.

Rather than looking at the glass half empty, i consider it free rust protection.

-Tony

 

My grandfather and I rebuilt it in 2001. He was one of them old dudes that had knowledge for days. Miss him now more than ever. He worked his entire life rebuilding engines from gasoline to deisel and its has been running strong since the build.

Man thats funny ! I usually dont let a lil oil scare me but its been hot as satans underpants down here and the leak is getting worse. Im sure the gasket is falling apart for a quarter turn pushed the gasket apart.. Just wanna find out how to tell if the rear main seal is leaking. I can tell from just looking from underneath , but there is a bead of oil in the area outside the seal..

thanks for the support

 

Hmmmmmm, i believe the original seal was a rope seal correct? If so did you guys change it to a better one when you rebuilt the engine?

I think best way to locate an oil leak is pressure wash the bottom of the engine, clean it really nice, and see where the leak is coming from. But yeah, you've got 5 quarts of oil in that engine, i dont think a couple drips (unless it gets worse as you say with the screw tightening) would hurt anyone.

Cheers,

Tony

 

Man not sure as far as the original and yes we upgraded seal. I was only 17 yrs old when we did it and was learning as we went. I am still a novice in my book but me and my manual and this site can do it. Im gonna install new gasket then clean real good before putting the starter back on. Hope its just the gasket

Cheers bud

 

Did you try to tighten the oill pan bolts? If the gasket was recently replaced, they could be loose due to the gasket compressing. Mine did just that. Snug them up with a nut driver - a ratchet will easily overtighten the bolts and warp the pan.

 

Anyone have a picture of the tightening sequence and torque values? I'm on my iPhone and it's hard to cut and paste (damn apple), gimme a few mins I'll see if I can pull em up

 

Oil pan bolts = 10foot pounds, I'd prolly convert that and use an inch pounds wrench tho, I prefer that for engine work.

Cheers,

Tony

 

I have plans to replace the gasket tomorrow and will use nut driver instead. I'm gonna inspect the pan and check if it is warped..

Thanks