Oil leak after boring and hot tanking.

[pszikszai]

I have a 259 full flow engine that was bored and hot tanked.
I also had the shop replace the freeze plugs.
After I rebuilt and installed the engine I developed a pretty series oil leak.
It appeared to come from the torque converter at first then the rear main.
I pulled the engine removed the transmission and bell housing and torque converter.
When I started to remove the flex plate, I noticed and empty bolt hole roughly about an inch below the distributor in the back of the engine. I never replaced these and was not checking it when I assembled the engine.

I will reassemble the engine and test it on a test stand.
In the meantime has anyone had similar experience and/or do you think this missing plug is a cause of such oil leak?

Thanks
Paul

[Transtar60]

I think that plug seals up the oil galleries, but dont have a block easy to get to and look at.



3E38
4E2
4E28
5E13
7E7
8E7
8E12
8E28

59 Lark
etc

[StudeRich]

Very definetly Paul! You should have noticed a serious drop in oil pressure after the re-build! That "bolt" is actually a machine thread small oil gallery plug for Dist. shaft lubrication! It was a flat headed, standard slotted screw head plug that barely protrudes from the surface. You should see an oil stream going down the back of the block, now that you have the Torque Converter Housing off.

So you did not have a main seal leak, you had a major flood going on there!

Since that has happened I would also check the 1/8" pipe thread plug deep inside of the Distributor tower behind the "core plug" and all of the rest of the rear oil gallery plugs that this "machinist" removed to clean the block and maybe never replaced.

quote:Originally posted by pszikszai

In the meantime has anyone had similar experience and/or do you think this missing plug is a cause of such oil leak? Thanks Paul

StudeRich -Studebakers Northwest Ferndale, WA

[pszikszai]

That was the fix.
It resulted in a lot of work.
Pull the engine, remove transmission, torque converter, plug the open hole, put it back together, put it on a test stand, test it.
I still have to shoe horn it back into the car.
The work was done by one of the oldest machine shops in South Bend.
Laugh or cry?
Paul

[A1956GoldenHawk]

quote:Originally posted by pszikszai

<snip> The work was done by one of the oldest machine shops in South Bend.
Laugh or cry?
Paul

Paul, sorry to hear about your recent problem. Were you dealing with Kaley's?!?!

My experiences with Kaley Motor Service go back to 1962/63. I had them do similar engine work to yours back in the 1995/96 time frame, but quickly learned I had to "guide" their new(er) people through every step of the process. Sadly, long gone are their old "experts" who knew everything there was to know about Stude engines.


The older I get ...the better I was!

[pszikszai]

Yes, that is the one.
I will be more alert next time.
This kind of thing seems to be the norm everywhere now days.

[DieselJim]

Kaley's have done a lot of work for me with no trouble. Due to the their high cost, I now have my neighbor, retired auto shop teacher from South Bend, who has a complete machine shop in his garage do my work. Jim