Engine: rear of 6 cyl oil leak

[bobkat820b]

first ... being new to Studebaker with my 1960 6 cyl Lark 2 dr sedan (red) i want to thank all for some great advise ... hear's my next problem that has me stumped ... when i park my car over night i find a large amount of oil ( maybe about a shotglass full which with oil spread out is a lot) on the floor on the passenger side towards the back of the engine ... it drips off the exhaust pipe support bracket ... i replaced the oil sending switch but that didnt help .... it seems to be coming from higher than the rear main seal ... any ideas?

[Skybolt]

It could be from the fuel pump mounting or the oil pump. I have had those problems before. Also the pushrod/valve covers might be leaking. If your engine is clean with original silver paint and you are using new oil it's hard to trace. Oil can get blown back from the force of the fan so even a leak from the front can appear to be originating from further back.

[bobkat820b]

thanks ... i have replaced the fuel pump (thats another story) .... and i still see a slight seepage there and also slightly from the valve covers ... i did tighten them but i still see the oil and as i mentioned its quite a bit after the car has sat for awhile ... nothing immediately ... anyway about the fuel pump ... i bought a new one and before putting it in i always check the action of the activating lever .. it seemed unuasually hard but i just attributed that to it being new ... well as you might guess i put it in and the car ran fine for about ten minutes ... then the activating arm broke off at the end that rides on the camshaft! ... so i put the old one back in ald all seems ok .. has anyone ever had this happen to them .. i have done many of these and i never saw that .... Bob

[Skybolt]

All I know is the one I bought wants to leak. I bolt one up from a bunch of used ones and it does not have that problem. As far as the arm goes I have not seen anything like you mentioned. Does the engine have the cork or neoprene valve cover gaskets? I have had better luck with the neoprene. I guess blow by might cause more oil to also come out at the pump.

[StudeRich]

If you have the original flathead 170 6 Cyl. Engine, then the Side Valve Doors have small holes drilled into the lower gasket surface of the block, these are actually valve lifter oil galleries. The factory fix for major leaks there was some small Carb Plugs, tapered lead type. When the "recalled" and fixed engines were rebuilt, the rebuilders would toss the plugs and then you have a build-in leak!