Engine: '62 GT 289 4 sp leaking engine oil

[San Diego Ron]

At first thought oil drain plug was leaking but now see it is coming from above drain, would it be rear of oil pan seal or rear engine seal and what is involved in fixing this problem? Thanks

[PackardV8]

Yes, could be either, probably both.

First step is to gently tighten all the oil pan bolts. Reefing on them will just make it worse.

Also, check the rear of the right cylinder head. It's not uncommon for a leak there between the head and block to drip down and appear to be at the oil pan.

jack vines

[E. Davis]

Or the distributor gasket. Oil leaks down the back of the engine and looks like it is coming from the pan area.

[San Diego Ron]

I will start by cleaning valve covers; heads; back of engine; clutch with cleaning solvent to see if I can track down actual leak.

[StudeRich]

Try to find the HIGHEST point that Oil stains exist, it could even be the Oil Gauge Flex Hose at the Top of the Block, actually on the Head !

[bensherb]

When my '62 GT 289 leaked like that it was the rear pan gasket. After reading much about changing the pan gasket in the car , on this forum, I decieded to pull the engine and turn it upside down to do it. I have the tools and space so it only took an hour to pull the engine. It took FAR longer than that to get the gasket to stay in place long enough to install the pan. Then another hour to reinstall the engine. While I had the engine out it made it easy to clean and detail the engine and compartmemt, replace freeze plugs (core plugs) after cleaning out water jackets and reinforce the oil pan edge so the bolts no longer distort it.

[altair]

Check your breather if plugged oil will leak everywhere and nothing will fix it.

[PackardV8]

Check your breather if plugged oil will leak everywhere and nothing will fix it.

Also a good suggestion. Does your engine have a PCV or breather and road draft tube? We've seen both plugged and or missing in various ways. In one case, somehow the road draft tube had gotten bent closed. No idea how that could have happened, but it's up out of sight and took a while to find the problem.

jack vines

[altair]

Just incase someone is unsure of the relationship between the breather system and the oil leaking, the crankcase pressure will increase uncontrolled and the increased pressure will force oil through a gasket or seal. Replacing gaskets or tightening gaskets will not fix it, personal experience.

[blackhawk]

This has been my experience also. On two occasions, a plugged down draft tube resulted in the 259 V8 engine in my '61 Lark blowing most of the oil out through the filler pipe. One time, the down draft tube plugged with mud while driving through frost heaves during spring breakup. The other time, moisture froze in the down draft tube while driving at -60 ℉. After the second experience, I installed a PCV and ditched the down draft tube. That fixed the problem.
Dale

[Jeffry Cassel]

Our '62 Hawk appeared to have leaking rear main seal. It turned out to be that stupid rubber oil pressure gage hose. And it wasn't over 2 yrs old! Don't do a major repair that doesn't need to be done! Like these guys all said diagnose! Oil leaks are tricky 'cause they run all over the place ,but always down. Wipe everything down and place a clean piece of cardboard under the motor. Then you can see where the drip falls, but that only gives you a starting point. In my case it was dripping from the rear main seal area but the oil was running from the hose down the rear of the right head and along the rear of the motor to the vicinity of the rear main/ back of pan.

[r1lark]

Just to make sure that the comment E. Davis made on post #2 has been seen, here it is again:

• 
  #2.1
  E. Davis commented
  01-13-2022, 02:39 PM
  Or the distributor gasket. Oil leaks down the back of the engine and looks like it is coming from the pan area.

I can second this, on my '55 E7 (V8) pickup, there was an oil leak at the back of the engine that I couldn't find. Finally found it when the distributor was pulled to do some preventive maintenance on it, and found the thin gasket had significantly deteriorated.

[altair]

I would think that if he distributor seal was leaking a quick look straight down with a flashlight would reveal the fresh oil around the base.

[San Diego Ron]

Problem solved, oil pan bolts were hand tight at best

[firestoper 25]

Very glad you found the leak, as I have said many times.......why do manufactures paint their engines BLACK ? Do we recognize how easy it is for the Chev (bright orange) or the Pontiac (bright blue) folks to find oil leaks? What is it with this idea to make it as difficult as can be to keep a dry engine?
So before you ask, yes when I have a Studebaker engine out of the car - the color by magic changes to a light metallic blue by Pontiac. Strange how that happens around here ! As a famous fellow say's on this forum - your results may vary.

[San Diego Ron]

While under car to pull out a broken emergency brake cable thought it would be a good time to change leaking oil pan gasket and rear main seal. Had been searching posts here about doing this while under car, I had found posts here about doing so and now making some progress. Picked up new gasket set but not rear main seal kit…either out of stock or delay in shipping. Half a$$ me going to change gasket but not rear main, believe damaged gasket that was causing leak in first place not rear main.
Oil pan pulled and the many dents hammered out, cleaned and painted. Unable to find post where was shown how to put a slot in bolt to clean threads before screwing on pan. Sure wanted to Thank the person for that great and helpful trick…it works. Ended up using that bolt along with another, cutting head off and using grinder to make screwdriver slots to use as guide to help hold gasket in place and set pan in to position…not today, had enough for this one, but wish me luck and I have fingers crossed that I can get it back together. Being 81 years old and crawling under car is not a lot of fun.

[5brown1]

Here is how I did it while the engine was in the car.

https://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/forum/your-studebaker-forum/tech-talk/1937567-v8-pan-gasket-replacement-follow-up

[Morris Van Horne]

How did you handle the front of the pan gasket where it runs under the timing cover? Did you pull the crank pully and cover, or cut the gasket and seal the heck out of it?

[oilnsteel]

Black is the best color for an engine from an engineering standpoint. Something about a black body radiating heat.....
JT