Technical Ford 292 Y leaking oil

Hi All,

Thanks for the help last week figuring out my swapped ignition wires.
This seems to be my last problem from a new refresh....until the next one.
The 292 is leaking oil from bellhousing, which i though was due to a poorly installed rear main. I pulled the bottom cover off to find the area behind the flywheel to have the least amount of oil, especially none dripping from the rear main. It does not seem be the seal, but oil coming from below the intake manifold, running down the right head and bellhousing, then leaking down inside the bellhousing and starter mating area. Once inside the bellhousing it runs down the walls to the back by the transmission, where it drips out.
This is the current ***umed path, but where could such a high volume come from? I know the flywheel speed will spray oil everywhere but not having any drip (after shutoff and sitting) from the rear main seal cap indicates another culprit. Any ideas? ( after last drive i had a 6" drip area under the truck)
Since I have oil coming along the back side of the valley cover on the p***enger side, running by the distributor, is there a specific place i should look at?Although it could be the headgasket what are the chances coolant isn't leaking as well? (The gaskets are new and everything was cleaned upon installation although no sealant was used on the cork gasket)
Could there be any other known areas that i'm not familiar with?
Has anyone seen anything similar that was not the rear main?

Any help is appreciated, and thank you for your inputs.

Andrei

 

valley pan

 

Hi squirrel,

That's my first thought, but why so pronounced after only less than 30 miles and only below 3k rpm. It went from a few drips to much more in one 5 mile drive under 40mph


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I had a 55 ford with a 272 that leaked oil out the rear main seal as fast as I could put it in. One day I replaced it with one of those chinese finger trap kits. Before I ****oned it up the ol' man told me to pry up on the crankshaft....clunk clunk..up down, up down. Must have been 1/16th inch gap in the main bearings! The new seal lasted 15 minutes before it oiled down my new clutch. Hope yours is something easier.

 

I did something similar except on the engine stand. I didn't rebuild the bottom but pulled the internals down far enough to properly install the carbon rope seal from Best.
My though before diagnosing was exactly what you experienced, but looking in with a light i can't find a drip by the crank or appearing to come out from there. That seal was packed in so hard i though it would start a fire before it would leak.
My clutch side is dry as of now, but i'm sure it soon enough it will get contaminated.
I plan on cleaning everything with alcohol then running the engine at 2k for a few min to see the drips build up. I don't have the balls to sit underneath and watch, with the fear of a flywheel chopping my head in two, but i have a snake camera that may help. Thats happening tomorrow if no other alternatives arise.

Thanks for the fast replies guys,

 

I know I tightened the valley pan bolts a bit too tight on one, and warped it...made a big leak!

 

Y- blocks are like old Harleys. They leak so you know there is still oil in them. Tear it down , rebuild it to make sure the crankcase pressure doesn't force oil past all of the seals and gaskets.

 

The only shure fire way to fix a leaking boat anchor Y Block is to swap in a FE or any better design engine. Now you might retro fit a PCV and then your crankcase pressure wouldn't blow oil past the gaskets. Back in the day the rear main was usually the only leak. They almost never leaked from the valve cover or valley. Because the oil p***ages where clogged up and no oil was getting to the top of the engine. Yes I know im being mean and abrasive. But you will eventually find out im being factual.

 

One thing hasn't been mentioned yet. Ck to make sure there is a short bolt in the last hole in the cylinder heads. Both holes are open through the head to the last push rod on each side. Make sure they're both short bolts or you can bend a push rod.

 

The ***le of this thread could have been called, "Water made me wet"

 

Seriously though, I know you said it's not the rear main, but that's always my go-to first culprit for "big" oil leaks. That being said, I'd pose the question to you as to the condition of the engine as whole. Does the engine smoke a lot or have a lot of blow by? Are you running breathers on your valve covers? I've seen engines, the tired mopar in my '57 included, literally blow oil out of the engine in the form of crank case vapor, and cover pretty much everything in the engine compartment, to the point where it would drip from a low point, giving the impression of a leak from a single source. If the engine smokes and burns oil, just **** it up and rebuild it.

 

Got a 272 Y in my 57 F-100 and it leaks out of the oil pump cover. Might check that.

 

The oiling system sits almost entirely outside the engine, wonderful design, it's like it was an afterthought that it would need an oil pump, etc.

Take your time, you'll find it. There are a lot of possibilities, so you'll need to hone your troubleshooting skills.

 

You're not wrong there, it's almost comical that all of that stuff is just stuck on the outside. It's one of the things I like the most about the B/RB Mopar, which also has an external oil pump, though the pickup is internal. However, Milodon makes a kit that replaces the oil pump cover and allows for the installation of an external line to the sump, which is awesome since it allows for infinite possibilities for oil pan sump location and clears a load of space in the bottom end of the motor for whatever size crank you can stuff in there.

 

Thanks guys, you are making me regret my choice to not swap in an ls3.

I might have overtightened the valley cover but that fing gasket is so thick I wouldn't believe a stream leak. Valve covers don't leak, verified and done twice. Knowing I will have leaks I have installed a crankcase vacuum pump that I'm still sorting. For now I'm hoping that will redirect in the intake instead of the driveway


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And no no smoke or burning anything. 120psi cyl pressure warm on my worst


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I know it's a pain to pull the intake to play with the valley pan, but if you can't find anything else, you might as well do it. The gasket is thick, but there is not much pressure on the gasket, so it doesn't get compressed like you hope. The flange on the pan needs to be flat, and if you warped the pan, it won't be flat. It bends in strange ways, because of how it's built with inner and outer panels.

and it can dump a surprising amount of oil.

 

I figured it out.
Yes I have a leak at valley pan.
It got bad because I installed the vacuum pump. Which at the time was disconnected. I blocked the oil fill vent off and suctioned the rear 1/2" port. The culprit was the clear line that I used, which was disconnected, got hot, fell against the exhaust manifold, and sealed shut. It created a high pressure system in the crank case which caused the gaskets to puke out. For now I'm hoping vacuum will keep the leak at a minimum


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It'll be interesting to see how bad it is after you get the vent system straightened out.

 

I was going to say that the only time a Y block stops leaking is when it runs out of oil. An inspection camera might be helpful in finding it. Harbor freight has one for $70 and you can probably find a 20% off coupon.

 

I have a camera, it's useful here and there unfortunately I painted everything black, so black oil is invisible


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Glue the gasket to the cover with 3M Super 77 adhesive.

 

Wait, I'm confused. To the best of my recollection, the Y block has a road draft tube off the side of the block, with a little filter/separator and straight line down for the draft. Even if you blocked off the oil fill tube vent into the valley, the crankcase should still be able to vent through the road draft tube and purge any crankcase pressure to not literally blow out gaskets. Squirrel, help me out here. I've got a car with a Y block now but all I do is pull them out and put in better engines!

 

I'm ***uming that he blocked off the road draft tube somehow.

I would just leave all that vent stuff stock, and try to fix the leaks as much as possible, then park the car out in the dirt so it doesn't cause problems. At least, that's what I did with that 292 equipped edsel I had.

 

The side of the block has a block off plate the only vents are the oil fill, the rear pcv vent and dipstick


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I was always intending to build a vacuumed system, now I wish otherwise


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I would check out some of the Y Block pages on Face Book. To many naysayers on here to give you good advise. I have owned 3 y blocks. Never had a major oiling issue.

 

The early 60,s Y block engines where sometimes equipped with a PCV. and the factory blocked the road draft canister opening. Apparently your truck has one. Make certain that its working. The hoses and PCV valve do sometimes get clogged up. And if your engine has compression leaking past the rings & pistons . Its likely that when you increase RPM that there is simply too much blow by for the PCV and oil filler breather to handle. If that is the case you can change gaskets and seals forever and never stop the oil from leaking. Possibly you might add a road draft canister in addition to your PCV and oil fill breather. Save up your money and spend it on a high dollar rebuild of the Y block or a replacement engine.

 

I traded a Bay mare with black legs for a 55 ford truck with a 56 car 292 holley tea pot carb over 50 years ago. (that carb is advertised in the Hamb cl***ifieds.Probably have owned in the neighborhoob of a hundred Y blocks since then. And not any one of them was anything to brag about. And in a lot of those Y block vehicles I breathed a copious amount of blow by fumes. ive seen crankcase fumes wafting up out of the steering collum! Yea shure Mummert and some others do wonders with Y blocks. But look at how much effort time & money they spend correcting design flaws. Squirrl actually had a bit of success with his Y block Edsel. But ya Gotta admit he isn't the run of the mill shade tree mechanic.

 

I agree, and regret my decision to stick with the y block. It wasnt worth the effort and money to keep it.
It does run good for what its worth but its a gutless wonder and heavy as hell. I sooooo wish for an ls3 or the mustang coyote motor right about now.