Hitchcocks Forum

A bit of a dumb post but here goes

I have just finished rebuilding my 53 Meteor and needless to say it's leaking oil apparently from the rear of the oil tank..
All oil ways were blown through and everything was thoroughly cleaned prior to reassembly.
I thought I had carefully assembled the engine using new seals, gaskets and nuts and bolts etc.
All mating faces were checked with a straight edge prior to assembly and coated with Wellseal.

The crankcase halves were glued together..
I'm at a loss at the moment.. I'm considering making a paper gasket to go between the crankcases..

I'm wondering if I've missed something obvious.

I fitted an O ring between the crankcase halves where the rocker oil feed oil ways abut abd its not leaking from there. I also fitted a grub screw into the oil way below the cylinder base and its not leaking from there either..

Needless to say the engine will be coming out again..
I was wondering whether the leak could be from one of the gearbox mounting studs ie working it's way along te thread... These were assembled using copperslip on the threads
Tom

Tom
My sympathy...!
When I rebuilt my ‘59 Connie I had exactly the same problem. It was pi55ing out of the rearmost stud at the bottom of the oil tank, running along the stud and out. I cured it by partially counterboring the stud hole in both crankcase halves from the gasket face, inserting a small brass tube and sealing it all with a Loctite black silicone product (can’t remember the reference number I’m afraid). I used the same Loctite product all round the crankcase mating surfaces too!
Job done, good luck!

Could you fit sealing washers on the stud? Like a thinner fibre one between the crankcase and the gearbox then a bonded seal one under a domed nut? Then if oil is getting into the stud hole, it'll stay in there.

If you can wind the studs out from the back, you might be able to do it without removing the engine.

Well i'd be trying harder to identify exactly where the oil is coming from rather than the soul destroying task of removing and tearing down all your hard work.GB stud leakage,can you remove those studs by using a locking nut and removing studs one at a time in situ?If oil is traveling down them somehow they will have oil visible on them.There are plenty of thread sealers that should deal with and stop oil migrating along a thread.
Did you repaint oil tank with Glyptal?to deal with any porosity in the alloy?
Could you use a dry powder to narrow down and identify the area that oil is escaping.
What sort of breather are you using?Personally i think modern Reed valve types are best and will create a proper vacuum
inside engine.
Finally i had an Interceptor that suddenly started leaking oil,the breather was found to be completely blocked

Meteorstorm wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 01, 2020 10:05 pm

Finally i had an Interceptor that suddenly started leaking oil,the breather was found to be completely blocked

In fairness, yes, when the end of the duckbill on my bullet got folded over, it pissed huge amounts of oil from places I didn't even know were supposed to be oiltight in the first place.

Dont take the engine out till you have located the leak. Wash off thouroughly and dry it off then with the wifes talcum powder ( sented or not) throw or blow talcum around the area of the leak. I suppose flour would work. Run the engine again and any leak will show up on the flour.

You must locate the leak or you cant fix it.