Oil leaking from distributor!

[68Valiant]

ok i fired up my engine (finally!) and broke it in......I shut it off and proceed to change the oil but when i look down i see a big pool of oil under the car. i got scared and thought it might be leaking out of the rear main seal or something. I get under it and there is no oil around the pan just on the side of it and dripping off the bell housing. then i get out from under the car and see that the oil was coming from the bottom of the distributor. With the gasket i just put it on and put the distributor in. was i supposed to use sealant? but then how would i use it to time it by turning the distributor?

[pishta]

check your oil pressure sending unit next to the distributor, leak prone. did you use a gasket under your distributor? Sometimes there is even an O-ring on the distributor.

[68Valiant]

just keeping it up to the top. i need help with this! yes i did use a gasket but with no sealant. was i supposed to use sealant?

[jfs mopars]

Also make sure the oil is not coming from the intake manifold end seal area. Did u use a seal or silicone or both? The oil sending unit, dist. o ring also very good places to look.

[68Valiant]

i gooped the back manifold seal with Ultra Black pretty good, it could be coming from there how can if fix it without re-doing the manifold?

[jfs mopars]

I would check the other items mentioned above first. The manifold end seal is usually only a minor leak. If it is determined that the end seal is leaking, I have carefully picked out seal and/or sealant before with an icepick type tool, cleaned area well, and resealed with a good rtv(silicone) sealer, without removing manifold. This is far from a recommended proceedure, but sometimes it will get you by for now.

[Rug_Trucker]

If it is leaking from the manifold don't mess with anything other than pulling the manifold off and doing it right. You can leak enough fAST ENOUGH to do permanent damage to the engine due to lack of oil. I blew an engine last year cause of that.

[fat bastard]

Hey 68, when you say big pool of oil I am thinking "BIG pool of oil" right? If so, I would think your oil pressure sending unit especially if it is NOT the electrical type. If it is the mechanical, remove the unit, get new compression fittings and try again. An easy way to check the source of the leak is to clean the "oily" area very well and use a dye, have a friend start the motor and shut it off imediately at the first sign of the leak.

[tsteiner61]

My vote is for oil sending unit. I had one just blow up on my brother-in-laws '77 360, and his complaint sounded exactly like yours. Put in a new sending unit, problem went away. FYI...it was an electrical sending unit of which I speak.