Help with leak

[ddp]

I posted about jerking in reverse. Have been searching and found this. Maybe got burnt when bought Jeep but was not leaking until recently. Is a few drops but seems to be getting worse. Maybe the pics will help someone to give me advice. You can see where the drops are I hope.

 

[Petescj]

Alot of times the oil comes from the valve cover gasket and drips down that way. The next likely culprit is the rear main seal. Your gonna have to clean it up and try and track where its coming from.

 

[Petescj]

And if yours has the plastic valve cover thats where I would start. They're prone to leak due to warpage and they dont mount like a traditional valve cover either. They use studs and nuts from the head instead of bolts around the outer edge of the cover itself

 

[ddp]

It looked reddish and was afraid it was something else. Just rechecked and it is oil. Thanks for answers will try to track it down. Was afraid it was something from transmission.

 

[Torxhead]

The plastic valve cover for the later 258s can be a problem if not sealed correctly, or any valve cover for that matter. I have got good results from good clean job on the contact surfaces and sealer to both surfaces. I have not have had my oem plastic cover off for about 15 or so years now. I did have a leak with the rear main seal once, and could not get the top seal out. I did not want to lower the crank, so I just put in the bottom side of the seal and it seems to be fine. Good luck with your leaky seal investigation.

 

[ddp]

It does have the plastic valve cover but looks like PO had just changed it. Looks clean and can find no leak even in back. So guess that narrows it down to main seal. Will it just keep getting worse and worse or will it stay about the same as far as amount of leak?
Thanks

 

[Torxhead]

It will get worse in time, from my experience anyway. When you do get around to repairing it you will also be able to clean the from the bottom of the oil pan and the oil pickup screen. Plus repair any other leaks on the oil pan seal. Keep an eye on it to determine if that is the only source of the leak.

 

[Petescj]

It will get worse in time, from my experience anyway. When you do get around to repairing it you will also be able to clean the from the bottom of the oil pan and the oil pickup screen. Plus repair any other leaks on the oil pan seal. Keep an eye on it to determine if that is the only source of the leak.

. Id still be cleaning up the area as much as I could to make sure where its coming from. That said if your getting oil on your clutch thats probably where its coming from. The only other place I can think of that would leak downward would be from the oil sending unit itself. It should be on the passenger side of the engine block and have a wire going to it. It may leak from where its threaded into the block.

 

[ddp]

I just changed the sending unit for oil pressure so will check that. Also just changed oil but not leaking from oil filter or oil plug. Did not leak a drop when first brought it home. Just started all of sudden but did jerk in reverse so that hasnt changed. I changed form regular castrol to Castrol GTX 10W-30 High Mileage Motor Oil. Not sure if that could have started it.

 

[Geep]

I just changed the sending unit for oil pressure so will check that. Also just changed oil but not leaking from oil filter or oil plug. Did not leak a drop when first brought it home. Just started all of sudden but did jerk in reverse so that hasnt changed. I changed form regular castrol to Castrol GTX 10W-30 High Mileage Motor Oil. Not sure if that could have started it.

Hmmm ! Strange what you said about the oil change ! The 73 CJ5 I bought about four months ago had a very slight oil drip, in the same area as yours. My plans were to address the leak this spring/summer so I went ahead and changed the oil and filter, the oil was very black, been awhile since oil had been changed. I used Mobil 10/40 High Mileage and now the leak is five times as bad, leaves a pretty good size puddle on my cardboard oil catcher ! Could it be that the new clean oil can ooze out easier than the old black oil ? Very strange !!!!!

 

[Reddrig]

Wow, picked up my 1972 a few months ago. Same exact thing, thick old black oil, had a drop of oil every day or two. Changed oil and all of a sudden the leak tripled in volume.

 

[Petescj]

Wow, picked up my 1972 a few months ago. Same exact thing, thick old black oil, had a drop of oil every day or two. Changed oil and all of a sudden the leak tripled in volume.

That happens sometimes when you change from regular old Dinasour oil to the new Synthetic blend.

 

[Posi]

If you switch from standard oil to the Synthetic on a high mileage engine it is not a good thing as Pete mentioned.

If your using standard oil on an engine that hasn't been properly maintained chances are the detergent is doing it's thing by cleaning the sludge that had previously filled seams. This can cause a more aggressive leak.

 

[ddp]

Probably what happened with mine. Was sort of hesitant to change to semi synthetic but did it anyway. Now the leak, but was still sort of jerking when in reverse before the change

 

[Geep]

I dont know what grade of oil was used prior but the oil I used was Mobil Super High Mileage 10W-40 not a synthetic

 

[ddp]

I dont know what grade of oil was used prior but the oil I used was Mobil Super High Mileage 10W-40 not a synthetic

Mine was 10w30 but was semi syn. Not going to use it next time and see what happens but since just changed will be a while.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

What engine oil is red? None that I know of other than ATF.
What color is your coolant?
There is a heater hose attached to the intake manifold near the firewall. Ck it for wetness.
Also-CK all of you manifold bolts to be sure they are tight.
You have a 33 yo car-it's go'n to leak.
Why did you switch to syn. oil? I would switch to 15W40 Shell Rotella.
I have 119K= miles on mine and have used 20W50 Castrol all of it's 29 year life.
LG

 

[ddp]

It wasn't red. That was what was scaring me. It looked like it had a red tint to it from the glare. I got a white rag and was able to tell. Age has affected my eyes. Not sure why I changed except the snake oil ad of high mileage oil. Antifreeze is green. All come back to not having glasses on.

 

[hole]

Ditto on the 15w40, except I'm a Valvoline guy myself

 

[Hedgehog]

I'm a 20w50 guy. Suddenly that isn't as easy to find as it used to be. 20w50 might be a little heavy for a northern climate, but down in the desert it doesn't seem to hurt.