Does anyone have a non leaky FE?

[rsimoes]

Does anyone have a non leaky FE? If so, how did you do it?

[Woodz428]

I have built many non leaking FE's. The only one I can recall having a leak for a short period was an SCJ in a '69 GT a few years ago. He bought a correct # crank that had some pitting in the rear seal spirals and was fine until he switched over to synthetic. When he switched back , it eventually stopped leaking. Since I believe you purchased all new components, it would be a stab in the dark to diagnose from afar. Unlike what has been said at times, FEs aren't prone to leaking by design.

[4pipes]

I finally have one that doesn't leak, by paying attention to each source and driving them to zero.....but it's probably temporary and not really worth the cost. My Fe is all aluminum and since it is held together with ferrous materials the differential expansions can be enormous. After many heat cycles I think it may be unrealistic to expect them to not leak. I think one of the most effective insurance policies is to make sure that there is plenty of crankcase venting. At high rpm's the internal pressure is high enough to create leaks.

[pgermond]

Not a drop and over 5k mi

[Excaliber]

Mine doesn't leak, built it myself. How did I do it? Just paying extra close attention to the details. I spent considerable time on the rear crank seal for instance, making SURE it was right.

[427 S/O]

Ernie, Your post is almost word for word on my post earlier this week................Plagiariser

[patrickt]

because with poorly bult FEs you won't need it. Seriously, I'm tracking down a "one to two drop" leak right now. But as soon as I added the dye, the leak stopped! Wonder if maybe they put some stop-leak in with that stuff.

[blueovalfanatic]

I have had a 390 in a 63 mercury, and the 390 I have right now was in my 76 F100 for quite some time. Neither one leaked a drop.

Greg

[olddog]

At the Carlisle show this past weekend I looked under all the FE cars in the building with the kit manufactures. The cars were only sitting there for 2 days. The floors were painted. Most of the FE had oil under them. The worst had a 10" puddle. None of the small block cars had a drop under them. With the exception of one vender, they all admitted that FEs are oil leakers.

One guy claimed they have never had a single complaint or ever saw an oil leak on any of their FE engines. Their FE was one of the few there with no oil under it. I don't know if I believe his claim, although he seemed genuin and he believed it.

[lineslinger]

Originally Posted by rsimoes

Does anyone have a non leaky FE?
If so, how did you do it?

1. Yup

2. Aviation Gasket Sealer and took my time with each seal point.

[ceslaw]

I fear stating it too loud for fear of jinxing myself, but my Genesis 427, iron block, remains leak free. Had a minor leak from the rear engine seal during the first 500 miles or so, but seems that once the seals seated no more leak. Now has 2000 miles on it, all since it was registered in mid February, 2007. I regularly look underneath expecting to find a leak, but it is always dry. Perhaps it is just blind dumb luck. Hope it lasts.

[rsimoes]

Outside this forum, I was told to re-torque all of the bolts and the leaking should stop. I did find the ones I tightened to be very loose.

That being the case, why don't the internal bolts come loose too?

[blykins]

What's leaking?

[rsimoes]

Originally Posted by blykins

What's leaking?

Front of intake, some plate on the side of the block, oil pan, rear main and possibly the heads. . . 115 miles on the clock. . .

I hope to snug all of the bolts and make them all but rear main, go away. . . but the car is not with me right now. . .

[blykins]

Does it have a good PCV system on it?

And how are the heads leaking? Valve cover gasket?

[Cashburn]

This one better not:

[blykins]

Yeah, that's not wise to park an FE over a convertible....hehehe

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by rsimoes

Front of intake, some plate on the side of the block, oil pan, rear main and possibly the heads. . . .

The rear main might very well not be leaking -- don't even think about touching it until you've solved the easier leaks. The tricky thing with an FE oil leak is that the oil moves around on your engine and transmission and then drops from a different area than the true leak. I was leaving droplets directly under the lowest spot of my Tremec (and it wasn't trans fluid), from my bellhousing, and from a spot on the frame(!). My rear breather flange on my intake was leaking (solved with RTV) and the passenger side valve cover gasket was leaking. Both of these leaks were diagnosed with a "paper towel wipe" of the suspected area. Once I was pretty sure that I had stopped the leaks I still had a couple of drops under the car -- but not much. I added the fluorescent dye to the oil and after taking it for a long drive and letting it sit undisturbed for two days I again had a nice drop of oil, but the drop did not have any dye in it, and there are no dye trails anywhere that I can find. That drop must be old oil that had leaked earlier but not dropped. Again, another FE "mis-direction" when it comes to oil leaks; they can drop old oil that was hanging on any time they feel like it. You can make an FE absolutely leakless (even with a solid lifter cam) but it takes patience. Tackle one leak at a time and tackle the easiest first. And even when you have solved all your leaks, you will continue to drop oil for a while. That's just the way it is. The dye really is handy though, and a strong UV flashlight can be had for less than $25.