New crate motor leaking get rear main seal

[dirish]

Leaks more than the motor I took out. Day one.
Less than 200 miles. I'm happy with everything but the leak. 290hp, manifolds, holly 670, flowmasters.
Shop that installed said they couldn't do right away.
(Took 6 weeks to swap simple 350, but got the friend price ) what's the odds a Chevrolet dealer would fix this? Thanks in advance. Ifor I do pay what is going rate? 1972 k5, 4x4, th350.

[lks dcvn]

Wow - not sure how to respond to this. Will the shop not honor their work - even if you have to wait a bit or are you just moving on to a different shop?

I'm sure they can fix anything for $.

[dirish]

Originally Posted by lks dcvn

Wow - not sure how to respond to this. Will the shop not honor their work - even if you have to wait a bit or are you just moving on to a different shop?

I'm sure they can fix anything for $.

They will honor it, but I have reservations. I hate to wait, and theven owners dad has a few months to live, Imy the least of his worries. Would love to drop off in morning drive home in afternoon. I have a huge dealership by work, I may stop by and see what they say. ....... on a good note she runs great! ..... stay tuned

[dirish]

Picture

[Maximus]

I would document the problem with the shop, get an estimate of the duration of the repair. You undoubtedly paid a decent amount for the engine, I would be polite about it but see what your options are with the original shop.

[Tom Vogel]

Is that a GM engine?

[dirish]

Originally Posted by Tom Vogel

Is that a GM engine?

Gm crate motor 290hp.

[cleszkie]

I had a high performance 383 SBC built for my Blazer - full roller, one piece real main, oil dipstick hole on passenger side of block. The engine came complete from intake to oil pan, EXCEPT they didn't provide an oil dipstick. So I went to my local parts house and grabbed a dipstick that had the year range that my block fell under. Long story short - my engine leaked out the rear main seal right off the bat! Come to find that I was overfilling the crankcase with oil based on markings on the dipstick that were not correct for my block. My static oil level was up over the rear main seal! Did some more research and found another SBC oil dipstick with same year range of application with the oil level much lower on the dipstick. I verified that this oil level kept the oil below the rear main seal, but the pan full. No more leaks.

Moral of the story - make sure your dipstick is correct for your block. There are apparently a couple variations out there with different oil levels. Rear main seals are not intended to have standing oil behind them.

[dirish]

Originally Posted by cleszkie

I had a high performance 383 SBC built for my Blazer - full roller, one piece real main, oil dipstick hole on passenger side of block. The engine came complete from intake to oil pan, EXCEPT they didn't provide an oil dipstick. So I went to my local parts house and grabbed a dipstick that had the year range that my block fell under. Long story short - my engine leaked out the rear main seal right off the bat! Come to find that I was overfilling the crankcase with oil based on markings on the dipstick that were not correct for my block. My static oil level was up over the rear main seal! Did some more research and found another SBC oil dipstick with same year range of application with the oil level much lower on the dipstick. I verified that this oil level kept the oil below the rear main seal, but the pan full. No more leaks.

Moral of the story - make sure your dipstick is correct for your block. There are apparently a couple variations out there with different oil levels. Rear main seals are not intended to have standing oil behind them.

Easy check, i'll change the oil. That is a possibility, I will have to look to see where it came from. Dang, that's just crazy enough. ........

[52napco]

It's not the shops problem... unless they provided the engine....sounds like you bought the engine and had them do the install...only thing they are liable for is their labor if they left a bolt
Loose etc..

[hemi43]

Not sure what oil you're using, but even though this is a new engine, it still uses some old school sealing technology like the oil pan area. Some may argue this, but don't run synthetic oil unless the engine is specifically designed for it. If you were to put synthetic oil in the original engines our Blazer came with, you can guarantee they will leak.

[dirish]

Oil is Joe Gibbs break in oil, I'm using the pf 454 oil filter. I was thinking since the filter is shorter would it take a full 5 qts. This would bring cklezkies into the mix. I ran it Yesterday just idol to temp, no leakage? I'm going to change oil this weekend, it's do to go in shop Tuesday.

[Ken B]

Originally Posted by 52napco

It's not the shops problem... unless they provided the engine....sounds like you bought the engine and had them do the install...only thing they are liable for is their labor if they left a bolt
Loose etc..

I agree with this statement 100%

With that said, I installed a new GM crate engine in my 70 Longhorn this past summer myself. I worked at a Chevy dealer for many yrs. so no problems with the install. My engine leaks from the rear main as well. Its a two piece seal... Its not enough to worry me at the moment but I keep a real close eye on it.

[dirish]

Originally Posted by Ken B

I agree with this statement 100%

With that said, I installed a new GM crate engine in my 70 Longhorn this past summer myself. I worked at a Chevy dealer for many yrs. so no problems with the install. My engine leaks from the rear main as well. Its a two piece seal... Its not enough to worry me at the moment but I keep a real close eye on it.

Not blaming the shop, I do question that they followed the break in procedure, do to I brought a case of oil and brought home 7 qts. Meaning they didn'the change oil. What else did they not do? Not sure even if this would cause a issue or not. This shop our friends for 20 yrs. Very busy with life on top. Not throwing blame, just need to get fixed to enjoy the ride. No leakage yesterday? Possible the seal has swelled, or fixed it self?

[cleszkie]

Two other things to consider:

1) Did you happen to check to see if your valve covers were leaking? When the rear of the valve covers leak, the oil runs down by the rear main seal, and can make it look like the rear main is leaking. Stamped steel SBC valve covers are notorious for leaking.

2) Are you sure it is engine oil that is leaking and not ATF? If your auto tranny pump is leaking, it can also make it look like the rear main is leaking (I see an auto tranny flex plate in your picture).

Just some thoughts from my personal experiences tracking down leaks.

[dirish]

No valve cover leakage. Not trans fluid.
I'm gonna check more tonight, but no leak at idol.
Wethersfield is good today, I'll put some miles on it and really check.

[Ole Beater]

In that picture can you tell if its coming from the pan to seal joint or the seal to crank joint?

[dirish]

If you look real close you can see it beed. I think camshaft side. It seems to be less than it was. I tightened pan bolts a tad.

[D.PASSMORE]

The first GM crate motor I bought years ago showed up with a rocker arm loose. The pushrod could be removed with some jiggling. Check everything out as this reminds me to verify everything on the GM crate motor I have on the stand in the garage. Thanks and best of luck.

[Ole Beater]

Either way its still a pain in the butt to replace a rear seal. Another thing to check are the three cam oil galley plugs on the rear of the block. Would be a huge waste of time to replace the pan seal to find out you still have oil leaking out back there.

[dirish]

Update, Serra Chevrolet close to me is going to fix.
Covered in warranty. Besides that runs great! Not sure why others don't like the 290 crate. I don't drive hard, she seems to drive better every time we go somewhere.

[geezer#99]

Would you happen to have a pic of the top of your motor that I can see?
Just curious!

[dirish]

Picture

[geezer#99]

I see your pcv but don't know if you have a breather on the passenger side valve cover?

[dirish]

Originally Posted by geezer#99

I see your pcv but don't know if you have a breather on the passenger side valve cover?

I do, I was running the stock set up with 3" spacer.
I wanted to keep carb cleanl, and clearance issue I went with a 1" spacer and this cleaner. There is a kn filter in valve cover now.
Bad picture