Got a not so good oil leak

[laneysbrat]

In despearte need of help. I recently put a 2.9 liter out of a 1989 ranger into my 1988 ranger. It was pretty much a direct bolt in. The darn thing runs great but I have a oil leak. I have eliminated valve cover gaskets, o-ring at dist. and pretty much everything on top end. Its all new. I am thinking rear seal, but it does not leak at a idle, only when you take it for a drive and then park it, big oil spot. Hate to pull the trany if I can get out of it. Is there any easy way to check the rear seal for leaks, pull starter maybe etc. Any surefire tell tale signs that screams real seal leaking other than a oil puddle. I am a old fart and have a tough time crawling under that thing and looking up into the bellhousing. Any advice would be greatly appreiciated. Thanks Jim from Montana

 

[Big Jim M]

Howdy Jim from Montana.. Blowby pushes oil past the rear main seal. The faster you drive the more blowby there is. This internal pressure is vacuumed out by way of the PCV. If the PCV is inoperative or not doing it's job to the full extent, you may get this oil coming out the rear main seal.

So what I'd suggest is to first install a new pcv and clean the pcv hoses to insure it is doing all it can.

Worst case leaking, is to place the pcv hose MINUS the valve itself directly to a vac outlet. In the past with really worn engines I have used 2 hoses from the top of the valve cover directly to a vac source.. Stopped the leak too!
Big JIm (Texas)

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

you can add some oil dye to your oil and buy or borrow a UV light to trace it. ive pinpointed all of my leaks fast this way (except for one that we wont talk about).

 

[laneysbrat]

thanks guys, I will check hoses and put new pcv valve in tomorrow. If that don't do the trick I will add some oil dye and give that a go. I will let you know how it all works out.
Thanks again, Jim