For quite a few years I’ve had a nagging issue of a slowly dripping oil leak. I like to claim my car is just marking its’ territory. I only need to add a quart during a typical show season. But I still find it embarrassing and wanted to address the issue. The leak can be seen as a drip of oil on the bellhousing inspection cover. When the car is parked in my garage an oil spot on the floor is also visible directly under the inspection cover. If I had to guess as to the cause, I would guess either an oil pan leak or a rear main seal. It was time to do some diagnosing to try and find the cause of the leak.

I started by removing the inspection cover and cleaning it thoroughly. I didn’t see signs of a rear main seal leak, so I reinstalled the cover and cleaned the area around it as best as I could using brake clean. Next, I checked the oil pan bolts. I found they were a bit loose, so I snugged them up. After a 30-mile test drive I checked for the leak. The inspection cover was still dry and clean. I was hopeful at this point in time that I might have solved the problem.

After another 30-mile test drive I checked, and the drip of oil was back again. The oil pan was still pretty clean and dry, so I started looking at the top of the engine. The head behind the driver’s side valve cover was dry. That side of the intake manifold was also dry. Then I checked the passenger side head behind the valve cover. It was a bit damp with oil. When I checked the valve cover bolts, I found them to be slightly loose just like the oil pan bolts. I snugged them down as well and cleaned off the back of the head. I haven’t had a chance to test drive yet to see if this was the leak. I’ll update this post once I know if the leak has been fixed or not.

There was one last oil system issue I wanted to address. Whenever I did an oil change the dipstick would read overfull. I vaguely had it in the back of my head that the original dipstick tube had been damaged or broken and I had either used one from a spare engine I used to own, or I had reinstalled the broken tube. Either one of these could cause the dipstick to read incorrectly. A new dipstick tube was rather expensive, but I took a gamble, purchased the dipstick tube and installed it. To my relief, the dipstick now reads exactly full when the oil pan is full. The dipstick is difficult to insert, but I’m hoping that will loosen up over time.

I’ve begun cleaning up the car and organizing the trunk for the upcoming show season. I hope to have the oil leak fixed before I make the trip to Cruisin’ Ocean City in the next two weeks.