Subject: [Spridgets] Oil leak - crankcase ventilation?

From: Matt Hendricksen <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:18:26 -0600

I've got a fairly bad oil leak while driving down the road.  It's bad
enough that I have oil seeping in through the seams in front of the seats
(which is why I haven't installed carpet yet.)  When I park on an incline,
I'll get a several foot wide puddle running out of the transmission
tunnel.  The engine otherwise seems to run well, with minimal smoke at the
tailpipe, smooth idle and power delivery.  It doesn't seem to leak when the
car is not running.  Looks to be coming out the rear main seal area.

My understanding is that I have a 1098 block with a 1275 head.  It still
has the dual SU carbs and pancake pcv valve.  The PO is the one that built
it, but sold it to me as an unfinished project a number of years ago
without putting any real miles on it, so rebuild quality is an unknown.
I've since worked on pretty much every part of the car except the engine,
so I'm a bit of a newbie on what to look for.

Could it be incorrect crankcase ventilation?  How would I go about
diagnosing such a thing?

Many thanks
Matt
'65 Sprite MkIII
------------------------

[email-masked]

Archive: http://www.team.net/archive