Oil Leaks

[Chuck W.]

I have two really pesky oil leaks; one on the engine and one at the transfer case. I thought the engine oil leak was either the drain plug or the oil pan where the skid plate is welded on. Over the last two days, I have spend a lot of time wiping and cleaning the bottom of the engine and and now, I hope - hope - hope, I found it! I replaced the gaskets behind the spacer and the fuel pump, and so far, no leak!

The transfer case, well, nothing has worked so far. Fixing to try the UV dye.

[Rus Curtis]

Had to remove my txfr case 3 times to fix 3 different leaks.

Good luck.

[PercyUK]

I had a leak in mine that turned out to be a pin hole fault in the actual casting!!! As I had only recently fitted it I used a bit of aruldite or jb weld to fix it and it's been good ever since. If I ever take it out again I'll weld it up.

[Chuck W.]

well, knock-on-wood, the engine oil leak is fixed. UV dye for the transfer case is next.

[PercyUK]

One down, one to go, happy days

[Chuck W.]

Well, still have the engine oil leak. By all indications, it appears to be leaking from between the bottom of the oil pan and the skid plate. I am starting to think that I may have a cracked weld. I'm going to see if I have a good take-off oil pan in my stash.
Transfer case leak still looks like the speedometer cable, not sure what I can do about that.

[SteveKfl]

Hey, Captain SIMPLE here... Question: Is the oil level too high that the speedo cable is in oil?  Just asking, as I am not a 4WD guy, but my tranny doesn't have the speedo cable location below the oil level (BW OD R10 tranny) nor does the original T96 either.  I'm just wondering out loud why that would have so much oil to leak there.  Sorry if my question seems out of line.  Just trying to learn from others with obviously a lot more experience in case I encounter such issues to diagnose some day.  Thanks for your posts, and GOOD LUCK! 

[farm1810]

Has anyone successfully replaced the rear main seal on a L-134 using the lip type seal and the engine still in the Jeep?  I have seen YouTube videos of someone using the sneaky pete tool and the rope seal.  Just curious. 

[Chuck W.]

I have spent most of the afternoon with the Jeep up on the lift, with the engine running and the transmission in gear, and have not really found a thing! I got one drop of oil at the transfer case drain plug, but it's as tight as I can get it, thinking about just swapping the TC oil pan out for one off of a D18 from an M38A1 that I have.
As far as the engine oil leak, I can't see a thing, other than there is some oil between the engine oil pan skid plate and the bottom of the oil pan. I do have a good oil pan that does not have the skid plate and I'm thinking about putting it on and see what happens.

[BillT]

Chuck I had a leaking oil pan a few years ago but did not have an extra one. One leak was a weld where the skid plate attached to the oil pan, silver soldered it. The other leak was the drain plug, JB Welded that one. The JB has held up well.

[BillT]

farm1810
I have replaced the lip seal with the engine in place. Was I successful.... no. The seal I used was the Best brand. I think it’s a good seal but it doesn’t allow for a crankshaft with wear. I next tried a Crown brand. I didn’t even test it because it fit so loose. I put the old Victor seal back in and used it until the engine was rebuilt. I honestly cannot remember what brand it was.
I can very well be wrong but I don’t think you can install a rope seal with the engine in place.
You can find a lot of discussion on the seal replacement by doing a search on this site and the 2a site.

[Chuck W.]

The jeep sat on the lift all night last night, after I ran it for an hour or so yesterday, and, sure enough, there was a fresh puddle on the floor this morning under the transfer case. I tied a nut to a piece of string to use as a plumb bob, and traced the drip right back to the drain plug.





So, I pulled the pan off  and will replace it with another one.

As far as the engine, no puddles this morning, but there still seems to be a lot of oil between the pan and the skid plate.

[Rus Curtis]

I hope that's it.

For me, I could see that leak trickle down to the lowest point, i.e. the plug, from where the gasket is.  My favorite method for finding leaks is to spray/clean/dry the area (sometimes I have to spread out a bit if my first attempt found nothing).  Once clean and dry any new oozing/dripping can be found with a dry paper towel or dry fingers.  From there I work up until I find the source.  If I suspect a bolt, I clean and wipe around to ensure dry for a check later. 

None of the holes on your cover plate were puckered or cone shaped from over torquing?

[Chuck W.]

This morning, I found a puddle under the engine. I used the same plumb bob method and traced it back to the bottom of the fuel pump. There was a drop of oil on the bottom of the fuel pump. The pump was rebuilt a few years ago by Then-And-Now, and I just replaced the mounting gaskets about a week ago. My friend reminded me that the mounting bolt holes are through-holes into the the engine, so I'm going to remove the bolts one at a time and use some sealer on the threads. If that does not work, I'm going to buy a bigger drip pan.

[Chuck W.]

Quick update on my oil leaks. Changed the pan on the transfer case, once I got the old one out where I could inspect it, looks like the leak was around the drain plug boss. I may have done this when I was trying to get the plug out shortly after I got this jeep, it was extremely hard to get out, had to use a pipe on my pull handle.