Re: Eric's 1956 Patrician STS Restoration Project

Posted by Eric Boyle On 2007/3/20 11:49:57

Something new for you guy's: You already know my difficulties with harmonic balancers, so this last weekend, I decided to try and find out the source of my oil leak. I now have a new timing cover seal on the front cover, and I don't have a leak there. So, I was thinking that since it's high up on the engine, it must be either the valve cover or the valley pan. I took the car to the car wash, cleaned off the engine with degreaser and a nice high pressure wash, and decided to drive it for a while to see if I could locate the source....

So, after driving at highway speeds for about an hour, I arrived at a friends house for a BBQ. I got out, popped the hood, and guess what? about 1/2 a quart was on the top of the engine! (I figure this by the dipstick reading) I start looking around, the valve cover's dry, the valley pan is drenched, and then I notice it: the oil filler tube....

Now, I had to shorten my oil filler tube about 3" to clear the supercharger, but this shouldn't matter. (And it did this before I cut the tube and put on the S/C) I pulled the tube out, and siliconed up the bottom end of it where it goes in the block. (the sides, NOT the end where the oil goes through!!) then drove it home.... Same thing when I got home, oil all over the tube!!

This has got me wondering, and looking pretty hard, then it hits me like lightening! The tube, is on the passenger side of the engine... the tube has NO baffle of any kind to restrict oil from flowing UP through the tube, it's just a straight tube. I found the old oil filler tube from the 374 that came out of the Pat, and low and behold, it has a baffle! So, when you have a straight tube above a spinning timing chain that's throwing oil UP the tube, you get one heck of a mess that's taken me quite a while to figure out what was causing it.

My reason for posting this is, if you notice oil on the valley pan area, take a flashlight and look down the oil filler tube, if you can see all the way through, there's the cause of your mess. OR, you can take your dipstick and stick it down there, if it goes down more than the height of your tube, you might need to find the baffled version. I don't know if this is a running change from '55 to '56, but my '55 Hash engine didn't have a baffle, while the '56 Packard engine did. One thing is for sure, I don't have any oil consumption anymore, and it was all because of that dang tube!