Oil leak from distrib.

[Jeff Pozorski]

Have a rather severe oil leak from the front of my Manta. Replaced the front main engine seal and proceeded to clean up all the old oil and sludge. I even removed the alternator and cleaned it along with the mounting brackets. Reinstalled everything and took car for a spin. Discovered that the seal wasn't the main source of the leak. The top of the alternator was covered with oil, which I am assuming is coming from the distributor. My questions are: 1) is the gasket for the distrib. a special type or can I make one out of gasket material of the proper type, 2) the distrib. hold down bracket bolt did tighten up a little when a put a wrench on it. Is this all that holds the distrib. in place? Lastly, any special tips for doing the gasket on the distrib?
Thanks as always,
Jeff Pozorki
73 Manta

[cucumbershampoo]

as far as i know the bolt that hold down the alternater should be tight since you loosen it when you are turning the distributor to adjust the timing. when the bolt is loose when i am adjusting the timing, no oil spills out.

[oldopelguy]

Pop the oil filler cap, put your hand over it, and rev the engine a couple of times. Usually leaks in the Dist area are a result of high crankcase pressure, in my experience.

[Jeff Pozorski]

What could be a cause for high pressure in the crank case? What should I be looking for?

[baz]

worn/broken piston rings or a head gasket gone to an oil return or as in 1 case when i opend a ford a hole in the piston
it is best tested for with a compression tester as 1 or more of the cylinder pressures will be down
if you put your hand over the filler cap hole and rev it you will feel an increse in the pressure a little is normal but if its trying to bolw your hand up its time for a rebuild

[Gary]

What could be a cause for high pressure in the crank case? What should I be looking for?

Could also be something as simple as the small hose, metered vacuum line, to the carb being plugged or disconnected.

[GTJIM]

Make sure the seal and the surface it seals on is undamaged!

[houserc]

You may run into a problem with the distributor hold down bolt if it is tightened down too much. The block is aluminum and it will strip out.

I ended up drilling, tapping, and inserting a Helicoil for my distributor hold down bolt.

If you need to do that, just make sure none of the cuttings fall into the distributor hole.