Oil leak by distributor hold down

[TimG427]

I have Kirkham #561 and there's an oil leak by the distributor hold down bracket. I thought it may be the oil temp unit, but that is not the source. Could the oil be coming from the distributor?

[carmine]

Distributor O-ring might be missing.
Remove distributor and check.

[kevins2]

My distributor leaked a bit even with the o-ring. The engine builder added a second o-ring and that stopped the leak.

[Tom Cimino]

This is one of the places where the FE motor is unique. The distributor passes through the intake manifold and if the manifold is not centered on the engine, you will have a leak at the distributor. To repair this type of leak you will have to re-install the manifold, using the distributor as an alignment tool. You can check if the manifold is centered by removing the distributor from the engine. Remove the o-ring from the distributor and re-install the distributor without the o-ring and check if the gap between the manifold and the distributor is even all around the hole. If it is, you can replace the o-ring and that should be the end of the leak. Note that the o-ring is not round but kind of wedge shaped with the wider part of the seal toward the top of the distributor.

[TimG427]

Thank you all.

[WardL]

I had a very similar oil leak and found the intake manifold very loose when I re-torqued it. No vacuum leaks, but manifold needed tightening. Not sure that was even the leak as the valve cover was even looser and the primary source of the oil leak. Make sure those two items are to torque limits before you start taking things apart. If you do take the distributor out, make sure you mark the position of the inside rotor. I didn't and had a little "fun" trying to find the timing to replace the distributor.

[undy]

I had a Blue Thunder intake the the distributor hole was off a full 1/8". The distributor wouldn't even drop in.

[Rick Parker]

Another (band aid) way short of removing and realigning the manifold, would be to apply a bead of RTV around the body of the Distributor where it passes through the manifold AFTER the final timing adjustment and rotation of distributor was arrived at, with the hold down removed and then carefully reinstalled. this would probably be hidden by the Distributor hold down and not be visable.

[blykins]

I use a little white lithium grease around the seal. Doesn't harden, but helps to seal it up.