52 hornet 308 rear main oil leak

[Deleted User]
[Deleted User]
edited November -1 in HUDSON
Engine was rebuilt 4 years ago but not installed till last year and has maybe 600 miles on it any ideas how to fix with out pulling engine gary

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  • Geoff
    Geoff Senior Contributor
    Ypu will have to at least drop the sump and pull the rear main cap off to inspect things. It could be the packing up the sides of the cap, or the ends of the seal not fitting tightly. If it is the seal itself, there is no easy fix. The lesser evil would be taking the transmission and flywheel off, to give access to the seal .
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    per Geoff - not an easy job; is easier if most of the steering links are out of the way. Paul Largetype (Schuster) can provide a 2 piece molded seal; one must devise a "puller" for the bearing cap - I used a piece of angle iron & a washer stack to pull the cap. When reinstalling the cap, you might consider checking bearing clearance with plasi-gage shims - will assure that everything is just right. I didn't and now that the seal started leaking again after 3-4 months, I have to suspect that bearing clearance is suspect. (I didn't start with a fresh rebuild like you). Hope it all goes well.

    J Cronk
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    My Pacemaker Deluxe's 232 engine rear main seal use to leak like a busted dam. After an oil change or oil refill, the car would leave a trail of oil drips until about 2.5 quarts leaked out. Stopping at a gas station would often leave a puddle of motor oil about the size of a hand. After years of this frustration, I had a shop experienced with Hudsons pull the engine and transmission to do the job right (it can be done with the engine in place too, but the shop found it easier this way). The transmission with overdrive/Supermatic was removed from the engine as well as the oil pan dropped to access the rear bearing cap. I had the traditional rope oil seal, purchased from Dale Cooper ("plug!"), used to replace the worn one. While the engine was out I also had the timing chain, timing gears, oil pump gear, transmission pilot bearing and throwout bearing replaced. In fact, even the engine was painted silver before putting it back in the Pacemaker. Anyway, no more rear main seal leaks!
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    No dissagreement with any other comments mind you, but that is a lot of work/expense . Don't know how this stuff will work on that type of seal , but it's magic on revolveing seals . I've been using it as preventive maintaince for about 15 years . TRI-SEAL , it softens and swells seals . think I would give it a heavy dose , 2 cans , drive it a couple hundred miles and see what happens , if it slows it down it's working, drive it some more . just leave it in there do not drain and refill oil . then toss in 1 can with oil changes , before I went to pulling the engine . Look up HAPCO PRODUCTS on the net , you can get it from them if your parts house does not have it . BUD
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    WHOOOHIEEE, I did the search for kicks , what a mess the net has become !! OK, pretty sure this is their phone number---586-758-3220. I get mine local from a parts house . BUD
  • Geoff
    Geoff Senior Contributor
    This stuff most likely won't work on the rope type seal normally used in Step-down engines. Jet was the first time Hudson uses a decent type neoprene lip seal, and it may work on these, but usually a leak is a sign that something needs to be fixed properly. My Hornet leaked badly out the rear seal - left a constant trail behind it, and the underside of the car was liberally rust-proofed with engine oil. Problem was twofold, there was no pan gasket, and the sealant used had been wiped off in places as the pan was installed. Plus, somebody had got a hook of some sort in the seal, obviously trying to remove the bearing cap. I got lucky, just replaced the bottom half of the seal, and it hasn't leaked a drop since.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    hudnut52 wrote:
    Engine was rebuilt 4 years ago but not installed till last year and has maybe 600 miles on it any ideas how to fix with out pulling engine gary
    Walt here. If you have my tech books, if not, try to borrow one, open volume two (2) to page 11 and read rear main oil leak. There is no short cut for this leak. This is the only bad feature about the Hudson oil pressure engine. It was corrected in 55 and 56 with a neoprene oil seal, which, with a little machine shop work can be installed in the 48 to 54 engines. Big bucks.
  • Clutchguy
    Clutchguy Senior Contributor
    Dale Cooper now sells the correct,neoprene rear crankshaft oil seal for the Hudson big 6 engine. This IS NOT made for something else. I also believe that the teflon rope looking seal that comes in the engine O/H set works very well. The only problem with it is that you cannot pull it thru the slot to replace it.Something else that will create a leak is the crankshaft sealing surface. It is not unusual to find these pitted. This can be a leak you will never stop,but I have found the teflon seal in the O/H set does the very best at resolving it. No more sticks are supplied in the O/H sets. These are just a short cut and usually end up leaking. Cotton packing works the best. CG
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Really my guess would be no gasket under the 2 halves of the oil slinger . Seal should'nt shrink/dry out if never used
    KD TOOLS available at O'Riellys still sells a tool to pull the top half of rope seals thru the block/crank passage . I think it's Part # 492 . I had one about 40 YEARS AGO AND THEY WORK GOOD . You run the tool thru, attach the seal, pull it thru and cut flush the excess. BUD
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Had a couple 308's back when but never have opened one up . Now that I see it that seal can be replaced using the KD TOOLS seal installer tool and the rope seal without puling the engine . Your puller looks like what I made except I added a vertical piece about 3/4 inch tall to the top side to keep it from bending on a really stubborn one BUD
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