I recently replaced my lower intake manifold and had a thread on it. It had a broken tap in it. Since then I have had oil leaks. I have no codes. I used Felpro rubber end gaskets and had leaking. I got advice on the forum about using sealant and JUST RIGHT was highly recommended so I removed the manifold and used it as recommended. I was still getting bad leaking around the distributor and from the back. I had a manual oil pressure gauge and assumed it was leaking and replaced it with a stock unit and cleaned up the manifold and went back on with new manifold gaskets and Permatex Ultra black per a Felpro specialist. It was installed and torqued as recommended. I am still getting leaking around the distributor and it doesn't appear to be coming from the manifold. Lots of oil leaking on the floor, which it had been doing previously, looking like it is coming from the back of the manifold. I will check on that later. My question today is the leaking around the distributor, which may be going to the back,??? and I have replaced the o ring twice on the distributor.
Right now I would like to fix the distributor leak and see what happens. Again this is the third time it has leaked in this area. It appears to be the stock unit so it is old. I am 99% sure the leak is not coming from the front of the manifold. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated. Sandy

 

wonder if they gave you wrong thickness o-ring, say need 3/16" and they gave you 1/8", or it could be oozing through shaft(red arrow), instead of hold down seal, or not seated good, and when clamping bolt is tightened, it binds instead of pushing down, makes it pull to bolt/clamp side, and leak is at back next to intake china wall.

 

I just cleaned the area up and put a wrench on the tool for the dist hold down bolt. I have been hand tightening it. I got some movement and took it out for a mile or so and the area is full of oil again. The hold down clamp does not seem to be binding and is sitting level as it should. My original o ring was cracked and brittle. As I said I tried one that was fatter than the original with no luck and then went to a thinner one which is on there now. Both seem to fit snug. This last time I bought a box of different ones. The leak does not seem to be at the china wall and I reinforced it good when I put the Ultra black and JUST RIGHT on. I will try different o rings tomorrow and see if I get satisfactory results. If I don't, could the distributor be worn enough to cause this? I have never heard of anything like that but my experience is limited. Sandy

 

That is a strange issue. Have you thought about getting a reman distributor? They aren't super costly usually for a stock unit.

 

I bought a Fel-Pro distributor o ring today and it is still leaking. I am not sure if it is leaking at the manifold or distributor. The bad leaking happens under load. I have probably a half quart of oil under the truck now and the area around the distributor is full of oil again. I can't really see the back of the manifold to tell what is going on back there until I take it apart. Having used just right and getting these results and now Ultra Black and it's still leaking is making me run out of ideas. Maybe the fourth time will work but I am not anxious to start for a few days. Sandy

 

You could always go to a local junkyard and pull a distributor from there and throw on all your new parts you got.

Not to be rude whatsoever or seem like a bozo, but where did you put your o-ring on?
From personal experience I've had problems just from user error.

 

I'll post some info and pictures tomorrow when I can get on my puter. Sandy

 

The gasket I had on there was to thick compared to the Felpro one that is for the 460. I was still getting leaking but only after driving it for a short while. Just idling the leak does not appear around the distributor. Dripping under the truck seems to be residual . Since the leaking was happening only after driving it I believe pressure was causing the leaking since I know the last two manifold repairs were done properly. I disconnected the PCV and leaking was minimal and maybe residual. So I put a new PCV in and the distributor leaking after driving now is minimal. After cleaning the underside and letting it idle for about 15 minutes I have no leaking. I will drive it tomorrow and see what happens.
If leaking occurs tomorrow after driving I am thinking engine pressure is causing it. If you think this is reasonable, what vent lines should I look at that could cause pressure build up? Diagnosing this after all I have done is very difficult but I think I am on the right track. I hope so. Again no codes and running great. Sandy
For the distributor replacement recommendation, I just don't see that as possible assuming the o ring is doing its job. But I will go back to that if this issue continues.

 

Thats great that you are on getting it sorted. I was just suggesting a new distributor in case the base of the old one was worn out, as a possibile cause for the leak.

If the pcv checked helped, then just make sure the vacuum lines are good to go and hooked up.

 

Start the engine let it get up to operating temps and remove the oil cap while its running...If a huge genie puffs in and out you've got an internal problem causing alot of positive crankcase pressure....

Thats the reason why Im changing my 5.8 in my 91 F250 after 565,000 miles and started around 500k with a problem like yours then it steadily got worse...The oil didnt want to stay in the engine anymore and sprayed out of everywhere due to massive blow-by and it got so bad I literally had oil coming out of the crank snout at the balancer bolt too but it still ran strong up until I ripped it out recently to replace it with a custom built 408..................LOL

If you run your truck on synthetic oil your bottom ring and oiling grooves could be crystallized and stuck or sticky causing the blow-by...An engine cleaner like Rislone may help..Good Luck

 

just a thought but if the intake is warped where it's supposed to seal might that cause it to not seal and leak?

 

Thanks for the tips guys. No genie. But I would trade the truck for Barbara Eden in her hay day any time. Da Lariat, before the Ultra Black install last week I put two straight edges on the intake to make sure it wasn't warped. They were both flat as a pancake, so I proceeded.. Now the good news. I used my air and blew out every line I could think of that could be causing a pressure build up. I took it out on my normal test drive route and NO OIL around the distributor and no leaking under the truck. I spent a good hour cleaning everything last night planning to blow it out today. Got my fingers crossed for it to stay dry. One note to any 460 users. On the 460 Forum there are a lot of threads about leaking around the distributor. From what I read I don't think it is a real common issue but certainly not uncommon. There seem to be no cut and dry fixes. Some use sealant or a gasket etc. Anyway thanks to all that supported my thread with ideas, I really appreciate it a lot. Sandy

 

I was more of an Elizabeth Montgomery fan myself. But Barbara Eden would work too.

 

I hope it works out for you...When my truck had a bad intake gasket it was constantly evacuating the pressure from the crankcase on my engine and after I sealed it up is when I started getting oil flowing from my airbox and down the fender then I used the airpump as an evacuation device and the oil killed the vanes then I used the venturi effect from the T pipe behind the heads until the ports became sludgy and stopped sucking and thats when I got tired of putting the wrong kinda time and money into a sinking ship and decided to bite the bullet and put back the same price my truck was brand new back in 1991 [$23k] and rework the whole truck better than Ford ever dreamt of building it... I couldve spent 40-80k on a brand new truck but no new truck will ever last the initial 29 years mine did let-alone the 29 more thats ahead......

My 2010 Dodge 1500 quad cab w/Hemi is lifted 36" with 36" tires and the lower rockers under the doors on both sides have nothing left to them and my Ford has very minimal rust compared to that truck and 19 more years of age behind it too........LOL.

Good Luck