Oil pump leak

[Reg Evans]

My 42 coupe has developed an oil leak where the pump body meets the block. It's leaking at a pretty fast rate of about 1 drip every 5 seconds while running.

I have checked the mounting bolts and they are tight. Can the pump be removed without removing the distributer? I'd like to be able to add a new gasket between the pump and the block without removing the pump all the way because the exhaust system is in the way of removing it all together.

I'm also wondering what would cause this leak. The gauge does show higher than normal oil pressure. After the engine is warmed up it's about 45 psi at idle and about 65 while driving and the gauge needle flutters a little.

[Don Coatney]

Reg;

I once had a 71 Honda motorcycle. It developed a leak in the valve cover gasket (low pressure side same as your oil pump leak) and in order to remove the valve cover I had to remove the engine or hack saw out a section of the frame. I elected to hog out the valve cover gasket where it was leaking with a pin prick. I then cleaned the area of all oil residue and used a liberal dab of silicone squished in with my finger to seal the hole. I let it cure overnight and it never leaked a drop after that.

[Reg Evans]

So there is no way oil pressure is causing this leak then eh?

PS....I DO NOT have a pin prick.

[Don Coatney]

So there is no way oil pressure is causing this leak then eh?

PS....I DO NOT have a pin prick.

If, as you stated, the leak is from the pump to block gasket then this should not be the high pressure side. Of course if you use the pin prick you say you do not have to probe this area you would know this.

[Chester Brzostowski]

Reg,

I would think that as long as you didn’t allow the camshaft to move you could mark the rotor position relative to the distributor housing. Once done, you could remove the oil pump and then through trial and error reinstall so that the distributor rotor points to the same position as when you started. I am not sure if you can remove the oil pump completely while the motor is in the car. Blue skies would probably be of big help with your predicament. If I recall correctly he spent a lot of time screwing around in this area.

Chet…

[Reg Evans]

Thanks Don and Chet. It turned out to be a very easy job. I was able to pull the pump away from the block just enough to remove the very thin gasket that was there and leaking and install a new gasket that was much thicker. I guess the old gasket had compressed so much that the bolts were bottoming out before it could totally seal the area. The timing didn't get screwed up either. Now.....on to fixing the E brake and a hundred other things.