How bad is this? Looks like seepage around the intake.

[1949plymouthdeluxe]

I've owned this car for about 4 months now and it seems like it runs fine. I've always noticed this little dark area around the intake area. Didn't really pay that much attention to it until yesterday when I had a leak in my fuel pump and happened to be shining my flashlight around there a little bit more. That makes me think that there's a valve that is either sticky or not closing properly. Or something else that's worse. 

 

So.. if the car seems to run and drive fine should I just say screw it and keep driving it?  I feel like my Mercury likes leaking things too. But I'm not as familiar with these engines. What do y'all think could be causing this?

[JBNeal]

If'n you're really curious, pull that carb off and report back as to what the inside of that intake manifold looks like.

[Dan Hiebert]

Oh, these engines like to keep us on our toes with leaks, too.  Our Dodge's engine weeps there just about as much, too.  I know I have "valve issues", which is also showing up at the spark plugs and with the plume of blue smoke when I decelerate.  If mine ran well and just had that much of a leak and nothing else, I'd certainly be curious, but would still run it and keep an eye on it.  Maybe put a vacuum gauge on it, that's supposed to give you an indication of valve condition, but there may not be enough of an issue to register on the gauge.  

[1949plymouthdeluxe]

The carb gets pulled after I overhaul the one that's on its way so I'll get a chance to see whats going on inside. If it doesn't get worse I'm going to leave it alone. Its not burning any oil and the spark plugs look fine. As an old friend of mine used to say- oil is cheap. I just wonder where its coming from. 

[Sniper]

You know what would tell you if you had a valve problem? A compression test. I would just use some brake clean to remove the deposit maybe put a torque wrench on those nuts and see if they're tight and observe.

[1949plymouthdeluxe]

I've thought about that. I think the car sat for some time before I got it. I've been driving it regularly and a few things have loosened up a bit on occasion. Sort of like the other day I had to tighten a bolt on the fuel pump to get it to stop leaking. Prob do as you said- snug up the bolts a bit- and see if it stops. Its such a small amount of oil its not really worth it if it is indeed leaking. I'm being OCD...

[greg g]

In addition  to compression test a Vacuum gauge can tell you a lot about an engine's condition.  check the article  on vacuum gauge reading and  interpretation on Second Chance Garage website,

[Ivan_B]

+1 check the engine with a vacuum gauge. If the gauge does not show anything bad just forget about it. My intake looks very similar

[9 foot box]

   A manifold set is fit to the block by a sequential tightening of the nuts and bolts. The front and rear exhaust manifold nuts should be cone nuts with concave washers. It allows for expansion and contraction of the exhaust manifold. The toughest nut and washer is the 13th, under the center intake manifold. All studs go into the water jacket and need thread sealant. I recently cleaned up a manifold that had been installed wrong.

[1949plymouthdeluxe]

Thanks for all the recommendations. I've been meaning to do a compression check on the engine for a while anyway. In the meantime I've been driving it for a few days and not really seeing a change. So I'm probably just overreacting. 

[Sniper]

8 hours ago, 1949plymouthdeluxe said:

Thanks for all the recommendations. I've been meaning to do a compression check on the engine for a while anyway. In the meantime I've been driving it for a few days and not really seeing a change. So I'm probably just overreacting. 

 

Hey attention to detail is a good thing, clean it up, see if it's an old stain or one that is actively occurring.

[soth122003]

Looks like it's on the intake manifold, so maybe the intake valve isn't quite sealing all the way and your got a bit of oil into it and the engine heat is cooking it. Pull the spark plug and give it a look over when you do the compression check. Could be from a wet comp check and the intake valve wasn't closed when whoever put in oil to do the check.

 

Joe Lee