[JLMounce]

Originally Posted by gtorich

Hey thanks for that info, i used the one piece oil pan gasket from bop, should have cut the rubber ends off and used a cork piece over the main cap which i had but didnt use..........i guess really dumb question when taking the motor apart can they tell what was leaking, oil pan or rms, right now i have the flywheel off, cant see anything that might be leaking, im in the process of picking up a smoke machine . All good points from you guys, i just dont feel confident with this motor anymore, not sure what to do there.............also on using studs, how do you retighten after a couple heat cycles, hard to even see some of the bolts to tighten them down.

So you're not seeing anything in the back of the engine that's leaking after removing the flywheel?

Is it possible the leak has been coming from the back of the valve covers? I can't recall, but believe you run an aftermarket head correct? Some of these don't return oil as quickly as the factory heads and in periods of high, or sustained rpm use, you may find that you've got a puddle of oil in the back corner of the head that is above the gasket line.

In that case, you can get drips down the back of the head that will pool around the bell housing area. You'll likely also notice it on the starters.

Is the back of the heads wet? What about the starter?