Ever since I replaced the intake manifold gaskets I've had an oil leak somewhere at the back of the engine. I redid the manifold, resealed the oil sender redid the valve covers but I could never figure it out...

I decided to change my distributor cap and rotor and discovered this:




How do I have oil inside the distributor? I used a new Felpro gasket wen I refitted the distributor after doing the intake manifold but is oil inside the distributor a symptom of a distributor gasket problem? OR could it be squirting towards the distributor from somewhere else and the cap is making a poor seal (the clean line around the edge in the pic suggests otherwise though).

The leak only started wince I did the intake manifold gaskets...


Obviously I need a new distributor but I don't want the problem to repeat if the cause is something else...

 

This is a crankcase ventilation/blowby problem.
The distributor doesn't have an oil seal at the top of the shaft. It relys on there being a slight vacuum in the crankcase to keep the oil vapor from coming out. Check the piping to the PCV valve and replace the valve. Then check how much blowby the engine is making. Remove the hose from the other valve cover and do a stall test when the engine is warm. It is common for high mileage engines to have considerable blowby.
If the engine still has excessive blowby with proper venting, it will have to be rebuilt.

 

I'll check the PCV valve and piping.

I have a similar photo taken the day I replaced the lower intake manifold gaskets and replaced the valve stem seals. The distributor was perfectly clean. The following day the car started leaking oil and has done for a while.
Excessive wear can't have happened overnight like that so the problerm must be due to something I did while doing those 2 jobs. I'll check the PCV valve and piping first.

The engine has done 100,000 miles and is generally in great shape. Doesn't smoke, is quiet, pulls well, wasn't using any oil until this oil leak problem developed when I did the jobs I mentioned. It's obviously something I've done...

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

Hardrockcamaro,

As supervisor said, check your pcv setup but also check to make sure your oil pressure sensor on the back of the block is tightened/sealed properly. When I buttoned up my recent rebuild, I noticed an oil leak coming from the back of the block area. I though it was loose oil pan bolts or something of that nature but it turned out to be the oil pressure sensor was not tight enough.

Wouldn't hurt to make sure.

Rabi C.

 

go to the auto parts store and get an o-ring for your dizzy. install it, problem goes away. mine was $0.99. but i also don't have oil inside at the top like that... mine came from oil coming up from the dizzy hole and then on the top of the block.

 

That's a different problem, and V8 distributors don't use O rings.