Hi.
I'm new to the forum, as I have just bought my first classic American car (right hand drive 1960 Plymouth Belvedere Sedan, 225 sl6 engine & torqueflite 6 automatic transmission). It's a fantastic car to drive and is very unusual over here in the UK (fins and white walls somehow managed to pass us byin the fifties/sixties). It's in pretty good condition and I have done about a thousand miles in her since I bought her, (now has 74,000 on the clock). The engine was rebuilt in 1994.
I have noticed a few things strange with her though.

1- There is a slow oil leak somwhere on the rear of the engine. It appears to be coming from the engine/torque converter housing, so I'm guessing it could be the rear crankshaft seal?

2- In the past week the oil level appears to have risen by about a sixteenth/eighth of an inch or so up the dip stick. This worries me a fair bit, there has definately been an increase. A look in the radiator cap doesn't reveal anything, but I am worrying that water is possibly leaking into the oil system?

Any ideas on either of these problems would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks alot,
Conor

The fuel pump may be leaking into the crankcase.
Is the oil thin and does it smell like gas?
DD

Hey Doc,

My sense of smell is terrible, but a second opinion suggests that it possibly does smell feintly of fuel. It might just be in my head but the oil may have felt a little thinner.
If this is the case, is the fix easy?

Thanks alot,
Conor

Yes, it is an easy fix:
Replace the fuel pump and do an oil change on the engine.
DD

Hi Doc,

Thanks for your help. Ordered one straight from RockAuto. God bless the £GB/$US exchange rate, a fuel pump for a SL6 costs about half that for many european/japanese cars here in the UK, even with priority shipping from America.

Again, thanks for all your help.
Conor

Hi Conor,
If you were getting coolant into the oil, it would become milky looking.
Let's see some pictures of that unusual car.

Jerry

_________________
There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

Hi Conor, Your complaint appears to be well addressed,I have nothing to add on that score. On another subject though,I'm glad to know those weren't "fins" on my first car,a 1960 Sunbeam Alpine,a beautifully well made automobile in BRG with three"eared" knock-off wire wheels and twin Zenith carburators.Welcome to this most excellent forum.

A leaking fuel pump diaphragm will pump fuel into the crankcase in a slant six, yes.

_________________
David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

Hey,

I never saw a magnetic field myself, but the experimental evidence of their existence is rather convincing to me. And when new experimental evidence redefines field phenomena as particle behavior, I can accept the behavior if reported in reputable outlets and confirmed by others. The question is if it HAS happened and if anyone experienced it.

I have, I saved the pump and sawed it open to get the diaphragm to convince myself, and it was a fresh out of box Mopar pump I put on to replace a perfectly functional one in place since 1964. Talk about fixing something that didn't need fixing and paying a price! There was enough gas in my pan I was afraid of an explosion during pump removal and oil draining.

rock
'64d100

I have personally seen a SL6 fuel pump leak into the crankcase.

Also note that the SL6 fuel pump is mounted 'up-side down' when compared to other applications. This orientation make it easy for any fuel that gets past the diaphragm, to get into the crankcase.
DD

The slow leak at the rear could be the rocker cover gasket or the sparkplug 'drool tubes'.
It's worth checking to see if there's oil running down the rear of the block.