[FC] Oil Pan Leak Woes

[Chris & Bill Strickland]

Oil leaks always show up first as oil dripping from the bottom of the 
engine -- you can blame gravity and the Corvair's down draft fan for 
that one.  It sounds like one of your efforts should have sealed any pan 
leaks, and I could easily be wrong without going out to check, but I 
don't think any of the pan bolt holes should be open to oil.  Probably 
leaking from higher up and running down -- a leak as bad as you seem to 
describe should be pretty easy to find.  Worst case could be a cracked 
bell housing, but much more likely are bell housing bolting issues, or 
pehaps, as Dale mentioned, a top cover leak.

Permatex is not the solution and, although there are numerous different 
products in the Permatex line, the only places on a Corvair engine where 
a sealant should be needed to prevent leaks are between the case halves, 
under the cylinder barrels, the dipstick and oil fill tubes, the oil 
pressure sender, and the crank bolts.  The rest of the places are what 
the gaskets are for, although judicious use of silicone rtv products can 
be useful or they can be used to replace gaskets in some instances.  And 
yes, there are issues with sealing the top cover, but no one solution 
seems to have universal acceptance.

Bill Strickland