1959 Chevy Impala Sport Coupe project
- Thread starter '59Imp
- Start date
'59Imp
Well Known Member
Started her up again today and did some more investigating to where the oil leaks are coming from. They are coming from the passenger side, rear, and oil is dripping down on top of the starter from up above. The starter has now become the worlds biggest oily mess! LOL. I'm narrowing it down to the leakage is coming from the rear of the intake manifold, or the rear of the valve cover. Its just too tight to tell exactly... To give you an idea to how bad its leaking, in the 10/15 minutes I had her running, she made a baseball size puddle of oil, under the starter.
The good news is for one, I narrowed the leakage coming from either the rear of the valve cover or the rear of the intake manifold. For two, I found out the rear main is not the one who is the leaker here, so that is good for me cause I would NOT be looking forward to that!
The good news is for one, I narrowed the leakage coming from either the rear of the valve cover or the rear of the intake manifold. For two, I found out the rear main is not the one who is the leaker here, so that is good for me cause I would NOT be looking forward to that!
Jackie, try a small inspection mirror. You should be able to pinpoint your leak with one. Good luck.
'59Imp
Well Known Member
I'll try that, thanks!
'59Imp
Well Known Member
I've been starting her up and running her up to operating temp., just for the fun of it mostly, and also to see how she is running. Well I'm finding out that the more I run her, the more the leaks are stopping. It used to be that she left a good size puddle of oil when I first got her running, but yesterday I ran her, and she only left 1 small drop of oil under the starter, and I had her running for a while too. And its not just a stroke of luck either, cause the leaks have been slowly stopping recently... I'm guessing that wherever the leaks was coming from above the starter area, is that the gasket was just dried out or something, so now its pretty much fixing itself when the fluid got pumping in the motor again.
Jackie.
It is worth getting g a cheap can or two of spray degreaser and give the oily parts of the engine I. E. The back and low down a good clean. Some time oil dries can be historical in nature and can be tricking you into thinking you still have a leak. Sounds like you are on top of it though.
'59Imp
Well Known Member
Thanks for the advice Steve! I was more looking for the leaks not on the motor itself, but I put down a fresh piece of cardboard down for the fresh oil drippage to drip onto that. I did clean up the motor the best I could with degreaser though, to where I could reach it. But the good news is that the leaks are slowing! I'm hoping in time that they stop completely!
'59Imp
Well Known Member
I didn't know that the road draft tubes were supposed to leak oil out of them.
If they were the ones leaking, I cant see why they would slowly stop leaking. Why I'm more thinking its a gasket that was the one who was the leaker, because I do see reason to why that would slowly stop leaking. Because my best guess is that in the time I did not have her running (a few months), that the gasket had dried up in that time. But with running her again, and the fluids pumping in the motor, that it has now made the gasket back to how it used to be (when there was not this new leak).
Last edited:
'59Imp
Well Known Member
Well, it is a possibility then that it would be the one that has been leaking oil. But whatever it was that was leaking, I'm very happy to see that the leaks are slowing to almost non existent.
I will be keeping an eye on it though, just to make sure its not pulling a fooled you game here, and the leaks begin again next time I start her up.
'59Imp
Well Known Member
I'm finally getting around to the transmission problems, and its leaks. Its another one of those leaks I've known about since I got the car. When I first investigated the leak back when I got the car, I couldn't believe it that the bolts were only finger tight! Yes, only finger tight!!! 
I'm really glad I caught that one before I went anywhere with her! 
So I tightened up the bolts to how they should be, and also discovered that my so called tranny gasket was in small pieces, and gobs of silicone here and there. Another shocker. 
My car has a Turboglide mounted up to the 348. Yes, before anyone says it, I know, these Turboglide's don't hold up well to the 348's...
I don't know the year on this tranny, I think it was just thrown in there and they called it good judging by the lack of care on the pan gasket, as mentioned above. In other words, its not the original tranny.
The original I believe was a 3 speed on the tree, judging by that I have the clutch linkage and 3 speed column shifter assembly for this car. Only thing missing? The tranny itself!
I wish someone had just left the 3 speed on the tree in the car... Cause 1, I don't like automatics, and 2, this aint the worlds best definition of a good, reliable, tranny. I am eventually going to put a 5 speed manual in this car. 
Does anyone know if the Powerglide tranny pan gasket is interchangeable with the Turboglide pan gasket? I went to the auto parts store today looking for the Turboglide gasket, and all they said they had was the Powerglide one, so I'm wondering if I'll be able to use that one?
I'm really glad I caught that one before I went anywhere with her! So I tightened up the bolts to how they should be, and also discovered that my so called tranny gasket was in small pieces, and gobs of silicone here and there. Another shocker. My car has a Turboglide mounted up to the 348. Yes, before anyone says it, I know, these Turboglide's don't hold up well to the 348's...
I don't know the year on this tranny, I think it was just thrown in there and they called it good judging by the lack of care on the pan gasket, as mentioned above. In other words, its not the original tranny.The original I believe was a 3 speed on the tree, judging by that I have the clutch linkage and 3 speed column shifter assembly for this car. Only thing missing? The tranny itself!
I wish someone had just left the 3 speed on the tree in the car... Cause 1, I don't like automatics, and 2, this aint the worlds best definition of a good, reliable, tranny. I am eventually going to put a 5 speed manual in this car. Does anyone know if the Powerglide tranny pan gasket is interchangeable with the Turboglide pan gasket? I went to the auto parts store today looking for the Turboglide gasket, and all they said they had was the Powerglide one, so I'm wondering if I'll be able to use that one?
'59Imp
Well Known Member
This 4th of July there was a cruise and car show downtown that I was planning on taking the 59 to. If everything went well that is. But the car had different plans... I ended up going to that in my 67 Chevelle SS, and I'm happy to say that I didn't have any problems with that one...
As I probably have mentioned many times before, since I got my car the turboglide tranny has been leaking, badly. So I tried to save the old turboglide gasket, as I couldn't find any other replacements for it. When I took the pan off, there was some old black goopy looking sealer underneath the gasket and above it too, so the gasket was pretty much sandwiched between this goopy looking sealant. I was afraid to do anything to it, like cleaning the goopy sealer off as I didn't want to mess up the gasket to where it would be unusable. So I used some better silicone sealant, like the gasket maker stuff, and hoped for the best. I got it all reinstalled, and proceeded to fill it back up after I gave the sealant time to cure. I got it 3/4ths the way filled up, and looked underneath. Unfortunately, all the ATF I had poured in poured directly out onto the driveway. Made a very big mess, and a big waste of ATF as well. It looked like it was coming out of the rear of the tranny pan gasket, and where the filler tube connects up to the bottom of the pan. I had everything tightened down to how it should be. My best guess is I need to start completely over with the pan gasket, and hope I don't ruin it to where it becomes unusable. And for the filler tube is I guess when I reinstalled it, it didn't seat correctly.
More bad news is its coming down to where I will need to rewire the whole car. I also installed a new turn signal switch this past weekend. On the old one, it was obviously bad, as the connections were corroded up, and the black plastic housing was broken as well. I was hoping this would be the end of the wiring nightmare when I installed the new turn signal switch. But just like everything else, no change whatsoever. I've replaced everything that I knew it could possibly be. I have also checked all grounds and all of them were good. Next thing I can think of to do is go through it all and check for a split in the wires. I'm not promising anything there though. After that, its time to replace all of the car's wiring... And I hope after that it puts an end to this wiring nightmare. If that doesn't solve it, I'll be completely lost...
As I probably have mentioned many times before, since I got my car the turboglide tranny has been leaking, badly. So I tried to save the old turboglide gasket, as I couldn't find any other replacements for it. When I took the pan off, there was some old black goopy looking sealer underneath the gasket and above it too, so the gasket was pretty much sandwiched between this goopy looking sealant. I was afraid to do anything to it, like cleaning the goopy sealer off as I didn't want to mess up the gasket to where it would be unusable. So I used some better silicone sealant, like the gasket maker stuff, and hoped for the best. I got it all reinstalled, and proceeded to fill it back up after I gave the sealant time to cure. I got it 3/4ths the way filled up, and looked underneath. Unfortunately, all the ATF I had poured in poured directly out onto the driveway. Made a very big mess, and a big waste of ATF as well. It looked like it was coming out of the rear of the tranny pan gasket, and where the filler tube connects up to the bottom of the pan. I had everything tightened down to how it should be. My best guess is I need to start completely over with the pan gasket, and hope I don't ruin it to where it becomes unusable. And for the filler tube is I guess when I reinstalled it, it didn't seat correctly.
More bad news is its coming down to where I will need to rewire the whole car. I also installed a new turn signal switch this past weekend. On the old one, it was obviously bad, as the connections were corroded up, and the black plastic housing was broken as well. I was hoping this would be the end of the wiring nightmare when I installed the new turn signal switch. But just like everything else, no change whatsoever. I've replaced everything that I knew it could possibly be. I have also checked all grounds and all of them were good. Next thing I can think of to do is go through it all and check for a split in the wires. I'm not promising anything there though. After that, its time to replace all of the car's wiring... And I hope after that it puts an end to this wiring nightmare. If that doesn't solve it, I'll be completely lost...
'59Imp
Well Known Member
Thanks Cecil, I reused the old o ring. My guess is that was a bad decision for one, and I don't know if the tube seated correctly when I reinstalled it, and it went in first try, which usually is uncommon in the auto world, lol.
Jackie, as you know, you are only asking for more trouble using the old gasket and o rings. I would suggest getting a sheet or roll of gasket paper, as close in thickness to the original gasket as you can get, and make a new gasket for the pan. Your local parts store should have an assortment of O-rings to find one that matches yours. Good luck!
