One more oil leak fixed

[Wiese]

In the quest to get my 1973.5's engine mostly dry I have replaced the following:
1) Front and rear main seal
2) Oil idiot light, oil thermostat O-ring (please don't ask why I didn't change the oil breather hose and gasket when the engine was out, I should have done it!)
3) Oil pressure sending unit (for gauge). This was primarily done to fix a bouncy gauge, but there was also some oil weeping in the area which is now gone.
4) All valve cover gaskets (when valve adjustment was done)
5) Bottom sump gasket and new cover
6) All oil return tubes

The engine is now mostly dry. After about 1500 miles of driving I noticed a bit of oil buildup on the right side of the engine. I think some is coming from the top (breather hose!) and some is coming from the various oil hoses. I plan to tighten the clamps and inspect the hoses and possibly replace them as my next "oil leak fix project".

I also noticed a large leak on the inside of the right rear fender. The whole oil tank and inside fender had layers of caked on sludge and was wet to the touch. It took quite a while to clean this mess up! I was tempted to replace the cork gasket for the oil level sensor, but I remembered reading on here that sometimes it is just the screws that are loose. So I went in there with an 8mm wrench and sure enough they were very loose! After hand tightening them I will keep an eye on the area, and hopefully this is another oil leak fixed (if not I guess a new gasket will go in).

[mnez]

Check that the caked on sludge is not from a split CV boot (mine was).

[Wiese]

mnez you are right; a while back I had a split CV boot and everything was totally greasy in that area. I had cleaned it up nicely after fixing the CV boot, so I figured the culprit this time is likely the oil level sender gasket.