I know there has been plenty of discussion on different sources of oil leaks on a 2F engine and I believe I've searched them all here and other forums/sites. As a bit of background. This is a South American (Ecuador) 1977 FJ40. I've been a busy beaver since buying it around a year ago. The transmission/transfer case were removed and all seals/gaskets replaced as it had multiple leaks that were sealed with exterior silicone (nice!). During the time I had these parts out I pulled the oil pan and made sure all was well with a visual inspection/retorquing of bolts, etc. Replaced the rear main seal at that time, remounted the oil pan and with a new clutch/pilot bearing/throw out bearing/pressure plate put everything back together. Has been working like a champ with no leaks from any of the above mentioned areas which is great. Of note, also did a valve adjustment and replaced the valve cover gasket while there.
Over the last several months I've started to notice a small leak/few drips after driving that is coming off the bottom of the bell housing. Not coming from inside the bell housing/back of flywheel dry, nothing coming out of the transmission shaft seal area. I did see what I thought was a bit of oil coming down from the posterior of the engine up around head/block interface but no active leak. Might have been old and was on both sides. Went ahead and cleaned everything up with degreaser/water/dried, cleaned again until I was pretty confident that I could see any new oil leaks. Brought her up to operating temp today over 15-20 mins and kept looking under and above.
Attached pics that I believe show the source but I'm curious on thoughts of both actual source as well as need to fix now versus when I get the opportunity in the future. To orient to the pictures, this is the drivers side, posterior aspect of engine. You can see the engine block coolant drain and the bellhousing. The red circle shows where the oil drip is coming from, very slow but definitely dripping. Coming out of the little bit of space between the engine block and the bellhousing. I believe this can't be the main seal (too high) and likely not the head gasket but more likely the cam plug that lives back there between the bell housing and block. This is all assumptions as for some reason I can't find great pics of the back of the 2F engine without the bellhousing in place.
So I'm curious to answer the following:
1. Is this cam plug in fact the likely source without getting a direct visualization?
2. Do I need to repair now to prevent a blow out of the plug/potential catastrophic failure?
3. Assume this is an engine pull for the repair or I guess could pull trans/transfer case and then the bell housing and get to it from in the cab (maybe too high)?
Thanks in advance for any thoughts/expertise.
Over the last several months I've started to notice a small leak/few drips after driving that is coming off the bottom of the bell housing. Not coming from inside the bell housing/back of flywheel dry, nothing coming out of the transmission shaft seal area. I did see what I thought was a bit of oil coming down from the posterior of the engine up around head/block interface but no active leak. Might have been old and was on both sides. Went ahead and cleaned everything up with degreaser/water/dried, cleaned again until I was pretty confident that I could see any new oil leaks. Brought her up to operating temp today over 15-20 mins and kept looking under and above.
Attached pics that I believe show the source but I'm curious on thoughts of both actual source as well as need to fix now versus when I get the opportunity in the future. To orient to the pictures, this is the drivers side, posterior aspect of engine. You can see the engine block coolant drain and the bellhousing. The red circle shows where the oil drip is coming from, very slow but definitely dripping. Coming out of the little bit of space between the engine block and the bellhousing. I believe this can't be the main seal (too high) and likely not the head gasket but more likely the cam plug that lives back there between the bell housing and block. This is all assumptions as for some reason I can't find great pics of the back of the 2F engine without the bellhousing in place.
So I'm curious to answer the following:
1. Is this cam plug in fact the likely source without getting a direct visualization?
2. Do I need to repair now to prevent a blow out of the plug/potential catastrophic failure?
3. Assume this is an engine pull for the repair or I guess could pull trans/transfer case and then the bell housing and get to it from in the cab (maybe too high)?
Thanks in advance for any thoughts/expertise.
