I've read a lot here about the possibility of excessive crank case pressure. Do the breathers leak? Did it ever blow the dipstick out? If not why do we suspect it is excess crankcase pressure? Have you blocked the breathers and dipstick tube then added low air pressure to the crank case and watched the seal area with the engine not running? With this many seals it raises a few questions to me. Has the seal bridge been checked for proper alignment without the crank installed? Have the bridge mounting holes been opened up to allow the seal to center itself? Are the side seals pushing it off center? Is the seal bore concentric with the main bearing bore? Has the crank main seal area been checked for surface finish and cracks? My bet is many of these items haven't been addressed? Obliviously the engine assembler, not engine builder, hasn't done their job either.
Doug
I'm still waiting on the parts to perform any more tests. Everything is taking forever in shipping. It never blew the dipstick out, however, it was one of the flexible Milodon tubes and because of the multiple bends to get around the headers, it took a decent amount of effort to pull the dipstick out, so it would take a ton of pressure buildup in order to blow it out. I'm Not sure on what you mean by the breathers leaking. I didn't build the engine, so I'm not sure of any of the alignment specs with the crank out. There are no side seals installed, so it's not being pushed off center. The crank seal area appears ok visually. I'm believing that it is excess crank pressure due to the fact that it'll run for a few minutes and then start leaking a bunch of oil all of a sudden. If it was a sealing or alignment issue, theoretically it should leak all the time correct? I'm believing that the pressure is slowly building up and then it gets to the point where it has so much built up and the rear main seal is the weak point and it starts leaking there. It's just a theory at this point until I can perform the recommended tests.
