1923 Jordan (Continental Special Vertical L-Head, 245.6 cu inch, leak at rear seal question)

[jpistorius]

1923 Jordan, Continental Special Vertical L-Head, 245.6 cu inch,  leak at rear seal on Continental engine crankshaft
 I learned some Continental 6-cylinder engines of the 1922 - 1924 era do not have a rear oil seal, but have a flanged crankshaft that throws oil forward into the oil pan. I think my engine is a Continental Special Vertical L-Head, 245.6 cu inch. I read that on these engines, the cap is not slotted, and there no way to attach an "O", a gasket, or rope seal. How can we fix the rear main seal leak? Were there any updates to this system?

[wayne sheldon]

Crankcases of that era need to be well ventilated. Sometimes people use caps or filters thinking they need to for some reason, and the cylinder blow-by pressurizes the crankcase enough that the oil is forced back and out instead of dripping back into the crankcase. This used to be a big problem with model A Fords, which had a similar no seal on the rear main bearing.

[wayne sheldon]

How "good" is your engine?

Simply for comparison, years ago, I restored a model T Ford with a factory built original after-market body, from a total wreck of the original car. For resurrecting the chassis and body, I used a temporary tired old model T engine I had on hand. When I got the car together enough, I got it licensed and insured, driving for about a year while rebuilding the correct model T engine for it.

It actually ran nice, and I drove it quite a bit for that year. However, the blow-by was so bad, that I lost two oil filler caps because they literally blew out of the oil filler itself. They fit really tight, and I would have bet they couldn't blow out, in part because the engine was so well vented. I figured it out. I could drive 42 mph all day long, and not lose the cap. Push it up to 44 mph and the cap would blow out within a mile or so! The blow-by went up exponentially with how hard I pushed the engine, and 43 mph was the magic figure.

I went out on a quiet but fast road, with the hood removed, and pushed the car up to near 50 mph. Picking a safe spot, I slammed on the brakes and moved quickly to where I could see the oil filler spout, and for about two more seconds saw the blue smoke blowing up and out of the crankcase!

When I finished the correct year engine for the car, with its original era overdrive transmission, that car would do 60 mph all day long with no troubles. The tired old engine just couldn't handle being pushed fast.

 

 

Edited March 27 by wayne sheldon
I hate leaving typos! (see edit history)

[stakeside]

Is there a reservoir between rear main and the flywheel? I found the oil flow to the reservoir was excessive and the return tube to the oil pan could pass the oil. As a result it overflowed and leaked out.