New TO20! Small oil leak.

makoman · Mar 19, 2011

Just picked up a 1949 TO20. Everything works great. I just converted it to 12 volts. There are 2 small oil leaks. One I can fix with an oil pan gasket. The other is dripping out from under the distributer cap. Can I fix this without messing up the timing? I have the manual and it indicates there is a separate oil reservoir under the distributer and whenever you take it off, drain and fill with 20 weight oil. It looks like regular engine oil that is leaking.

Richard L · Mar 19, 2011

It is very possible the oil breather tube may be plugged. This is the tube that is connected to the tappet cover and comes down along side of the engine. I think the TO 20 is permanently connected to the cover. If this is the case I am sure you do not want to pull the gas tank. So what I would suggest is take a heavy flexible wire and push it up the tube trying to wiggle it as much as possible to loosen any sludge in the tube. After doing this a few times and your wire is coming out cleaner each time then you could use a piece of cloth over the wire to see if it is all cleaned out, get a long piece of cloth so you will have some at the bottom after you have pushed it up in order to grab and pull out. The bad part of this is you could push the sludge up and possibly plug it more if you don't get most of the sludge out before using the cloth.

Jerry/MT · Mar 19, 2011

There is an o-ring that goes over the drive extension and seals against block. The part number is 181 550 M1. You have to remove the distributor to replace it. esetting the timeing statically is not a big deal. I have described the proceedure hudndreds of times and it"s in the archives. If you can"t find get back here and I"ll walk you through it.

The other possibility is that the draft tube that vents the crankcase is clgged and causing the crankcase to pressurize. You can try cleanring it with a wire but since it is welded to the valve cover on the TO-20 and has an orifice at the top, you mayhave to take it off. On the TO-30, it"s held on with four fasteners so it"s easier to clean.

Jeff-oh · Mar 20, 2011

I agree with Richard, most likely you have an clogged breather pipe. However, you will have to take off the valve cover to clean it.The tub it self to too big to really clog, un less a mouse got up there.

On the inside of the valve cover the pipe hole is covered by a metal plate that is ~1/8" from the side of the valve cover. The gunk fills this thin gap and pipe cleaners will no get to it with out taking the cover off.

Easy fix... Of course you can do what the previous owner of my TO-20 did... Drill holes in the distributor housing... ack!!!!

Jeff

toobroketoretire · Mar 29, 2011

The TO-20 breather tubes eventually plug up solid with dirt because the inside of the tube is always damp from oil fumes and the dust sticks to it. You can easily clean it out by running a piece of 5/16" or 3/8" all-thread up into it. Or you can use a 12-gauge brass bristle shotgun bore brush soaked in gasoline. The TO-30's have a bolted-on breather tube so they're much easier to clean.

New TO20! Small oil leak.

makoman

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Richard L

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Jerry/MT

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Jeff-oh

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toobroketoretire

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