head gasket leaking small/minimal oil

[suprasam]

When I drained my block this fall/winter I noticed around the gasket. Is this a huge deal to fix? How big of a process? Thanks

[michael hunter]

Is it leaking inside or outside the engine? How many hours on it?

[suprasam]

It is on outside, towards back/transom passenger side.

[michael hunter]

Are you sure its the head ? Check the intake corners . Either way not a big job to replace gaskets .

[cadunkle]

Oil or water? It's pretty uncommon for SBF head gaskets to leak oil. No pressure in the drainback holes and no chance of oil puddling in there unless the holes are plugged (can pull a valve cover and check). I know later model 302 blocks have the lower head bolts at the back open to coolant passages and will leak unless you use thread sealant on the threads, not sure if 351w is the same though. Note water could also leak from the intake gasket at the rear coolant passages. If oil, it's more likely the intake gasket on the china wall so check that before pulling the head.

[Blackntan90]

Excuse me for being ignorant, but what the hell is the 'china wall'?

[suprasam]

Its now been a short while....after looking at my manual online at the motor I can't tell JACK. Maybe the valve cover? Does that sound more like what it could be? It was definitly oil....no water in the oil when I drained it so I'm good there. Thanks for the help, now that I have written it down, I do believe its called valve cover seal. Its top, side of motor. Thanks for the help.....any harder to replace?

[michael hunter]

If its oil its more likely the valve cover gaskets. Its also possible to have a leak at the valley [china wall] gaskets I would start at the valve covers.

[wotan2525]

valve cover gaskets are much more likely and very easy to fix.

get some new exhaust manifold seals and valve cover seals. good gaskets will pay for themselves. pull a couple of the exhaust manifold bolts and go to the hardware store and get 4 bolts that are the same thread/pitch but much longer. replace a couple of the bolts in the exhaust manifolds with these extra long ones and then remove the rest of them. this allows you to swing the exhaust manifolds away from the head without having to completely remove them. makes reinstalling a LOT easier since they are so heavy. once that is done, remove the valve covers. clean surfaces, replace gaskets and reinstall everything.

not sure on your experience level -- this seems like it might be an intimidating job, but it's really not. and there's very little chance of doing something wrong. for the valve cover and exhaust bolt reinstallation -- rent or borrow a torque wrench to do things the "right" way.