so, when i bought my 78 camaro, the previous owner was a little...femanin, but he was a guy, i first knew he didnt know anything about cars when he told me that when u are stopped in traffic or idle for a while it overheats (it has no fan shroud and the radiator was only half full) he said he thinks its bc of a blown headgasket, anyway, this thing was leaking oil constantly, i checked the valve cover seals, the back of the engine, underneith, and could not find where it was coming from, well i go to change the oil today, and while going to put the oil filter wrench on, it moves...just by touching it, so i was able to screw it off with no effort at all and replace and tighten a new one, i feel stupid for not realising sooner, but hopefully that solves most of my problems lol

 

Lol well thats just one of those things where it sucks that it was something so stupid that you didnt really realize it, but at the same time it couldnt be an easier fix I'd take that anyday over a problem that was easily found but difficult/expensive to fix. And think about it this way, because of his stupidity, you probably saved some money buying the car.

 

Lucky you didn't lose the engine from that leak. Wouldn't have taken much more to really spring a leak at the filter and lose the whole engine. Couldn't be a worse place to lose oil from an engine.

 

yeah, its a fully functioning daily driver for $1,000 just needs a bit of work. it sat for 8 years in NYC lol but it has a chevy 350 crate and newer tranny, still trying to figure out if its a muncie or not lol might just be a whining bog warner or saginaw. but i think i didnt find the leak bc it was such a stupid mistake i didnt think anyone could make lol

 

Well there really isnt a good place to spring a leak from an engine...but at the filter at least you should get a low oil pressure warning. And really if its only a slow leak its not a big deal as long as you keep an eye on it and keep putting oil in the car reguarlly. I had an 86 Celica that had a continuous oil leak...Never really got around to fixing it because I couldnt ever findt the leak, but I kept checking the oil weekly and it was never an issue. Had the car for about 5 years.

 

You're right about all engine oil leaks being bad, but a leak at the valve cover is under no pressure, as is a leak at any of the stamped steel covers for pan, timing cover, etc. Any of those will lose oil, but at a very slow rate, and without pressure it would take weeks or months of neglect to cause an issue.
A leak at the oil filter is under extreme pressure, and directly off the oil pump, so if the filter were to get loose enough it could cause a total meltdown before you could get off the freeway, or pulled over after seeing the engine oil light, or hearing the first rattle!

 

Boy no kidding,loose your oil filter and that motor is done for lol.

On a side note,I had a '77 Nova with a 305 that was leaking a lot of oil,had a hell of a time finding the leak.
Finally found it,the oil pressure sending unit was behind the dizzy at the back of the block and the metal case of the unit where it's crimped onto the screw in base was leaking like a sieve.

 

yeah it was so loose that im suprised it didnt come off from all of the rattle of driving, and if that would have happened i would have lost almost all oil immediatly, could have ended really bad lol, it wasnt too bad, i had to put a quart in maybe every week or two, but lately it was a quart every two days so i decided enough is enough if i cant find it im taking it somewhere lol

 

Now you need to find an old dirt road with tall grass down the middle so you can drive up and down until your undercarriage is sans it's oil coating! Bet nothing rusts under there for a long time!

 

Y2K, I almost forgot that location for oil sending units on small blocks! The big blocks have it right on the driver's side just above the oil filter. Been way too long since I messed with one of our beloved small block Chevy's!