Oil Leak

I had the cover off of the boat a few weeks ago and noticed some oil leaking into the bilge near the front of the motor. Not a lot but any is annoying. I would guess it's leaking at a rate of 1-2 drops per week. I also noticed some oil on the front of the balancer. Looked like it had started in the center and been flung to the outside. The engine is a 406 SBC.

Any suggestions on how to find and eliminate the leak?

Mike

Sounds lilke oil seeping past the balancer key. Most likely, if you will remove the bolt and washer from the center, wash it thoroughly with brake clean and seal with a good silicone then reinstall and torque the balancer bolt, you will fix the problem. Of course, this may not be your problem, but I see it often.

[mcollinstn]

Probably coming through the keyway on the balancer.

You can TRY this first:
Take the balancer bolt and washer off. Clean the oil off the balancer and keyway slot with carb cleaner and a Qtip. Fill the slot and the groove around the diameter of the snout with silicone permatex. Clean the washer and bolt her back on and torque her down (if the washer has "cupped" then flip it backwards).

If that doesn't work, then you might have to rent a puller and yank the balancer off to clean the bore and snout better before siliconing.

[Scott]

Hey is there a echo in here

Sccott, I think mcollinstn and I were responding at the same time and when I posted, I saw he had, too. Just goes to show
"Great minds think alike"

[US1 Fountain]

Yep. I had same problem. Took me 2 yrs to figure that was where the oil was coming from.

Thanks guys I'll give that a try.