Clutch Swap...Most bizarre thing I have seen

'95 Pilot · Feb 21, 2004

My buddy and I finally got around to swapping out my clutch. When we pulled the first (bottom) bolt off of the flywheel, oil poured out. A lot of oil. I just had the oil changed yesterday, this looked old. Since the clutch was being changed, I decided to change the rear main seal too. Thinking this was my oil leak. Has anyone had this? Is this common? The only thing that we could come up with is, the holes were drilled and tapped to far. After everything was put back and the engine run, the oil level is normal. This really blows me away.

BTW, the clutch is the FRP King Cobra kit. I love it already. We also changed out the cable, put a BBK Quadrant, and Firewall Adjustor in.

S/CBlack95GT · Feb 21, 2004

If you had the front of the car jacked way up the oil level may have been near the lower bolt hole on the crank. The flywheel bolt holes are drilled all the way through the crank, that is why you MUST put sealer on the bolts. If not, then you may get oil on the flywheel surface when you start the engine, which isn't cool.

'95 Pilot · Feb 21, 2004

S/CBlack95GT said:
If you had the front of the car jacked way up the oil level may have been near the lower bolt hole on the crank. The flywheel bolt holes are drilled all the way through the crank, that is why you MUST put sealer on the bolts. If not, then you may get oil on the flywheel surface when you start the engine, which isn't cool.

Thanks, we both thought we were going nuts. On his '86 302 and my '66 289 (since been sold), these holes did not go all the way through. We did seal them up while we were putting them back. Just in case, I guess that was smart.

Any reason for the holes to go all the way through? I'm just curious.

S/CBlack95GT · Feb 21, 2004

[QUOTE='95 Pilot]Any reason for the holes to go all the way through? I'm just curious. [/QUOTE]

It is just more simple to drill them all the way through during the crank manufacturing process.

Killercanary · Feb 22, 2004

Shaun, I really don't remember mine being all the way through, in fact I'm fairly positive they are not. I've never put an once of sealer on my bolts and I've never had ANY oil come out of the crank holes. I've put three clutches in my car and had the tranny and flywheel out MANY more times than that.

Mtech9 · Feb 22, 2004

If the holes went all of the wat through, the end of the crank would be very weak.

jwalker · Feb 22, 2004

Killercanary said:
Shaun, I really don't remember mine being all the way through, in fact I'm fairly positive they are not. I've never put an once of sealer on my bolts and I've never had ANY oil come out of the crank holes. I've put three clutches in my car and had the tranny and flywheel out MANY more times than that.

I never put sealant on either. Dont really know if the holes go the whole way thru though. Never had oil come out either.

Maybe the rear main seal had a small leak?

1fstgt · Feb 22, 2004

it's definitely the bolts leaking. oil does get into those holes and you must put sealer on them or else they usually leak oil through to the flywheel and then you get it all over your clutch. no cool.

S/CBlack95GT · Feb 22, 2004

Killercanary said:
Shaun, I really don't remember mine being all the way through, in fact I'm fairly positive they are not. I've never put an once of sealer on my bolts and I've never had ANY oil come out of the crank holes. I've put three clutches in my car and had the tranny and flywheel out MANY more times than that.

WOW, thats really odd. I remember in detail looking through the holes in my crank and seeing the rods. I even shined a flash light through the holes so I could see the internals of the engine. Every 5 liter crank I have seen had the holes all the way through. Im looking right now at the FRPP catalog and it shows a 5 liter crank with the holes all the way through as well. Also if you look in the April issue of 5.0 Mustang on page 74 you will see a Scat crank ad. It shows a crank with the holes all the way through. Then on page 96 the CHP ad shows a crank with the holes all the way through.

jwalker · Feb 22, 2004

I just looked at my old block. They def go the whole way through. This is a stock crank.

I still never put sealant on my bolts. Guess Iwill do that next time I change clutches!!

Rootus · Feb 22, 2004

I remember looking at mine when I did the clutch, they definitely went all the way through...

moneypit94 · Feb 22, 2004

i don't remember my stock one but the ones on my scat stroker crank went all the way through... I didn't put sealant on them but probably should have now that i think about it.

Killercanary · Feb 22, 2004

Hmmm.... you learn something new everyday! Thanks Shaun, this might explain the mysterious oil leak I have in that area.

S/CBlack95GT · Feb 22, 2004

Killercanary said:
Hmmm.... you learn something new everyday! Thanks Shaun, this might explain the mysterious oil leak I have in that area.

Yea lets hope that's the problem.

horsesnake95 · Feb 23, 2004

Maybe I'm not thinking straight, but yes the bolt holes for the flywheel do go all the way through the crankshaft, but how would oil find it's way to these holes. The flange where the flywheel bolt to is still outside of the block and pan if i'm thinking remembering it right. Am I thinking about the same bolt holes you guys are. Otherwise the oil way I can see oil coming through those holes is if the rear main seal is bad and throwing it on to them.

S/CBlack95GT · Feb 23, 2004

horsesnake95 said:
Maybe I'm not thinking straight, but yes the bolt holes for the flywheel do go all the way through the crankshaft, but how would oil find it's way to these holes. The flange where the flywheel bolt to is still outside of the block and pan if i'm thinking remembering it right. Am I thinking about the same bolt holes you guys are. Otherwise the oil way I can see oil coming through those holes is if the rear main seal is bad and throwing it on to them.

Well like you said, the holes go all the way through the crankshaft. Therefore, the oil flying around in the pan can sometimes weave its way between the bolt's threads and the crank's threads. It can then either squeeze between the crank and the flywheel or simply come out from under the bolt's head, which contacts the flywheel surface. If it does the latter then you get oil on the flywheel/clutch disk surface.

horsesnake95 · Feb 23, 2004

Maybe I'm still confused. I was under the impression that the rear main oil seal kept the oil inside the pan and that the flange that the flywheel bolts to was on the outside of this seal (hence there should be no oil what so ever coming in contact with the flywheel bolt holes). I'm I not seeing something correctly here? I've never used any kind of sealer on the flywheel bolts myself, just lock-tite so they don't work out.

S/CBlack95GT · Feb 23, 2004

The flange that the flywheel bolts to is the crankshaft. The rear main seal just keeps oil from coming out around the crankshaft. You still have the bolts holes in the crank that are open to the pan.

horsesnake95 · Feb 24, 2004

was also justcurious as to how you saw the rods through the six boltholes with the rear main bearing cap in the way

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