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I just put a 2.5 petrol motor in to my SII and have a nice little puddle (4" circle) under the truck when I shut it off. It is not coming out of the threaded hole at the bottom of the bell housing but from the sides and bottom seam at the oil pan. When assembling the motor I noticed there was no gasket or sealant between the engine and the bellhousing. Should there have been? Neither the Green Bible nor Haynes manual specify. Any wisdom would be appreciated.
There isn't any gasket or sealant used on any bell housings. The rear seal on the engine and the front seal of the transmission take care or that (hopefully...). Check the rear seal on the engine (usually the place where leaks occur).
In my experience, if the crank seal leaks it will tend to drip out of the threaded hole in the flywheel housing . These are two sources I have experienced if the leak is at the back of the oil pan / block interface. One is the Pan gasket, a new one could solve the problem. The other is around the side and bottom of the two T shaped cork ( or composite) seals down the side of the rear main bearing cap. They can dry out and leak . Its item F on the picture . I cured one by taking off the oil pan ( sump in the UK ) and could see the end of the seal had shrunk so there was nearly a 1/8" gap at the bottom off both sides of the bearing cap. I cut two pieces about 3/16" long off a new T seal and pushed them into the two holes where the seal had shrunk back, leaving about 1/16" protruding . 1/32" is recommended by Rover , the item G in the picture , but I double it . This gets pushed in when the pan is put back and all being well , compresses the cork making it seal again, as well as filling the holes at the bottom . One can do this without removing the engine or gearbox. Alternatively one can replace the T seals which needs the engine or gearbox out. I cured one by taking off the flywheel and housing . cleaning the area around the cap to block joint with brake cleaner and putting a bead of RTV Gasket sealer along the cap & block joint face and fitting the flywheel housing back before it cured, which did stop the leak without recourse to removing the bearing cap to replace the seals.
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