OldIHC

I pulled the oil pan today to address an oil leak. I cleaned everything up last week and kept checking it. The oil was coming from the back of the oil pan, sort of oozing out at the gasket point between the block and pan. After removing the pan it appears it is coming from the 2 holes where the rope seal is supposed to packed into. But in these two holes were 2 long rubber inserts. I was able to grab and pull them out with a pick. Not sure what to do with this...... are these supposed to be in there? The inserts are 2-3 inches long. Kind of wondering if I should be cleaning things up, coating the inserts with RTV and replacing them, or pulling that rear bearing cap off and trying to install a new rope seal. There is no sign of any oil leaking out the back of the motor past the rope seal, it seems to be coming out past these 2 rubber inserts. Unfortunately the pan gasket only partially covers these holes where the inserts are. I’m just not sure what to do.

I’ve been trying to add a pic of what I’m talking about but can’t figure out how to make the photo small enough to be accepted. In the service manual there is a diagram of packing wicking material into these 2 holes. These are the holes that the rubber inserts are in.

Been doing more research, sounds like these are called dowel plugs or seals for the main bearing sides. Also sounds like a lot of guys discard them and use The Right Stuff with success. Gonna try that

there was originally packing in those holes, the upgrade was the rubber plugs, but they allow seepage, I'd advise either applying a sealant to them, or tossing them and packing the hole like it came from the factory.

Jeff, did your repair work out?