Qwhile back I bought this 93 ranger and ever since I have had a small oil leak. i cant seam to track it down. It leaks from between the bell houing and the back of the engine. I suspect its the rear main seal, but does anyone have any other ideas what it could be. The leak will drip just once or twice in the drivway when I'm backup up in it (nose facing down) . This leads me to believe it is something else.

 

Auto? Manual?

Possible causes: hydraulic clutch cylinder (if present), rear main seal, rear of head or valve cover leaking down back of engine (looks like it's coming from the bellhousing but isn't), transmission front seal leak.

Some engines have the oil pressure sender on the rear of the engine and it could leak down and fool you also.

 

Sorry,,,,,its a 5 speed.


I'll guess I'll figure it out when I change the clutch.... I'll tighten the valve cover just to make sure... I hope its that . Its way easier to do that then the rest you said.

 

Don't tighten the valve cover. If it's leaking, get a proper gasket and make time to change it.

Over the years I found that more often than not, tightening the valve cover on a leaking gasket distorts the cover and makes it leak worse and usually in other places, lol.

You can reach behind the engine when it's fairly cooled off and wipe your hand over the head below the valve cover and see if it's wet with oil. If not, you probably don't have a leak back there. Ditto the block below the head.

If there's not leak -- DON'T touch the valve cover. It's best left alone if it ain't broke.

 

mine leakes in the same place to..lol

 

Ditto what John said.
Make sure it is in fact leaking before you start turning bolts, etc.
If the valve cover is leaking, its best to change the gasket. I've seen them just get worse with tightening it down. The cover gets distorted and the gasket surface gets slightly bent out of shape and it sometimes leaks more or in a different place on the gasket surface.
I've replaced numerous valve cover gaskets AND bent Valve Covers from overzealous tightening and re-tightening. One was so "warped" from over tightening it rocked when placed on a level surface. Gives a new meaning to Rocker Cover.