not sure if this is right section but here it goes.i just got finished installing a new davez offroad 22r motor in my 82 truck. the motor is running really well except for the fact that it leaks a ton of oil. within a week of driving this thing had barely any oil left in it. i tried to contact davez and haven't been successful. he's in organ for a few weeks or something (he's an honest guy its just trying to get a hold of him is iffy) when i was getting it worked on to get it to pass smog i figured while they were under the hood id see if they can't fix that oil leak. they did something quick with some bolts or something idk. they didn't charge me for it and worked great for a day. now the thing leaks worse then ever so i don't know what it is. what is the most common front leak on the 22r? also I'm trying to get this thing more practical on he why. at 65mph it turns almost 2,800 to 3,000 rpm, is there an overdrive kit for these or new gears i can put in?

 

Have you actually crawled under there to look and try to find the source of the leak yet? When you're leaking that much, it can become hard to tell where it is coming from. There are really only 4 or 5 places it can leak from, and only a couple of those can leak as much as you're leaking, as long as it's not caused by an obvious bad reassembly move.

I'd say the most common oil leak is the oil pan gasket. The two 22r engines I've owned, both times I drained the oil, let the extra drip out for as long as possible, meticulously clean the oil pan and mating surface, flatten the oil pan a bit at each bolt hole (they tend to be distorted from the bolts being tightened against them) and reinstall carefully with some black RTV and wait 24 hours to dry, or Right Stuff, which is super thick RTV that can be put into service right away. When doing it this way, I lightly tighten them first, then come back and re-tighten once the RTV is dry.

Doing this and cleaning off any wet oil, it became a leak free engine. Each time I thought it leaked from the rear main seal, fixing the oil pan leak stopped oil from creeping into those areas. Another time I had to replace the oil pump o-ring which was a simple leak, and then another time I had to replace the valve cover gasket and spend a lot of time cleaning that engine, they had let that leak go for a long time and done a lot of off-roading in the meantime.

As for "overdrive", you just need a 5 speed manual transmission, unless somehow you've got an automatic. I don't know what transmission or truck you have exactly.

 

The worst leak I had when purchased over 10 yrs ago was from the front main or cover oil seal, came out like a river when i'd stop, rear oil seal & pan leaked also but not as bad

 

If you're really pumping it out I'd guess front seal. Without being there a wild guess is as good as I can give. Probably something on the front cover/oil pan or a main seal if not the front.

R's aren't leakers. If you have any detectable drip I would consider that 'unusual' for an R engine. Old Japanese engines in general seem to be less prone to leakage than most other vehicles of that era.