I’ve been fighting with a back-of-the-engine oil leak since completely rebuilding my engine (following an overheat and shattered rod bearing due to running w/o oil).

It does that Subaru thing, where oil is pouring out of the back of the engine, burning off the cat and inspiring concerned citizens to roll their window down and tell me my car is on fire. Embarrassing.

Have tried the following so far in my attempt to fix it:

1) Removed engine, replaced rear main seal. No help.

2) Doubting the quality of my main seal install, removed engine again, did more careful main seal install. No help.

3) Did my internet research, learned of separator plate issues, and replaced oil separator plate. First, pulled the engine forward w/o removing it, didn’t see the level of evidence of leakage like the video shows, but that’s probably due to the recent rebuild, clean oil, etc. Notably, the main seal seemed dry, a trickle around wrist access panel just like the video, and some leakage under separator plate. Before removing the old plastic plate, I confirmed at least a small leak by forcing compressed air into the PVC tube shown in video, and rotating the engine via the front of the crankshaft using a drill. On removal the old plate showed only the beginnings of cracking near the screws, leaking was apparently due to a void in the Ultra Copper sealant I had used during the rebuild. Installed the new stamped steel plate & new fasteners, using Permetex Ultra Grey bead for seal. No help.

4) Lifted engine to remove oil pan, cleaned and reinstalled using aftermarket cork gasket. Used thin layer of Ultra Black on pan side and torqued to spec. Thought was, maybe primary leak is from back of oil pan seal. No help.

5) Present day. Engine’s still in car, still leaking like crazy. I left off the cover panel under the bellhousing, so I can peer up into the main seal area using a small dental mirror from below the car while illuminating with a headlight through an access hole I found at the top of the engine – and I can see the separator plate is still leaking when the car is running. Should I assume the problem is with my choice of sealant? Exactly what sealant should I use? Anaerobic maybe? What about creating a gasket, (that seems like a good idea to me)?

Thank you. As good as I’m getting at pulling off my engine, I think I’m also becoming insane. Your advice is appreciated!