Oil Leak and Smoke...

[Gemin Jackal]

Hey everyone, very new to the site. And almost as new to the cars. Was just given a 1991 Eagle Talon to repay an old debt. Has some parts on it, decent shape. Either way too the problem.

She has a bit of motor-tick which I am going to try and remedy through the Lifter Cleaning/Replacement VFAQ. Smokes from the exhaust a bit... and smokes under the hood. Smoke under the hood seems to be coming from the oil leaking from a small breather hole (?) on the front of the valve cover, near the right hand side (Crank etc...) Any clue as to what may be causing the high oil pressure that I am assuming would cause this leak?

Thanks for all the help in advance.

Justin

 

[Gemin Jackal]

Oh... BtW. TSi FWD 5spd. Parts on the car are C/F DualFriction Clutch, Light Flywheel, Downpipe, high flow cat, KYB AGX's and G/C Coilovers and a manual boost controller.

 

[T is for TURBO]

Well, if it is burning oil out the exhaust, it could be a few things. I could be a badly blown turbo, it could be worn piston rings, or it could your valve guides that are bad. As for the one under the hood, the only "breather" that I can think of is the valve cover breather that sticks out the passanger side that, when stock, is routed back to the intake snorkel. Unless of course its the PCV valve, but thats on the back of the valve cover by the intake manifold. I don't think high oil pressure is your culprit, I think age is. The car is almost 16 years old, so some of the seals are going to worn or hardened through time. The valve cover gaskets are probably rock hard if they haven't been changed yet. Pull the Valve cover off and see what it's condition is. If it feels hard, or when you bend it you see cracks, replace it. Its like a 30 dollar piece.
Good luck
-Shawn

 

[Gemin Jackal]

It's not actually an "oil breather" it's a small hole located on the valve cover, on the front driver side (,looking from the front, and it's not on the top) just above the gasket line. Seems the car is slightly overfilled on oil. Valve cover gasket was my first plan, so we'll see how that goes.

 

[No_Skillz]

It's not actually an "oil breather" it's a small hole located on the valve cover, on the front driver side (,looking from the front, and it's not on the top) just above the gasket line. Seems the car is slightly overfilled on oil. Valve cover gasket was my first plan, so we'll see how that goes.

From your description, that's NOT supposed to be there. A picture could do wonders to help us make sure, but definitely replace it if you have a hole.

Also, does the car smoke when you idle, normally drive, boost, or all of the above?

Try a compression test and let us know the results.

 

[Gemin Jackal]

I'll get pics tomorrow, few things I need to take pics of too just to make sure I know what I am looking at. This car as I said was recovered from a friend, so i am now working on discovering what brought her to a halt and bringing her back to life. Will post more tomorrow when I've got it. Also, in the meantime, any estimates on timing belt/water pump replacement? And head gasket replacement too if you happen to haev numbers off the top of your head.

 

[No_Skillz]

Timing belt + all pulleys and water pump ~$250
Head Gasket ~$50
Valve Cover Gasket ~$50
Just for parts.

 

[Gemin Jackal]

Wow, I was expecting more. Where do you buy your parts?

 

[DSMcrazy3]

www.partsdinosaur.com is very popular among DSMers.

 

[No_Skillz]

I like to support this site and its vendors. Click on Supporting Vendors at the top.

 

[oldman]

The root cause of your problems is probably excessive crankcase pressure.