Oil Spurting out from my exhaust manifold? Help?

[meliketoball]

Hey guys. I was trying to look for this oil leak I have in my turbo 2g. I thought it was coming from my oil line off my turbo but turns out it wasn't. Ummm, it kind of didn't make sense because I thought only the EXHAUST GASES only come out of there?!

I discovered it when I turned my car on and I was looking around the wet oil spots and while I took my eye off the banjo bolt or the bolt with the hole for oil to go through, I saw oil spurting out of the exhaust manifold and right past the gasket! It is near the area right above the banjo bolt and instead of a 12mm nut, it was a 14mm nut.

So what is happening? Do I just simply change the ex. manifold gasket or do I need to think deeper?

 

[Matrixhunter]

Have you done a compression test? how is the engine running? first thing that comes to mind is one of the piston rings might be shot if oil is squirting out from the exhaust area.

 

[meliketoball]

Sorry forgot to mention. But when I compression tested it, it was 175,175, 145,160 up or down but I remember cylinder 2 or 3 stood out the most with 145.

 

[Mr Peepers]

Bad valve stem seals on the exhaust side may be the culprit, along with a leaky exhaust mani gasket.

 

[meliketoball]

bump.

 

[meliketoball]

up? help? SOS?

 

[meliketoball]

Come on guys. Give me some feedback.

 

[dontfeedphils]

You need your head rebuilt. Either bad valve guides or bad valve guide seals, or a combination of both.

If you just get a new exhaust manifold gasket your just putting a band-aid on the problem, and neglecting a much larger problem.

 

[DsM KiD4]

if your leaking oil out your exhaust,( valve/stem seals, piston rings or head gasket) thats basically all it can be or maybe a cracked head or block, but that would be the least likely in my opinon. You should do a leakdown test, theres alot of info on this test if you search. is your car smoking at all? if so, what color smoke? More info would help us help you. But you should really do a leakdown test, call some shops around town and ask them if they can do it for you. it shouldnt cost alot, just make sure its clear to them that you want a leakdown test not a compression test. some shops dont even know what a leakdown test is

 

[DsM KiD4]

melik, i see your from the Bay. you should have Full Function do a leakdown test for you. i think theyre in hayward or union city......

 

[jamisonj24]

Not sure if your saying the leak is at the head to manifold gasket or manifold to turbo gasket, but if it is head to manifold this could be the problem. Going to need someone else to chime in on this to identify which stud to look at but I know 1 of the exhaust manifold bolts is tapped into an oil galley on the head, not sure which bolt/stud though. Your stud may have just come loose and needs to be removed, some rtv sealer applied and then put back in.

 

[DsM KiD4]

Not sure if your saying the leak is at the head to manifold gasket or manifold to turbo gasket, but if it is head to manifold this could be the problem. Going to need someone else to chime in on this to identify which stud to look at but I know 1 of the exhaust manifold bolts is tapped into an oil galley on the head, not sure which bolt/stud though. Your stud may have just come loose and needs to be removed, some rtv sealer applied and then put back in.

very true, i believe there is more than one stud is tapped into the oil galley. I had a leak coming from the stud furthest to the right on the bottom of the exhaust manifold. So i used some rtv and figured that was the end of the problem. Turned out i had a blown headgasket and oil and coolant were getting inside the combustion on cylinders 3&4. This caused oil/coolant to go out the exhaust also escaping through studs for the exhasut mani to the head. I just wanted to let you know this because it might only be a leaky stud, but it could also be something else.

 

[meliketoball]

Sorry guys. I am smoking out white only when I turn the car on. After a while it'll stop. I am not losing any coolant though. At first I thought my turbo seal was going bad because I saw blue smoke come out from the tail pipe. From the turbo it lead me to the Exhaust manifold gasket where it meets the head.

Those who know the sizes of the exhaust manifold nuts, they are 12mm and little are 14. I Spotted my leak right above the turbo banjo bolt connected the the block of the car. It was a 14mm nut with a little exhaust manifold gasket sticking out. I saw that it was leaking so, I got my wrench and tighened it up.

I checked around the head/headgasket area for secondary wounds but see that it only leaks the left side of the exhaust manifold. It still leaks but not as much as before. Could it just be a bad manifold gasket and coincedentaly be leaking at an oil galley? Hopefully it isn't so I do not have to rip everything off. But then I do have 185,XXX miles on her.

And I am pretty sure if oil is leaking out of my exhaust manifold gasket, I am pretty sure that it is all going to point all towards the ex. manifold but, we'll see.

 

[96gstdsm]

Sorry guys. I am smoking out white only when I turn the car on. After a while it'll stop. I am not losing any coolant though. At first I thought my turbo seal was going bad because I saw blue smoke come out from the tail pipe. From the turbo it lead me to the Exhaust manifold gasket where it meets the head.

Those who know the sizes of the exhaust manifold nuts, they are 12mm and little are 14. I Spotted my leak right above the turbo banjo bolt connected the the block of the car. It was a 14mm nut with a little exhaust manifold gasket sticking out. I saw that it was leaking so, I got my wrench and tighened it up.

I checked around the head/headgasket area for secondary wounds but see that it only leaks the left side of the exhaust manifold. It still leaks but not as much as before. Could it just be a bad manifold gasket and coincedentaly be leaking at an oil galley? Hopefully it isn't so I do not have to rip everything off. But then I do have 185,XXX miles on her.

And I am pretty sure if oil is leaking out of my exhaust manifold gasket, I am pretty sure that it is all going to point all towards the ex. manifold but, we'll see.

If it is white smoke then that is coolant. So there are only a couple options then. Most likely would be head gasket. I just went through the same thing. Liquid coming out the exhaust manifold. Sure enough it was the head gasket leaking.
Could also be a cracked head or block like someone else stated. But white smoke is water or coolant.
Your compression test showed a really lower cylinder also so make sense for something to be messed up there.

 

[DsM KiD4]

id put my money on a bad headgasket especially because of the white smoke. Leakdown test is your best bet to pin point the problem.

 

[meliketoball]

I did a compression test because I only have the compression gauge tool ( I don't have a compressor nor a leak down test set.)

But anyway here were my results:
Cylinder 1:180 psi
Cylinder 2:155 psi
Cylinder 3:180 psi
Cylinder 4:180 psi

It's not really that bad. And at that time, my friends were telling me yeah it can be the turbo because I'm not losing coolant not having oil mixed with coolant; it isn't like crazy white smoke dumping out of my tail pipe and or anything fluids mixing with anything. And now when I see it, it is more of a whitish blue. And when he opened up hood he said that," wow since it gets so hot around your turbo, it can get pushing oil past its seals and out to where ever and in your case, your exhaust manifold."

I didn't register that right away because can oil fight upwards toward exhaust gases and out the exhaust manifold? The only reasonable explanation is oil leaking past the valve stem seals then seeping through the exhaust valve whenever they open and out to where I have the problem, "Oil spurting out of my exhaust manifold gasket."

Unless someone can tell me otherwise because I would feel a lot better buying another t-25 rather then to tear apart my head.

 

[96gstdsm]

Having one cylinder down by 25 psi and all the rest basically perfect. There is something wrong there. You need to do a leak down test. That will tell you if the problem is your piston ring on that one cylinder.
As for not having the coolant mix with oil or noticing the level going down. Neither did I. None of those symptoms were there. Yet it still was a bad seal with the head gasket.
Oil will give off a very distinct blue look. It will linger around for a while too. White smoke obviously will be much lighter and usually disappear quicker in the air. Smell the smoke. What does it smell like? Sweet? If it is then it is coolant burning.
Oil can go up to the exhaust manifold from the turbo and burn it out from there. Check for shaft play in the turbo and also check your lower intercooler pipe for any oil. That would show if you have leaky seals. Do you see oil dripping from around the turbo anywhere?
I still think it is most likely something internal in your engine. If it's not why than would go with bad piston ring on that one cylinder that was down at 155psi.

 

[meliketoball]

Having one cylinder down by 25 psi and all the rest basically perfect. There is something wrong there. You need to do a leak down test. That will tell you if the problem is your piston ring on that one cylinder.
As for not having the coolant mix with oil or noticing the level going down. Neither did I. None of those symptoms were there. Yet it still was a bad seal with the head gasket.
Oil will give off a very distinct blue look. It will linger around for a while too. White smoke obviously will be much lighter and usually disappear quicker in the air. Smell the smoke. What does it smell like? Sweet? If it is then it is coolant burning.
Oil can go up to the exhaust manifold from the turbo and burn it out from there. Check for shaft play in the turbo and also check your lower inter cooler pipe for any oil. That would show if you have leaky seals. Do you see oil dripping from around the turbo anywhere?
I still think it is most likely something internal in your engine. If it's not why than would go with bad piston ring on that one cylinder that was down at 155psi.

I really can't help you with the smell of the smoke. I have nothing to compare it to but I can tell you that it does not smell sweet.

Oh, ok. I guess oil can go up the exhaust manifold and in my case out of the exhaust manifold. There are no leaks outside of the turbo but I'll check the SMIC and its piping. I'll let you guys know.

 

[meliketoball]

Ok guys. I am really thinking it is my turbo because, the smoke isn't white..it is blue. Sorry I have trouble telling my colors. If i see a purple car I might think it is blue or pink as a red. When I take off my exhaust manifold, I'll check the turbo, SMIC and the valves.

 

[96gstdsm]

Do a leakdown and wet compression test. Good chance you got a bad piston ring in that one cylinder. If you do a wet compression test and it goes up a bit in that cylinder that is the most likely cause. That will also allow oil to get by and smoke.

 

[jamisonj24]

Definitely do a leakdown test before you go tearing into anything. If you see oily exhaust valves and just go replaceing the head it would certainly be costly to put the engine back together to discover it still smoking and needing rings. You only want to tear into the engine once and fix it right knowing what the problem is.