1G Leaking oil from head and block.

[enjee]

Hello everyone, I’ve recently been looking at my N/T 4g63 and I noticed that it looks to be leaking oil from the head gasket closer to cylinder 1. Idk if it’s actually my head gasket, cam seals, valve stems, or just my valve cover. But i’m stumped and need help.

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[curt-s]

If it was cam seals or rocker cover gasket at the cam cap-head joint you'd see it down the side of the head.
If you remove the exhaust gasket and you see wet oil on the block under the head, it's likely your head gasket. Potentially the front drain where the gasket is super thin.
Take still pictures of around the block as much as possible and post 'em. I'm seeing a combination of copper and green on/around the headgasket at 1:07.. not sure why.

On the plus side, your exhaust valve stem seals are still good

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Put a few drops of oil dye in the oil and run it for a minute, then look for the dye with an ultraviolet (black) light, like used in A/C detection. It should show up at the highest point and run down.

 

[enjee]

If it was cam seals or rocker cover gasket at the cam cap-head joint you'd see it down the side of the head.
If you remove the exhaust gasket and you see wet oil on the block under the head, it's likely your head gasket. Potentially the front drain where the gasket is super thin.
Take still pictures of around the block as much as possible and post 'em. I'm seeing a combination of copper and green on/around the headgasket at 1:07.. not sure why.

On the plus side, your exhaust valve stem seals are still good

I don’t have any other photos of the car It’s in storage rn. But the best way i can describe it is it starts on the block and makes its way down. so most likely a head gasket but I wanted to make sure before doing all the work. As for the copper and green i have no idea, it could be coolant as well (hope not) but i can say the thermostat housing does have a small leak. But I got the car last year and its sat non running for 15 years if not more. So the paper head gasket probably needs replacing.

 

[curt-s]

Likely would be composite as paper head gaskets don't exist. However, after sitting for a long time, it's not out of the realm of possibility that the head just isn't getting the clamping force it needs to. After 15 years, that thing likely needs to be overhauled anyway because I could just imagine the condition of the cylinder bores.

 

[DSMPT]

I don’t have any other photos of the car It’s in storage rn. But the best way i can describe it is it starts on the block and makes its way down. so most likely a head gasket but I wanted to make sure before doing all the work. As for the copper and green i have no idea, it could be coolant as well (hope not) but i can say the thermostat housing does have a small leak. But I got the car last year and its sat non running for 15 years if not more. So the paper head gasket probably needs replacing.

If exhaust port is dry and it looks like oil is leaking from head gasket under exhaust runner #1, the oil leak is not occurring in there. The oil is coming from somewhere else. Usually the oil is coming from driver side valve cover gasket, oil filler cap gasket, camshaft seals or head gasket oil return port at the conner is cylinder #1 intake side. So you should check those first to pinpoint the location. The oil go down from those location until the head gasket, and come along the edge of the head gasket (between the head and block) and goes to the front side by gravity due to the engine angle, like the pic in the link below. And it starts to go down to block/oil pan from there by time. And that makes the oil look like coming from the head gasket at cylinder #1 exhaust side.

Even if the head gasket gets a sealing issue at cylinder #1 exhaust side, you wouldn't have oil leak in there. The coolant would leak. This is because you have no oil feed/return port in there.

https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/oil-leak-somewhere-between-head-and-block.437467/#post-153788601

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

Likely would be composite as paper head gaskets don't exist. However, after sitting for a long time, it's not out of the realm of possibility that the head just isn't getting the clamping force it needs to. After 15 years, that thing likely needs to be overhauled anyway because I could just imagine the condition of the cylinder bores.

Not to thread jack but you’d be surprised, a lot of the junk I mess with has sat 15, 20, 30+ years and the cylinder walls and other internals are absolutely fine. This is the only community where I see this misconception of “it sat for more than a couple years so it needs completely rebuilt!” on a regular basis, which simply isn’t in the least bit true in most cases.

 

[enjee]

Okay, thank yall for the help. I’ll definitely look into everything mentioned.

 

[curt-s]

Not to thread jack but you’d be surprised, a lot of the junk I mess with has sat 15, 20, 30+ years and the cylinder walls and other internals are absolutely fine. This is the only community where I see this misconception of “it sat for more than a couple years so it needs completely rebuilt!” on a regular basis, which simply isn’t in the least bit true in most cases.

I understand your position but I don't share it. I've popped a valve cover off a car or two that has sat in a local wrecker lot for a lot less than 15 years and seen absolute horror. If a rebuild is out of the question, that's fine, but it needs to be thoroughly inspected as deep as possible. Scope the cylinders, replace all the timing components because if they're also 15 years sitting, there is potentially significant rust on the idler and tensioner pulleys and the belt is stretched unevenly.. I wouldn't trust the tensioner.
Pull the pan and look in it for anything out of the ordinary, including foreign debris.
Just don't go full on send-it, non-turbo or not, and expect it to be reliable after all those years. Otherwise, something will give and the car will be deemed unreliable garbage as the platform already has a bit of a mislabel of.

 

[97egl]

I understand your position but I don't share it. I've popped a valve cover off a car or two that has sat in a local wrecker lot for a lot less than 15 years and seen absolute horror. If a rebuild is out of the question, that's fine, but it needs to be thoroughly inspected as deep as possible. Scope the cylinders, replace all the timing components because if they're also 15 years sitting, there is potentially significant rust on the idler and tensioner pulleys and the belt is stretched unevenly.. I wouldn't trust the tensioner.
Pull the pan and look in it for anything out of the ordinary, including foreign debris.
Just don't go full on send-it, non-turbo or not, and expect it to be reliable after all those years. Otherwise, something will give and the car will be deemed unreliable garbage as the platform already has a bit of a mislabel of.

I'd certainly agree on the timing belt 100% but I would have to respectfully disagree on concern with the cylinder bores and an overhaul. As long as the engine was sitting under a closed hood with a full exhaust and intake system on it moisture has a very long path to go to get to the cylinders.

Not trying to start an argument here. I just don't want the OP going from trying to find an oil leak to thinking they need a full rebuild/overhaul. Again though the timing belt 100% needs to be replaced ASAP if it has not been it is a ticking time bomb.

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

I understand your position but I don't share it. I've popped a valve cover off a car or two that has sat in a local wrecker lot for a lot less than 15 years and seen absolute horror. If a rebuild is out of the question, that's fine, but it needs to be thoroughly inspected as deep as possible. Scope the cylinders, replace all the timing components because if they're also 15 years sitting, there is potentially significant rust on the idler and tensioner pulleys and the belt is stretched unevenly.. I wouldn't trust the tensioner.
Pull the pan and look in it for anything out of the ordinary, including foreign debris.
Just don't go full on send-it, non-turbo or not, and expect it to be reliable after all those years. Otherwise, something will give and the car will be deemed unreliable garbage as the platform already has a bit of a mislabel of.

Oh I agree with you there, I wouldn’t dare try to start an interference engine with a rubber belt after a few years without servicing it, and not saying things CANT get shady internally, I’ve by all means encountered stuck engines that have sat 10 years nothings out of the realm of possibility, I’m just saying there’s things to look at before we assume “it sat, it needs a complete overhaul!” and in my experience that’s usually not the case. I don’t want anyone to panic thinking they need to plan to pull an engine and put it through a machine shop just because it sat a little while.

 

[curt-s]

No arguments here, we all have our "opinions" on next steps and they will differ greatly. I will absolutely put forth that I am probably biased because this is exactly what I'm going through right now, albeit for different goals.

A N/T block that just needs to be up and running with no particular build in mind, I will actually agree with you both. To save the engine from further damage, the usual important timing-related maintenance items should be done before more run time is afforded to it, otherwise it could very well become a full on rebuild of even larger proportions (including massive head work).

If I had an engine running tip-top right now, I'd probably be taking the opposite stance because, really, who wants to do what I was suggesting if it's not 100% obvious it needs to happen.

We're all good

 

[enjee]

No arguments here, we all have our "opinions" on next steps and they will differ greatly. I will absolutely put forth that I am probably biased because this is exactly what I'm going through right now, albeit for different goals.

A N/T block that just needs to be up and running with no particular build in mind, I will actually agree with you both. To save the engine from further damage, the usual important timing-related maintenance items should be done before more run time is afforded to it, otherwise it could very well become a full on rebuild of even larger proportions (including massive head work).

If I had an engine running tip-top right now, I'd probably be taking the opposite stance because, really, who wants to do what I was suggesting if it's not 100% obvious it needs to happen.

We're all good

The head gasket has been replaced !!! But another issues has come up. I put in a new alternator and now ive lost some electrical functions. My ac and heater don’t work, no radio, no seatbelt light, and no door open light. Any advice on how to fix this?

 

[curt-s]

Fuses and wiring. It doesn't get any less fun than that.
I don't have the manual handy right now but check which of the nonworking items may share the same fuse(s)