Oil everywhere

[Lucas03es]

So, I have about 600 miles on a fresh rebuilt, decking, valve job, and die tested head. I also have a new OEM headgasket with ARPs torqued to 90 ft. lbs.. I have been driving it a bit lately, and now the last few days when I park the car somewhere for about an hour or more, there are spots of oil everywhere under the car. I was looking, the oil is in the drivers fenderwell, on the crossmember under the car, the thermostat housing, side of the head, on a corner of the headgasket exposed under the oil feed line for the turbo, and the lower timing cover and oil filter housing. The first thing I did was pulled the valve cover, and made sure all of the head studs were still torqued (they were), and put on some rtv between the valve cover gasket and the head because there was some oil on the head where it rests.

Now, two days later it is still doing it, but the oil level does not appear to have dropped much, but could it still be just getting rid of the last of the previously leaked oil, or is there anywhere that appears to be the culprit?

I really hope it is not the head gasket, as it was just replaced and I didn't go haywire anywhere. I have not lost any power, and the oil and coolant is not mixed and there is still visible coolant when I open the thermostat housing cap.

All help is greatly appreciated as always, thank you!

 

[Rob10_99]

Sounds like blowby out the dipstick. Have a catch can setup?
Your rebuild was just the head it sounds like, how many miles on the shortblock?

 

[Lucas03es]

I have no clue on the short block, as I did not put it in. It is a 7 bolt from a '97, and was put in within the last two years as I found an old for sale thread for the car, and talked t a previous owner who owned it just before someone disgraced the car with that. There is no oil on the exhaust manifold though?

And I also do not have an oil catch can setup, the breather vent on the valve cover was missing the metal tube, so I stuck one in from another valve cover and just a cheapo filter on there, and it keeps falling out.

 

[Dewayne Waldron]

+1 on the dipstick. Your probably also lossing oil at the nipple on the valve cover.

 

[95'RS-T]

Check your valve cover for cracks even the smallest crack with allow oil to get out and on to everything.

 

[92_talon_awd]

Also check your cam seals. I've been fighting with mine for a while now, replaced them twice and I still get an oil slick down the side of my engine but it takes a few weeks of driving hard daily to notice any oil loss on the dipstick.

 

[LiquidX]

Is the headgasket OEM composite or OEM MLS? If you want a second way to test the head gasket without doing a compression/leakdown test, atke the radiator cap off whill having the car run. If you are seeing a lot of bubbles that's a good indicator as well as a muddy color. Same goes with the oil; is it oil color or like a milkshake.

If the headgasket is fine, I would move to the valvecover and look for any cracks from over-tightening. If that's fine, check to see your oil cap gasket is not a piece of plastic now and it is still making a tight seal. Full valve covergasket replacement afterwards which will include the main gasket, half moon and spark plug gaskets. Lastly I would say your cam shaft seals if you are still having leaks (I would do them last as you need to redo the timing to change them and pull out your cams).

 

[Lucas03es]

The headgasket is an OEM composite. The oil is not milky. I will check the coolant today. I resealed the valve cover. I saw a crack when I pulled it that appeared to be inbetween the two humps for the cams on the valve cover. Would a leaking valve cover really get oil ontop of the transmission though if it is not from that side, or could that stuff just be there from before I resealed it?

 

[LiquidX]

If you are unsure if that caused the leak onto your tranny, look at the hood and see if there is oil spray everywhere. Regardless, a cracked valve cover isn't good and should be fixed if possible or replaced all together. It sounds your HG is fine so you shouldn't need to continue on with that. I also forgot to mention, does your dipstick pop out at all after driving/boosting?

 

[Lucas03es]

Dipstick does not pop out. I have another valve cover here from a dsm I hink it is crack free, so I will grab a new valve cover gasket and give it a try. There isn't any oil on the bottom of the hood either. The stuff ontop of the tranny looks like it could be fresh. How would the oil get into the fenderwell?

 

[LiquidX]

The only things I can come up with are leaking oil lines from the turbo feed/drain. I'm not too sure but a good way to find it is get some UV dye and go for a quick ride to find out where you are leaking from if it's too hard to pin point. Get that other VC on also.

Which fender, the driverside? That could be from anywhere from the valvecover, the gasket set, cam seals, oil pump/gasket, bolt that goes through the oilpump into a galley, oil filter housing.

 

[Lucas03es]

I was looking at the oil drain and that appears to be one of the few dry parts on the car haha, Oil feed from the head looked good, ill check on the turbo side though. I will throw down some cardboard and shoot some degreaser on there and get most of it cleaned and let it idle a bit and see if I can find a leaky spot. There was also oil on the inside of the upper timing cover and it looked inbetween where the gears sit and down, could that be from that crack?

 

[LiquidX]

It's possible it could be from the crack depending on how far in it goes under the cam gear cover. Replace the valve cover before you start looking for the problem as the crack could very well be the culprit itself for the mess on the timing side. If the timing belt is soak and/or got a lot of oil on it, you'll want to replace it as the oil will weaken the belt and give it a higher chance to stretch, jump teeth or break.

 

[EclipticalGS]

I have a brand new built longblock and I had a massive leak where the shop who built my motor didnt put rtv on one of my oil pump bolts..Now that Ive fixed that oil leak..After a semi hard pull, I pull into a lot and theres oil dripping from below my firewall on the drivers side dripping off my drivers front suspension parts..That tells me something is spraying under boost because my dipstick was shooting out.

I have yet to find out what it was, But all I can say is that my oil is overfilled by 1/4 quart...

 

[LiquidX]

I have a brand new built longblock and I had a massive leak where the shop who built my motor didnt put rtv on one of my oil pump bolts..Now that Ive fixed that oil leak..After a semi hard pull, I pull into a lot and theres oil dripping from below my firewall on the drivers side dripping off my drivers front suspension parts..That tells me something is spraying under boost because my dipstick was shooting out.

I have yet to find out what it was, But all I can say is that my oil is overfilled by 1/4 quart...

I would suspec the PVC valve is bad. Goto the deal and ask for a bunch of them and try them out. If you can blow through it, then it's not going to seal your boost. You can also throw one of these on to cure a non sealing PVC valve.
Check Valves | U.S. Plastic Corp.

 

[Lucas03es]

I just pulled the cam gear cover, and the intake gear had a bit more oil than the exhaust. Doesn't appear to have any oil on the belt itself. I cranked it over and checked the coolant, and it was not bubbling. I had installed a new oil filter housing gasket while the car was down, could that be the problem? How would I check that to make sure it is that before I pull the timing cover? The oil looks centralized on the lower A-arm and the axle. but it is still all over.

And the hole on the side of the valve cover was pushing pressure out of it, and I can blow through both sides of my PCV now that you mention it.

 

[LiquidX]

If you are positive that your current VC is cracked and you have an UNCRACKED VC, put the uncracked one one regardless. Get a new PVC valve (and the check valve if you wish) from the dealer and put that on to stop from pressurizing the block and head. Depending on how bad of a leak it was, the oil could an may be collecting on the gear and traveling down the underside of the belt and spraying it around lower.

If you are unsure of the OFH, clean it off and see if it's leaking from anywhere. Again, the use of a UV dye will help you find a hard to find oil leak.

 

[6boltpower]

my dipstick pops out under driving / boosting. for the most part. whats this mean? thanks in advance

 

[LiquidX]

Post #15 or search for popping dipstick. Basically you are pressurizing the crank case because there is leak from one of the seals.

 

[Lucas03es]

I just got the new PCV valve and the gasket, about to slap on the uncracked valve cover. The PCV valve on the car currently lets air through when blown into from both sides, and there is a crack about 3/4" long where I mentioned before between the cam humps (crack is visible from underside of VC). Could it be getting pressurised and spraying it out of the crack?

 

[LiquidX]

Sure sounds like it will blow oil out of the crack. Don't tighten the PVC valve too tight unless you want a crack valve cover again. Let us know how the swap went and if it is still leaking afterwards.

 

[brandon1239]

this happened to my friend when he rebuilt his motor. turned out to be a bolt where the balance shaft used to be.right by the bottom of the timing belt. oil was everywhere on his driver side and it took us forever to find it. i'd suggest checking everything in the front timing cover. never know with these things.

 

[kp116]

Give you engine bay a nice cleaning then start it up and look for leaks. You might need to drive it and get it under boost also...

 

[whe3ls]

they make a uv dye you can put in the oil. i forget the name

 

[Lucas03es]

I have the new valve cover and PCV valve installed. The car feels like it is driving smoother now, I think it may be because the previous PCV blew air through both ends without restriction haha. I boosted it a bit, it felt smooth, and there is not any oil in the spark plug area yet.

Tomorrow I am going to have my brother bring the car to work to get it smogged, and clean off all of the oil that is still on the car (a bunch), and add some UV dye. One problem, if it is still leaking,wouldn't the dye get everywhere just as the oil is?