Oil Leak On Oil Cover [Merged 9-7] cap gasket dipstick leaking pool

[romeen]

Well I have 3 PCV valves in my possession, one was from the old valve cover i cracked, one from new one i bought, and the new one is from JNZ Tuning... I tried them all, none of them leak air one way, and blow fine when i blow from the other end.

I am positive there aren't any cracks in the valve cover, as i babied this one since the I cracked the old one.
Oil pressure reads 24-26 psi idle once car is warm, and 75 @ startup.
I know when the oilstick blew out because I can smell it inside the car..

I have a couple oem PCV valves that hold steady if I blow through them. But when using an air compressor they start to leak at around 10 psi and at 18 psi they are leaking as bad as my blown TB shaft seals . Seriously, to check your PCV you really need an air compressor .

 

[eboy0]

I have a couple oem PCV valves that hold steady if I blow through them. But when using an air compressor they start to leak at around 10 psi and at 18 psi they are leaking as bad as my blown TB shaft seals . Seriously, to check your PCV you really need an air compressor .

How exactly do you go about hooking up a hose to the pcv?

 

[romeen]

Unscrew PCV valve from valve cover but leave it hooked up to the vacuum hose which connects it to the intake manifold. Pressurize system (boost leak test) and check for air leaking past PCV, i.e. air out through the end which would normally be inside the VC. Be careful not to over pressurize your intake. If unsure about proper boost leak testing let me know .

 

[kenamond]

I agree with a boost leak test. I also agree that you should check the filter on your VC breather; if it's clogged, you have nowhere to vent crankcase pressure except the dipstick.

Also, if you hadn't heard this before, non-OEM PCV valves often leak like mad right out of the box (Autozone, Carquest, etc.). If you blow through it with your mouth, some will leak with that minimal level of pressure. The boost leak test suggested by romeen will tell you for sure how well the PCV seals at boost pressures.

As far as your high compression, I have a similar dilema; Mine's 183 after altitude correction (I'm at 7500ft). It's not as high as yours, but it's above spec. I also did the seafoam treatment thinking it was carbon deposits, and as with your case it didn't make a difference (and it freaked me out enough that I haven't tried it again ). I have 80k miles on my car, so that's another similarity. I'm wondering if a leakdown or wet compression test wouldn't answer the blow-by question, as your compression numbers like mine don't help in that diagnosis.

So boost leak test!

EDIT: Oh, one more eerie similarity - I also broke my stock VC the first time I tried fixing a VC leak. But the new one went on fine and didn't leak .

 

[Calan]

Finally found a bit of oil seeping from the front drivers side VC bolt, and around the front cam seal. Checked the VC bolts, and 5 were loose to the point of rattling around.

Tightened them up CAREFULLY with a stud driver, and now my leak is worse

Freakin VC gaskets... you'd think somebody would design one that wouldn't always leak

 

[Calan]

Not to thread jack or change subjects but (it's related )....

My VC gasket was apparently replaced new just before I bought the car; obviously incorrectly... so it's (theoretically) only got maybe 1k on it.

Can I take it, the spark plug and half moon seals off... clean everything up... check for flatness... and re-seal it with some RTV temporarily, until I put a new VC and gasket set on in a couple weeks?

Hmmmm.....

 

[romeen]

Finally found a bit of oil seeping from the front drivers side VC bolt, and around the front cam seal. Checked the VC bolts, and 5 were loose to the point of rattling around.

Tightened them up CAREFULLY with a stud driver, and now my leak is worse

Freakin VC gaskets... you'd think somebody would design one that wouldn't always leak

If there is damage to the VC gasket, retightening the bolts can cause the damaged portion to split or deform more and possibly make the leak worse.

Also some VC bolts are supposed to be longer than others. But I'm not sure where the longer vs. shorter ones are supposed to go. Hopefully someone who knows will help.

If there is oil seeping past the bolt threads you could use pipe dope or teflon tape on the threads. This is, of course, only a temporary patch until you can fix the underlying problem. But it would be easy enough to do.

 

[romeen]

Not to thread jack or change subjects but (it's related )....

My VC gasket was apparently replaced new just before I bought the car; obviously incorrectly... so it's (theoretically) only got maybe 1k on it.

Can I take it, the spark plug and half moon seals off... clean everything up... check for flatness... and re-seal it with some RTV temporarily, until I put a new VC and gasket set on in a couple weeks?

Hmmmm.....

If you're talking about using RTV in conjuction with the gasket, this is something I have contemplated. Although it's not recommended by Mitsubishi, it seems like if used sparingly there shouldn't be any problems. Others' experience with this or criticism of this is welcomed.

 

[MountainDew]

Recently rebuilt my 95' TSI AWD. I've got literally a pretty good size puddle of oil just sitting in the valve cover. I have a brand new valve cover gasket and I have tried numerous oil caps. It is bolted down pretty tight as well.

I searched for oil leaks, looked through 4 pages or so and couldn't really find anything. Everything was all turbo lines and anything related to that.

Any help would be appreciated. It's getting annoying having to clean it up everyday..

 

[SwitchSkier]

You say you bolted it down pretty tight. How tight? It might have cracked and that could be letting out the oil.

 

[architechnik]

This may sound stupid, but how is your oil dipstick?
I kept getting oil pooled in the cover, only to realize it was blown there by the air as it came from the worn gasket on the dipstick popping up and spraying oil.

 

[MountainDew]

This may sound stupid, but how is your oil dipstick?
I kept getting oil pooled in the cover, only to realize it was blown there by the air as it came from the worn gasket on the dipstick popping up and spraying oil.

It wouldn't be from that. Dipstick isn't popping and like I said, it's a giant puddle of oil.

There are no cracks, it's a 6bolt valve cover on a 7bolt motor if that makes a difference. I like the way the 6bolt ones look much better, so I bought it to put on my car.

 

[drewbird91]

Did you take the valve cover off and look for cracks? Mine was cracked from the underside. Found it after I replaced vc gasket, oil cap gasket, bolts. Also are you using the stock bolts?

 

[19Eclipse90]

The torque of the valve cover bolts is 3 ft/lbs; that is hardly tight at all. I'm betting on a cracked cover, especially if it is torqued down more than that.

 

[bmoha2]

I had been leaking oil from my stock oil cap into the spark plug gulley, I bought a fancy dancy cnc'd aluminum oil cap from Machv. It didn't fix the problem. The flat spring that holds the oil cap tight to the valve cover had no spring to it and after being put on and taken off just once it deformed to the point that it just loosely held the oild cap on. I cut a new spring from some spring steel. Did't fix it. Cap still leaked. I vented the oil vent line on the left side of the valve cover to a catch can. Oil cap still leaked. I vented the pcv valve back to the catch can. I replaced the pcv valve with a new one. No more leaking cap.

 

[MountainDew]

I'll try the PCV valve off my old valve cover. Dunno if it will do much though, I'm about to just throw my old valve cover back on.

 

[Sernadaburna]

I just installed my valve cover with a new gasket and high temp seal so it won't leak. the problem i am having is that there are these little plugs that go where the screws connect to but the ones i am using are old and 2 are leaking. i am trying to purchase them but i have no clue what the hell they are called. i checked ebay and a few other spots but found nada if anyone knows the name i would really appreciate it thanks rich

 

[Locke]

Grommets.

 

[Sernadaburna]

thanks alot

 

[Sernadaburna]

LOCKE do you know where i can get them or does anyone know where i can purchase the valve cover grommets?

 

[Locke]

Actually, now that I think of it, I don't think the 4g63 uses grommets, at least I don't recall having them on the 1g.

Exactly which screws on the VC are leaking oil around them?

 

[romeen]

Correct, the 4G63 VC gasket does not use any grommets. As Locke said, describe in better detail or provide a picture of which screws/bolts you are referring to.

The only thing I can think of in that area are the rubber washers that are used on the bolts that secure the spark plug valley cover. But missing those should not cause an oil leak so I am not sure what "plugs" you are referring to.

 

[voodoogsx]

I recall having to change out the gasket rings (tabbed)that were around the spark plugs as well.....but those came with my gasket set when I bought it...also had the half moon for mine....

I don't recall what the 2 untabed rings were for though...

http://i17.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/b6/06/0d73_1.JPG

 

[tom04841]

I recall having to change out the gasket rings (tabbed)that were around the spark plugs as well.....but those came with my gasket set when I bought it...also had the half moon for mine....

I don't recall what the 2 untabed rings were for though...

http://i17.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/b6/06/0d73_1.JPG

Sort of look like cam shaft seals

 

[teamo2t]

Are you talk about the half circle plastic things that go at the end of the cams? I am not sure what they are called but you can purchase them at a mitsubishi dealership.