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

[DSM_One]

It's either the oil cap gasket, valve cover gasket or worse you have a hairline crack on your valve cover.

 

[diviniti]

the 2 end plug boots have oil in them (and above the spark plug) and this results in oil building up in the valve cover, i changed the plug seals but its still happening.. what is it?!

DSM's are notorious for this. Usually even after buying a new gasket or gasket & cap, after a few hundred miles they still do it. Its nothing to be worried about.

There is one oil cap that I know of that does not leak, (I know atleast upto 15-20,000 miles on the car it wont)

If you goto Murrays auto parts, goto the parts counter and tell them you want a billet oil cap for a 97 eclipse turbo. They will have to order it, and I beleive it is $20-30.00
But, it looks good, stops the leak, all is well.

 

[realhp=turbo]

I just did this myself aswell. I'll recamend that when you do the gasket replacment use a very thin layer of RTV on the flat side of the gaskets and on both sides of the spark plug gaskets. small amounts tho. you dont want all that goop squeezing out the sides cause if that happens on the outside then it also happens inside. also make sure that you torque the valve cover in the proper sequence. Torque on those little bolts is like 9ft lbs or some thing. Its not even as tight as spark plugs. Dont strip them tho or your gonna get mad.

 

[DSM_One]

I brought the car to a mechanic. Had the code pulled out and had thecar checked as well. The code was code 44. But the thing is, they could not replicate the problem. I left the car with them for a day and had them test it again once it has sufficiently cooled down but they still cannot replicate it. The irony is, once I was bringing back the car home, it happened again. I tried testing the coil pack this weekend but all I could do was test for the coil secondary resistance and it was fine. As for the coil primary resistance, I could not identify the ignition coil harness connector The same goes for the power transistor unit. Maybe once I have the cheap second hand power transistor I bought, I would now what to look for. Maybe ...

 

[mattspyder]

hey i took off the cover to get at my spark plugs and there is oil all over there. i just changed the spark plugs and i check down in the spark plugs and there isnt oil leaking up from there anybody know what it might be??

 

[RBurroughs]

Its the oil cap... get a new gasket/oil ring from mitsubishi

 

[MattnGsx]

Valve cover gasket is leaking. Your best to just replace the valve cover gasket, spark plug gaskets, and oil cap. 30 Bucks from Satan.

 

[turboxs]

that or the cover is cracked, if you dont wanna spend the money for a new one, jbweld and a powder coat job.

 

[MattnGsx]

that or the cover is cracked, if you dont wanna spend the money for a new one, jbweld and a powder coat job.

That happend to me once. You'll know when you take the cover off.

 

[ADrewzki]

Yep. My bet is that the valve cover is cracked somewhere.

 

[2.4 turbo Hyped]

Yep. My bet is that the valve cover is cracked somewhere.

Yep my guess too. Use 14 ft lbs of torque next time not 140 ft lbs.

 

[mattspyder]

but its not like oil is everywhere on the valve cover its just where the spark plugs go.

 

[2.4 turbo Hyped]

You are either missing the valve cover spark plug hole gaskets or you have torqued the damn valve cover down so bad that it has "squeezed them out" of where they normally seat.

 

[ADrewzki]

Yes, you're talking about the recessed part in the center of the valve cover. Take the valve cover off and take a GOOD look at the inside of it. You'll probably see a hairline crack somewhere. Mine had it in the bottom right hand corner by the bolt hole. And just as a note, don't torque it to the measurements in the Chiltons. Just torque it to 2-3 ft-lbs.

 

[Devicex]

I had the same exact thing happen, it was cracked.

 

[rogergoochman]

So my buddy wanted to race so i murder him like usual. After the race I pop my hood to make sure everythings all good and theres oil in my valve cover. I was told i have leaky valve seals, but no sure if that would do that or not. my friend said valve cover gasket, but less then 2000 miles ago when i replaced timing belt i also replaced, balance shaft belt, belt tensioner, water pump, balance shaft seal, crank seal, oil pump, seal, camshaft seal, and valve cover gasket.So im stumped. Any ideas

 

[Defiant]

71O cap.

 

[rogergoochman]

just get a new oil cap? Is it common for the seal to go bad?

 

[Defiant]

Extremely. That's why you got so many hits when you did your search.

 

[Boostmonkey]

What sort of problems does this create? I noticed a small amout of oil when i changed my plugs but ignored it, figured i spilled while filling. The oil had some crap in it tho so i thought that a bit wierd for fresh stuff. Its been this way for 2 weeks at least, how critical is the crack?
Should i stop driving immediately or pick up a new one at my convenience.. Thanks

 

[sytrus]

All it is, is the oil cap.

I had the same problem. Replaced my oil cap and it was fine. But, check under the valve cover to make sure no oil got under there... also happened to me, lost performance.

You'd know if your valve cover was cracked. But just incase it isn't just the oil cap, check the valve cover gasket.

Most likely just a 15 dollar fix.

 

[I_love_my_TSI]

Check your valve cover closely it might be a little crack somewhere. It happen to me before and there was a slight crack in the middle where the nuts go..because i tighten it to tight.

 

[Catbox_95]

99.95% chance it's just the oil cap. Happened to me. Whoever told you it was "valve seals" has no earthly idea of what a valve seal is.

 

[rogergoochman]

got a diff oil cap, when and boosted for a little bit same result. I guess tommarow in the daylight ill look for cracks in the cover its self

 

[GSXR_Chris]

I just bought a 1994 Eagle Talon TSI AWD today. The car runs great and everything seems to be fine (no worries anyways becuase I plan on redoing the whole engine soon). The only issue it has is with an oil leak somewhere from the valve cover... I did a search on this and found that a few other people have my exact same problem...

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175324&page=1&pp=25&highlight=valve+cover+pics

After reading through that post I found that it could be several things including a cracked valve cover, bad seals around the spark plugs, or just a bad valve cover gasket or oil cap... Anyways just to be safe I am going to take off the valve cover tomorrow and replace everything in that area that it could possible be. Since this is my first DSM I need to know what parts/seals I should replace so when I go to the dealership I know what exactly to ask for and what the seals/parts are called. I also wanted to ask this... If the valve cover is actually cracked will any 1G DSM valve cover fit or does it have to be a specific one? Any idea where I could get a decently priced (uncracked) valve cover if this is the case?

Anyways the basic question I am asking is for one of you more knowledgable DSM'rs to make me a list of what exactly I need to ask for when I go to the dealer... I want to replace all the gaskets and anything else that I need to when I take the valve cover off...

Any help is appreciated!

P.S. Since this is an Eagle should I be going to the Mitsu dealer or the Chrysler/Plymouth dealer???