oil on valve cover and transmission

[Infiltrate2000]

I installed a cold air intake on my 95 nt, upon taking out the stock intake box, i saw oil at the side of the valve cover where the intake plastic pipe was. There is also oil on top of the valve cover and on oil seem to have fell down on the transmission, cuz there is oil stain there.

I hope its not the head gasket because thats not cheap to replace.

 

[1LE]

Start with the valve cover gasket They are a frequent source of leaks on these cars.

 

[RossY]

If oil is on top of the valve cover i would also check the oil fill cap. Mine leaked there and thankfully i caught it in time before it leaked into the spark plug holes and fouled them.

 

[clownface]

ive got oil in the sparck plug area on the valve cover, but not in the wells, does that point to the oil cap?

 

[RossY]

i would think unless oil is somehow shooting out the valve cover gasket and up on to where your spark plugs are.

 

[clownface]

o, hehe, cool, ill look into getting that fixed then.

 

[UnWoRtHy]

For your sake, I hope it's not a head gasket. Since you and I have the same engine ('95 Talon N/T here), I can relate. When I first got my car, I noticed a little oil stain on the front side of the head. Replaced the valve cover gasket. Then maybe...6 months later in the dead of winter, I had my car at my mechanic for an oil change. Who wants to lay under a car on a gravel driveway in 10 degree weather?

I had also asked him to check out a possible head gasket leak. I was seeing all the classic symptoms. Running hot, milky shit on the underside of the filler cap, an excessive amount of smoke from the tailpipe, burning oil...the works. He noticed some wet oil on the back of the engine, so to be sure, he powerwashed my engine bay and told me to bring it back in a week. When I did, he noticed that some of that oil had come back. His diagnosis...head gasket. It was a 1000 dollar job, which I added onto my exisiting loan, so it didn't hurt that bad...but it was worth it. Out of it, I got a complete rebuild. New hoses, all new gaskets and seals. New water pump, thermostat. A 5-way valve job. Best part is a multi-layer head gasket that's guranteed for the rest of the life of the car. And since it was all apart anyway, and I wasn't sure if it'd been done, I had the timing belt replaced too.

I caught it real early, he said. There was no head warpage or anything. The gasket was just barely starting to leak, but it was falling apart fast.
Anyway. Sorry to run off on a tangent. But if it is your head gasket, there's what you can expect. But it could be a loose filler cap, or a leaky valve cover gasket, like everyone else said. Good luck, though. How many miles on your car? My head gasket went at 80,000, and my car had 75,000 on it when I got it in 2002, and I was told that the head gaskets on these cars commonly go at around 75,000.