Valve cover weep hole leaking--why?

[smills1840]

I'm kind of baffled on this one. The weep hole on my valve cover is leaking. At first I thought it was my valve cover gasket, so I replaced it as well as the spark plug seals. Upon closer inspections, I noticed it seemed to be coming out of the weep hole. I've done my research, so I know the weep hole is there to drain the spark plug valley.

But here's the thing I don't understand. This leak is coating my engine in oil, as well as my garage floor. So it must be a pretty substantial leak. But there is hardly any oil in my spark plug valley. I thought for a leak this big, there would be some pools of oil, but there was just a drop or 2.

Here are a couple of pictures. It's kind of hard to see in the second picture, but my block is soaked in oil. In person, you can pretty clearly see the path the oil is taking, running all the way down the side of the engine soaking everything in its path.

(Pretty obvious its leaking from the weep hole)

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And if you look at my block, you can kind of see it's wet. I've been told I could fry a turkey with all the oil on my garage floor, so obviously this needs to stop.

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Thanks for any help guys!

 

[vingasoline]

Your oil cap is leaking.

 

[snowborder714]

Maybe you're pushing oil under boost (check out your oil cap area) and don't really notice it after the fact since it's already dripped down. Or maybe the oil on the block is coming from the oil cooler area.

Have you sprayed the whole area down with brake clean or something and made sure it was coming from the weep hole? If you were having that much coming from the weep hole, you'd have a nice pool in the plug well. You can also put some paper towels in your valve cover for a short while to see how much oil collects near the weep hole after some driving.

 

[knochgoon24]

You can almost see the oil running down under your oil cap in the background of the first photo. I'd try a new oil cap gasket. They get hard no longer seal with age.

 

[Spyke169]

Bad PCV valve could also cause more pressure under the valve cover, This could contribute to the failure of your oil cap as oil is pushed out under the gasket. They are cheap to replace and an easy thing to look into along with the oil cap gasket.

 

[smills1840]

Maybe you're pushing oil under boost (check out your oil cap area) and don't really notice it after the fact since it's already dripped down. Or maybe the oil on the block is coming from the oil cooler area.

Have you sprayed the whole area down with brake clean or something and made sure it was coming from the weep hole? If you were having that much coming from the weep hole, you'd have a nice pool in the plug well. You can also put some paper towels in your valve cover for a short while to see how much oil collects near the weep hole after some driving.

This is what I was thinking. I tried to spray everything with brake cleaner, and nothing really budged. I've got some actual engine degreaser I'm going to try.

The oil filter, oil pan, and pretty much everything else down there is covered in oil. There is a small amount in the timing covers, but the belts stays pretty dry. I'll check the oil cooler area later this week.

Do you have any experience with the UV oil dye? I'm wondering if maybe I have a hairline crack (or maybe a large crack) somewhere.

You can almost see the oil running down under your oil cap in the background of the first photo. I'd try a new oil cap gasket. They get hard no longer seal with age.

You're right, it is leaking a little bit. I just don't know if the amount it's leaking would push this much oil all over the engine. I will definitely get a new seal though. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[greengoblin]

My bet is your VC is cracked in that area. It is pretty darn common.