what is this part of my car and why is it soaked?

[buster95]

NOOB here. basically what the title says. I checked the underside of my engine after a long drive and noticed that this part seems to be covered in grease/oil. there was also some light popping noises inside the engine. I'm very car dumb but I'm gonna guess that this isn't normal? what should I do about it?

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[Dusty Landrum]

That is the oil filter housing assembly, and it is probably soaked from an oil leak somewhere up on the timing side or from the gasket under it. There are numerous places you could have a leak so best to start cleaning and trying to pinpoint where it is coming from.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

He seems to have circled circled the oil pan.
The popping noise is probably the exhaust, which is completely normal.

 

[buster95]

That is the oil filter housing assembly, and it is probably soaked from an oil leak somewhere up on the timing side or from the gasket under it. There are numerous places you could have a leak so best to start cleaning and trying to pinpoint where it is coming from.

upon further inspection, bingo. it's right around the timing area. I will say that my car is about a quart overfilled with oil according to the dipstick. would that have anything to do with this? would I be okay to drive like this in the short term before I get a chance to do something about it?

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[curt-s]

Overfill won't create an oil leak. It will cause other side effects to the oil..
but this is likely just gaskets and/or seals that gave up. They don't last forever.
Only way to fix it is to start taking things off to find the root cause and replace the offending gasket or seal.

 

[Dusty Landrum]

upon further inspection, bingo. it's right around the timing area. I will say that my car is about a quart overfilled with oil according to the dipstick. would that have anything to do with this? would I be okay to drive like this in the short term before I get a chance to do something about it?

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

I would suggest you take the upper timing cover off (3 bolts) and take a peak at the valve cover. It may be from the corners as they are notorious for leaking. Double check the valve cover bolt torque but be careful as the torque is actually really low and can be stripped easy!

Also take a strong flashlight and peak down in the cover to see if you can see anything else.

 

[Blinkyblinx9]

You say your new to cars so I'll throw in a few extra bones in here. It's probably the cam seals. It's common for the cam seals to have never have been replaced and I'm assuming by your vehicle profile that it's probably maybe just happens to be bone stock so likely not owned by someone who cared to get their knucks greezy. Like others have said I would have a look under the top timing cover to confirm.

Either way I would say start with all of the basic "I don't know how this vehicle was cared for" maintenance. Timing components and water pump (cam seals while your in there). For less than 75$ you can get a basic set of timing tools for this engine that you'll need to properly do the belt and probably use a good few times. Check your plugs and wires, get at least an OBD2 logger so you can see basic sensor data and what the ECU is doing with it. Take your turbo inlet pipe off and check shaft play. Squeeze all your soft intake pipes and make sure they aren't cracked or damaged. Do a compression test to see if this is all even worth it or better yet get a cheapo borescope camera for a laptop or your phone to get a look inside the spark plug holes. Basically get super familiar with your engine bay because you'll be in there so much throughout your ownership until its the way you want it.