Yeah so I went to change my valve cover gasket today and this is what I found




cylinder 2 & 3 spark plug boots were COVERED in oil
Also looked down to see pools of oil in with my plugs, yay.

On a postive note, I feel like I accomplished stuff today.
I installed my -6an return line, changed the vc gasket and cleaned out my tb and IAC so hopefully the car will idle nicely again.

Now tomorrow after wiring up my wideband and waiting out the cure time on the sealant for the vc gasket I can check for gas leaks, oil leaks, and get to see if cleaning the tb helped, oh and then maybe, just maybe get the wideband totally installed and tune a little, but that's pushing it since I don't even know if I'm gonna be able to get the family friend with the welder to put my bung in for me.

No biggie. Fix the gaskets and go drive.

The reason it did have oil on it was because the gaskets needed to be changed. Like azdave said, no biggie.

Originally posted by totaleclipse_05
The reason it did have oil on it was because the gaskets needed to be changed. Like azdave said, no biggie.

VC and spark plug gaskets, changed, and the goddamned thing still leaks oil. I don't know how or where it's coming from, but it's still coming this is annoying.

Did you use any sealant to go with the new gasket set? I know it sounds stupid but I've done dumber things.

Originally posted by slowmitsu
Did you use any sealant to go with the new gasket set? I know it sounds stupid but I've done dumber things.

yup, followed the vc gasket write-up on the main page, guess I was just wrong on where the oil was coming from.

Check the PCV valve. A similar situation was happening to a local boosted Neon to me.
It turns out he had the PCV backwards.
take it FWIW.

--------------------------------------
know me as santiago
boosted 420a and ej2o..(my 2liter v8 eaters)

If not seals, crack in the valve cover?

MB

Originally posted by bullettdsm
If not seals, crack in the valve cover? MB

Valve cover's in good shape, as soon as it stops raining here I'm gonna check to make sure the new gasket stopped the leak.

What's really bugging me is trying to find this damn oil leak, I'm losing so much oil. Basically if I follow that hard line that runs next to the timing cover on the valve cover side to the back of the motor, where it has a bracket that appears to bolt up to the head, the top of that bracket is covered in oil as is everything below it. what I can't figure is it's above where the head bolts to the block so the only place I would think it could come from is the damn vc gasket and that's not the culprit. Of course I can't really see back there, so I don't even have a clue where else it would be coming from. Also the oil isn't splattered all around that area as if it was slung up by the axle or a belt spinning. It's clean almost as if the oil was just being poured onto that spot and dripping down.

possibly your opsu

Originally posted by boosted60trimrst
possibly your opsu

ummm, what's an opsu? EDIT: NM

but isn't that on the opposite side of the block? Drivers side vs. passengers

Try removing all traces of RTV from the head and the valve cover, buy 4 new spark plug gaskets, and install them dry like it says to in the manual.

Originally posted by thedawg
Try removing all traces of RTV from the head and the valve cover, buy 4 new spark plug gaskets, and install them dry like it says to in the manual.

Yeah I did all that right after taking the picture, that problem is solved. Here's the problem I'm having now, I cannot figure out where this oil is coming from.



^^^You can see the inner timing belt cover in the bottom right and on the right is the passenger rear bolt on the valve cover. Oil is appearing on the bracket for that hard vac line that runs right between the cover and the bolt



I took this picture to see if there was oil anywhere else on the back of the head that I couldn't feel with my fingers. As you can see its clean, the only oil appears on that bracket and below it near the alternator. Everytime I drive and then park though, I leave a nice small puddle of oil under my car.

Originally posted by bullettdsm
If not seals, crack in the valve cover? MB

You know how hard this is to do from here, but I'll take another shot. The area you're talking about has the oil cap on it. If that oil cap gasket is bad it could very well fill up the spark plug socket and drip down in the area you're talking about.

Food for thought,
MB

Well, if it's not the VC and it's not a cam seal, then it might be worth picking up one of thos eUV dye kits, spraying that area clean with brake-kleen and giving the UV stuff a try, man.

Wish I could do better for you. Aside from the cam seals and VCG, I don't know what else would leak oil that high up on the engine. CAS is below the ALT, so unless you've got some tiny split in your PCV hose, spraying oil down there without getting any on the cover... :shrug

I need to get some of that shit too, I leave what appears to be APPROXIMATELY 10-15 oil drips every night and I would really like to know where it is coming from before I start assuming things. I'm assuming this guy is having the same probablem as mine. If you ever figure out what yours is please let me know... UNLESS you figure out that it is the typical head gasket or rear main seal leak. If that is the case, don't tell me because I'll slit my wrists if I figure out that I need to take my head off hahaha.