When we were working on my car this past week I noticed that I had some oil around the filter/ oil cooler area. I did some searching and found lots of threads but no real fix to this issue. I did change out the HS 3k miles ago using the one by one sequence and torqued them down to 85 ft. lbs.

I started off by taking off the cam gear cover and found nothing at all out of the ordinary. Jacked the car up and crawled under it and there is oil around the filter/ cooler area. There was a bit of oil around the lower timing case area but I didnt remove it. I went back above and felt around the headgasket area on the back of the block and that is dry as well.

At this point im getting kinda frustrated cause I cant pin point the leak. I started feelling around the valve cover gasket area and the front was good but I did find some in the back. I retorqued the valve cover and went for a spin. Came back after about a 20 mile trip and reach under the car to feel the filter and sure enough there was little bit of oil on there. Went back to the to feel the back of the valve cover and oil again on the back of it, not alot but enough to show up on your finger.

Heres my question. If the valve cover is leaking just a little bit is it possible to go all the way down to the filter/cooler area? The intake manifold seemed dry thats why im confused by all of this. The top cam gear cover is dry, the Intake manifold is dry, how is the oil getting to the bottom of the block? Im just confused by all of this. Thanks guys for reading

** Its not enough oil to leak on the ground and I didnt lose any between my oil changes either. Just a small leak that is gonna irratate me until I figure it out.**

 

im working this problem out myself right as we speak, i think it's coming from the camshaft seals, remove the timing belt cover and remove the cam gears, inspect... you will probably find the leak

 

Have the same problem too. Keep us posted if you find the fix.

 

phew, took me about 5 hours today, but here was the issues...


i had oil leaking from the cam seals....... I had them in backwards (doh), applied some rtv to the outside and reinstalled. Also resealed the cam sensor.

Im hoping this will fix the issue!!

-TJ

 

i dont know if this helps anyone or not, but i have seen 2 evos that had a small crack in the oil pump housing......both of these cars had alot of mods and where pushing alot of boost???? havent figured out if there is a problem there or only coinsidence
hope it helps....

 

I still havent solved this issue. When I took off the cam gear cover last week I didnt see any oil in there. I stuck my finger all around the gear and it was bone dry. Im still getting a leak in the back of the valve cover area but im not sure if its enough to leak down to the filter area. Im gonna pull the valve cover and clean the gasket up and see if that helps at all.

 

Well I was bored and I went out there and started tinkering with it. I got under the car again and I was wrong earlier there is oil on the back of the block. I did some searching and found several threads on this exact problem. Actually from some of the pics I found it looks identical to my leak. Im guessing its due from the 1x1 method on the headstuds. Im going to let it go and see what happens. I mean the car doesnt leak oil on the ground and the car still has tons of power. I have never had to add oil to the car between oil changes.

I really dont want to change the Headgasket if its just a small leaking issue. If it gets to bad then I guess I will have to.

 

Yep, as soon as I read through your thread I would say you have the same problem. Just keep an eye on things such as oil and coolant level , if you see either decrease or increase greatly then you know that additional problems are probably going to happen.

 

Thanks for the advice. When I did my searching your name popped up alot. What did you end up doing, did you leave it or change the headgasket? Thanks.

 

I had to change the headgasket and retorque to 85+ ftlbs in the proper order (it wasn't blown, just leaking), If you do end up changing it I recommend a non oem gasket to help with this problem. The OEM just don't seem to seal as well around the oil passages. That is really the only downfall of the OEM gasket though.

 

Coming from DSMs, I am use to leaking oil. The best way (period) to find an oil leak is to use something called "UV Oil Dye". You can buy it from Autozone or Napa. Drop some dye in with the engine oil and run the engine for a little bit. Turn out the lights and pop on your favorite black light and the source of the oil leak will be very obvious.

 

Good info. I'll have to get some of that.

I just changed cams (no studs) about a month ago and have recently discovered a small oil leak somewhere but, I'm having a hard time finding where it is coming from. The oil residue (and that is all it is is residue, just enough to make dirt stick to it and drip 2 drops after a month) is all over the front subframe, the oil filter, the halfway down the lines to the oil cooler, the oil pan front and back, and a very small section of the block maybe a 1/4" up from the oil pan gasket on the back of the block.

I've checked the cam cover gasket and don't see any leaks nor are their any at the cam seals that I can see. The timing belt area is a little dirty but, not oily so I don't think it is a front cam seal.

I checked to make sure the oil filter, pipe plugs and, banjo fittings for the oil cooler lines are all tight.

Is there a large increase in crank case pressure with cams? It hasn't done anything stupid like blow the dipstick out or similar but, it never leaked oil before the cams and best I can tell isn't leaking up top anywhere.

 

Could be anything. but it sounds like either something on the oil filter housing or the oil pan gasket itself. Try the UV dye, it works every time!