the grim in my opinion is normal. I have it on my car. Just from fluids and road grim ect. I would degrease the area and or brake cleaner see what happens..

 

Well it looks like I wont be autocrossing Saturday so I think I'll pop off the EM tomorrow night to get a better view and then clean everything up. If that is just typical road grime then Im back to figuring out what in the back of the block could be leaking. I guess there is still hope that the HG is fine. Like I said I didnt think I had any HG issues but I was starting to run out of ideas.

What other typical culprits are there in the back of the block? Any particular lines such as to the oil cooler that are known to leak?

 

I would check the PVC. I doubt its your HG.. Check under your coolant cap and see if its milky... I would pull the hoses off that carry oil make sure none are clogged.

 

the pcv was checked about 2000 miles ago and was fine. I cleaned it for good measure when I switched my catch can setup.

my radiator cap and coolant overflow cap are clean and not milky whatsoever.

as for hoses that carry oil I see some oil on one of my oil cooler lines...maybe that's the source of a leak or its simply pooled there?

 

Are there certain hoses that are more prone to leaking than others? I can try and trace every one but unless there is a visible tear/break all I can really do is make sure the connections are tight.

 

Heel,

I'm out in Somerville. Depending on where you are I could make it out to your location and help you with this.

 

^Pm'ed, thanks!

Any other ideas as to lines gaskets, seals, etc where oil could be coming out of around the back of the block? That is unless the grime on the front of my block is merely road grime and not oil...

 

Bumping this up. So it appears that the leak is concentrated more so on the passenger side potentially around the timing belt tensioner area. I found a couple of threads talking about a leak by the tensioner. I didnt pull off the lower timing cover bc that whole thing is a headache but I did snap a picture of what Im talking about. It looks like the oil is funneling down into the lower timing cover. What do you guys/gals think?

 

1 Qt every 6,000 is not enough to even think about. You're going to end up fixing it until it's broke.

 

Do you have the balance shafts removed? If so, the plug they use in place of the rear shaft pulley will sometimes leak, making a mess behind your timing cover.

 

GO TO AUTOZONE AND BUY OIL DYE!!! Pour it in your motor... Drive... Look for green fluorescent trail that indicates source. It will have a 90% likelihood of being the highest point... Replace seals nearest that area...

 

While I understand that it isnt a significant amount and it probably wont kill my engine, I still want to figure it out and fix it.

Thanks for that although I still have the factory balance shaft...

I got some dye and was gunna throw it in but being that I think Ive located the general area and do not have any visibility behind the cover I dont know what sort of help the dye will do for me.

I guess the new question is, what is the most common oil leak behind the lower timing cover? Im seeing a lot of timing belt tensioner oil leaks where sealant wasnt used. Its strange that the service manual doesnt call for sealant but many poeple have had this issue. Also, there is an engine mount that apparently seals up an oil galley. What other seals typically go bad that are right behind the cover? Oil pump?

 

I don't blame you for wanting to track it down. Oil leaks are a pet peeve of min as well. The above poster that suggested the oil dye was right on point if your serious about fixing it. The main areas behind the timing covers are as follows: front main seal, rear balance shaft pulley seal and oil pump pulley seal. If you made a mistake with your catch can set-up and caused your oil pressure to spike up, its not out of question that you blew a seal or two. As far as the engine mount bolt is concerned, it does not intersect an oil galley, it intersects a head bolt bore. Mitsu seals that particular bolt with grey RTV and the chances of you getting a leak from there are slim. Another area to pay attention to is where the oil pan bolts to the front cover.

 

Thank you so much for the info! I guess the thing with the dye is that in order to take off the lower cover I have to remove some pulleys, thus I cannot start the engine after. In regards to the engine mount, what makes you think that its unlikely to be leaking?

Also I was reading this thread and Im curious, is the mount in discussion that side mount that is needed to drop the engine down to reach those bolts? And if so isnt the bolt in question not even touched when a timing belt is replaced? https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...t-install.html

 

I'm pretty sure thats the sealed bolt if I recall correctly. They reason I don't think thats your issue is because the only way oil can get in there is through the head bolt bore which is obviously sealed by the head bolt. Then it would have have to come from behind the engine mount bolt. So it's a long shot. And no, those bolts or mount do not have to come out when you do a timing belt job.