it ain't broke. don't fix it or you will break it.

 

Define broke.

So Im not sure if this information will help gives clues as to where I should hone in on but I've come to the conclusion that the oil will only leak if I am "beating" on the car. I put ~1500 miles on the car since my last oil change and the car barely lost any oil. This was with normal DD duties so not much boost at all.

This past weekend I was at an autox and kept an eye on my oil levels. During the ~20 miles that I put on the car it lost a little bit of oil that was seen from the dipstick.

Does this tell us anything new that we didnt know before?

 

broke = more than a qt. every 3K miles

 

Just came across this thread. Fascinating that its been this hard to find the leak. I guess that limited accessibility to the back of the block makes it a challenge to track it down. Are you still getting oil in the IM? The only place that I think that could come from is the crankcase ventilation system. There's really no other possible source. If oil consumption is only occurring when you're beating on it, maybe the high vacuum associated with high rpm throttle lift is sucking in more oil than usual?

 

Thanks for chiming in, I appreciate it. I should try and clean up this thread because I think it was a combination of a couple issues at once.

I have not pulled back off the IM to check for oil since I put it on but I think/ the consensus is that my vented oil CC did not properly vent the cc pressure thus it got backed up into the IM. I've since replaced that with a sealed DC3 dual catch can. So I think at this point my CC pressure issues are no longer an issue.

However I am still loosing a little bit of oil. Being that I can see an oily mess on the oil pan as well as the block I know the missing oil isnt being consumed but rather expelled. The problem is that I cannot find the source for the life of me.

 

Correct. and it cannot happen under boost so the oil may just coming in under high vacuum...either all the way from the turbo or from the PCV catch can system.

Can you isolate the manifold so that teh catch can system only works to the turbo inlet and then monitor

If this is a IX is there any way the mivec oil feed line or solenoids actually port into the manifold. Bad threads uneven seat distorted banjo fittings?

Oil in the manifold will raise cyl temps and cause hot spots so i fully understand the concern

 

The car is an VIII so no mivec solenoids and all that jazz to worry about. The catch can setup that I am running has two independent fully sealed cans. I emptied them after my last oil change and one can had a little oil sludge in it and the other was completely clean. I forget which one was which but nonetheless I dont think my cc pressure is the issue anymore.

Being that I see oil on the block I believe the loss in oil is from a physical leak.

 

I've been following this thread for awhile as I believe I have the same exact issue. I tried resealing the oil pan, the thought was that oil was leaking there and getting blown up the back of the block due to wind etc. Just recently checked, and oil is still leaking down, disproving my hopeful oil pan theory.

I have a dual catch can setup as well, so my only thought of oil in the intake would be from a leaky turbo.

 

Thanks for bumping this thread. I havent pulled off an intercooler pipe in a while so I have yet to check for additional oil in it. But as I said before I think I had two independent issues.

The oil loss that I am experiencing now is certainly an external leak but other than that I am essentially stumped. What I do know is that the car looses oil after a good beating. I DD the car and there is essentially no loss of oil. But after an autox I see that the oil level drops and I have to fill a couple 10ths of a quart.

I am very careful about my oil level so I make sure that the car never runs low. Nonetheless, being that it only looses oil after a good beating it seems that it is coming from some seal. The oil pan doesnt make any sense bc if it were leaking from the pan it would leak overtime no matter what. Being that it only leaks after being run hard its gotta be coming out of a seal from the increased oil pressure.

 

Any update on this?

 

here is something else to consider... on the first engine i assembled i had an oil leak only in boost and i had alot of trouble finding it and the oil path looked like yours around the lower timing cover and it ended up being the oring around the dipstick would hold the crankcase pressure. i put some high temp silcone around the dipstick and waiting a day to drive it and never leaked again

 

I also have the same problem for a long while now . I have noticed that the oil will leak only if the engine is running. My leak seems to be coming from somewhere behind the belt cover. it splashes as high as valve cover which was replaced twice just for the hick of it.

 

Thanks for chiming in. When you say the o-ring on the dipstick do you mean the dipstick tube that seats into the block or an o-ring on the actual dipstick?

I could see the one that sits in the block as being a potential culprit. I will pull it off this weekend, replace the o-ring and use some high temp sealant for good measure.

I spotted an interesting oil collection on a line running from my PCV to a catch can where oil appears to have been sprayed onto it. I will snap a picture and post it up. Maybe that will tell us something?

 

I had the same problem not too long ago, it ended up being the cam shaft seals were bad and valve cover was leaking, I though it was the oil pan or oil cooler and changed those with no luck but finally traced it down. look behind the cam gears and see if its leaking down

 

^Thanks for your input. Unfortunately it in not my cam seals or valve cover. I've checked behind there a couple times pulled the VC again a couple of weeks ago bc I though I saw a little oil leaking out from one of the corners. I cracked my VC in the past and replaced it along with the gasket and tube seals a couple of times now. Anyway unfortunately in this case the cam seals and VC are not the culprit.