I was under my car yesterday afternoon changing my oil and noticed some oil sludge right above the oil pan (see pics).






I have not noticed any unusual excess oil consumption so I don't think it's a oil leak, but I found a thread that maybe related to the deposit:

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...light=oil+leak


I'm thinking it's related to the PCV system since the location of the oil is located is under the intake manifold 1st runner (looking left to right), and is similar to the type of oil deposit you find in the intake tract from my catch can.

Any opinions?

 

Did you do your last oil change? Maybe when you were filling it up you spilled some and it dripped down?

 

I had the same "oil deposits" as you. Mine was due to having head studs installed w/out removing the head. Needless to say, my OCD caught up with me amd I wound up changing my head gasket and all my belts to cure it.

Funny thing is, I was never low on oil. It was just enough to flow on the back of the block. Good luck.

 

^ same issue, symptoms & cause. . . and remedy.

 

Thanks a lot.

I did have ARP head studs installed quite some time ago.

Seems like my head studs were installed using the 1x1 method.


Damn.


Time to spend some more money.


Thanks for the reply.

 

There really is no need to unless you are losing lots of oil, and if you have OCD and can't stand to see it.

Try having em re torqued first. I doubt it'll work, but it's worth a try.

 

The ARP head studs were installed over a year ago which would comprise about 5,000 miles.

I have not noticed any oil on any of the belts or pullies in that area, so it seems that the leak is not major.


However, considering how **** I am about keeping my car and engine bay clean and that I can only see this as something that can get worse; I'll probably get another OEM head gasket and have another shop re-install my ARP head studs the proper way.

Thanks a bunch .

 

The oil spotted area is also right below the oil filler cap. So, can you say you did every oil change and never spilled any? Also, the area is on the side of the engine where the valve cover usually leaks. I'd hate to see you go to that work or expense for nothing.

 

My last oil change I had my friend (who is a mechanic) perform, so I cannot say that during fillup he did not spill some oil during the change.


I'm just looking at figuring out what may have caused the oil deposit.

The head gasket is something I will monitor.

I'll clean what I can reach and see if the deposit re-occurs over time..........

My logic goes that if it is the head gasket then over some period of time the oil deposit will return, as opposed to an oil change spillage which shouldn't result in the return of the oil deposit.


Thanks for your input.

 

How many miles on your car? Motors weep oil. That does not look bad or abnormal in the least for a used motor. Leaks leave a lot of oil, that is not a leak.

 

I got married two years ago any my bride came with Pontiac sedan that dripped oil all over my garage floor. Well, once I started doing the oil changing the leak stopped - hmmm. She had been taking it to the dealership.

 

That is not true. My motor never "leaked" nor could I ever find any oil during any of my many oil changes( I change my oil every 2000 miles). That is until I had my headstuds put in by the 1x1 method.

That is the first time I have ever seen any type of oil on the back of my block, exactly like the pics above. I Simple Greend the hell out of it, and sure enough, it came back. It's def. the head studs that caused the IMO.

 

I have 8,550 miles on my Evo since September of 2005, so the car is not driven often.

I'm thinking it's the head gasket based on revvin9k's opinion, but like I stated earlier; I'll monitor the area.