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Major oil leak!

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Old Jan 14, 2013 | 07:45 PM
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Default Major oil leak!

So I just got done rebuilding my motor and have about 7000 miles on it. It runs great but uses oil, about a quart every 1000 miles. So it has had an oil leak for quite some time and I decided to figure out what it is.

I pulled the tranny thinking it was from the back of the pan or a rear main seal, nope , dry as a bone. So next I pulled the starter and passenger side coil pack. It looks like its coming from the head. I see oil on the bottom of the header flange so it appears to be coming thru the exhaust or the head. Is it common for oil to come out the head or exhaust. I know my car has blowby.

Dont mind the rtv, I had no clue where the oil was coming from so I put it everywhere.

I was thinking of putting dye in the oil to find out where its coming. I am not pulling the motor as its not in the budget.
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Old Jan 14, 2013 | 07:59 PM
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Do you have a catch can? Are ypu sure ypur pcv system is routed right?
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Old Jan 14, 2013 | 08:09 PM
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Buy a can of brake clean clean you engine off and do as tainted said and check your crankcase breather system and run it kinda hard for a day and check to see where your oil is coming from
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Old Jan 14, 2013 | 08:29 PM
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Im pretty the pcv is run correctly, followed a thread on here that was posted on how to run all types of pcv's. It would be great to clean the motor off and then run it hard but its all in pieces, no tranny or clutch. Maybe ill try cleaning it off and run it on the lift for a bit letting it idle. Im not sure if that is enough to find a leak.
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Old Jan 14, 2013 | 08:40 PM
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Probably not unless its just that horrible in which case go on and take the motor out too
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Old Jan 14, 2013 | 08:51 PM
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Im going to find some of that dye to put in the oil and see if I can pinpoint the leak. This way I know where its coming from. Worst case, Put the tranny back in and drive it with the dye to find the leak.
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Old Jan 14, 2013 | 08:57 PM
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How does the passenger side valve cover seal look?
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Old Jan 14, 2013 | 09:09 PM
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I am going to check this tomorrow. I felt with my finger around the seal and didnt see any oil. I will pull the valve cover and double check it. Its odd to see oil coming from the bottom of the header flange, Hopefully its just a valve cover. Will a head gasket cause oil to come out?
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Old Jan 14, 2013 | 09:14 PM
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It could I suppose in a scenario like maybe its badly torn and oil seeps out from the cylinder. ut you would know if it was something like that.
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Old Jan 14, 2013 | 09:34 PM
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How's you exhaust look, any blue/grey smoke ?
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Old Jan 14, 2013 | 09:38 PM
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Could be your valves leaking and that oil is collecting and spewing out around your exhaust..?
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Old Jan 15, 2013 | 05:21 AM
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I am not sure of how my exhaust looks. I have a tinted rear window so its hard to see. I do know that smoke comes out on wide open throttle, just unsure of the color.
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Old Jan 15, 2013 | 08:48 PM
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Just an update, I cleaned the oil off where its leaking and put the dye in the oil. I let it idle for 15 minutes and didnt see any leaks. I just put the tranny back in and am going to put it all back together and drive it and then check with the UV light to see where its coming from.
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Old Jan 16, 2013 | 04:47 PM
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So after some research, I see that when I was putting my rocker bolts on I was supposed to put sealant on them. So the oil is draining into the intake port, this could explain my oily plugs and oil consumption.


Would this caues it to come out the exhaust manifold? I still have to drive the car and see where its coming from but it appears to be exhaust manifold.
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Old Jan 16, 2013 | 04:49 PM
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yup that will do it. lil bit of loctite
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Old Jan 16, 2013 | 07:26 PM
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I was under the impression you use a rtv type sealant, not loctite.
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Old Jan 16, 2013 | 08:47 PM
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Get the white thread sealant, not thread locker.
I use Permatex high temperature thread sealant, it comes in a small white tube..
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Old Jan 16, 2013 | 09:04 PM
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Thanks man, ill pick some up tomorrow. Hope this fixes it. If the roads are clear this weekend I will take it out and beat on it abit. Put it up on the lift with the UV light and see if its still coming out.
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Old Jan 16, 2013 | 10:04 PM
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Just looking at it, I would check the valve cover seal.

Also if you do not have good crank case ventilation, check the o ring on the dip stick tube into the block. I used some RTV to seal mine better, I had ring issue on my previous build and had a lot of oil come out there.
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Old Jan 17, 2013 | 05:47 AM
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Originally Posted by SWEET98SS
So after some research, I see that when I was putting my rocker bolts on I was supposed to put sealant on them. So the oil is draining into the intake port, this could explain my oily plugs and oil consumption.


Would this caues it to come out the exhaust manifold? I still have to drive the car and see where its coming from but it appears to be exhaust manifold.

I doubt that this is causing the amount of oil consumption (ie, a qt/1000 miles). You may want to pull your intake look into the head to make sure that this is the cause.

When I put on my AI 243 Heads, I didn't use any sealant on the intake rocker bolts and I do not have any oil consumption issues.
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