more help diagnosing oil leak please...
 

i poked around some more looking for the source of oil dripping down the side of my front rotor housing around the front spark plugs area. in a previous post, i was directed toward the oil filter housing, but upon closer inspection, there was no oil leaking from that entire apparatus.

i only see lots of oil dripping from in and around the hollow bolt that is about one inch directly above the front trailing spark plug. it is a hollow bolt with wires a few wires leading through the middle of it, tapped directly into a grommet in the side of the engine. i was told that this device is the knock sensor and has no relation to the lubrication system. i am almost positive that this is the source of the leaking fluid, but if it is not possible for oil to be coming through from that fitting, could it be a different, similar looking fluid leaking from it? i have not removed the sensor from its fitting yet.

the leak seems to be pretty bad, there is a wet spot on the floor under the leak about a foot in diameter, and there are dark trails of the fluid coming down the side of the engine "block." my car has not been started for almost three weeks, so i dont think the oil system has any pressure in it.

has this happened to anybody here before?
what do you guys think is my solution to fixing this leak?
thanks in advance for any help.

anyone???

"c'mon, throw me a frickin bone here!"

Try to look closely around the area where the plastic oil filler neck attaches to the motor. It is not uncommon to have oil coming out there. If that is the case, you need to remove the filler neck, put in a new o-ring, and seal the area with silicone.
-MP

I could also be the oil pressure sending unit...or oil pressure switch (as it is called in the manual).

That is a bigger cylinder with a plastic sleeve on it. It has a wire harness sticking out of the end. It is above the spark plugs. This thing tends to go bad, and leak.

Does your oil pressure gauge bounce at all?

Later,
Patrick

I would not think that the pressure sending unit is the source of the problem, as this is situated on the rear housing and the leak seems to be on the front one. I'm off to the garage now to look at my engine to check out where oil possibly can leak in this area. I've got the engine out of the car so I might take some pics to make things a bit easier to sort out..

thanks for your responses.

im pretty sure its not the oil filler neck seal, but i will check that again...

hmmm... oil pressure sender unit. sounds like something i need to take a look at! my oil pressure gauge bounces a lot. i always thought it was a normal thing for fds, but ididnt know it can result in a leak. i will definitely check that out when i get a chance.

keep em coming guys.

i would check anything oil related if you have a leak. look real close at the front cover gasket, then front main seal, and the oil cooler lines. these are under high pressure and can spray oil all over the place ! trust me i had a front cover seal go and it was covering my hole engine bay with oil!! when i did my motor job i spent two hours just cleaning up the mess in my engine bay!!
clean the spot where you think the leak is coming from and watch it to see if it leaks from there at idle if not you are in the wrong area!!!
:D

i am almost positive its not the front main seal, cover gasket, or rear main seal. i changed all of those big guys with my new motor. there were massive leaks coming from those. i then more recently changed my turbos and oil lines/seals to the turbos and my car was oil leak-free for a few months. i just noticed this new oil leak while my car was parked in the garage for a couple weeks changing some solenoids and the hoses. i need to check out the oil cooler lines though.

the leak really seems to be coming from the grommet above the front trailing plug, but i still havent had time to really do a wipedown inspection yet.

Yep yep.
Jack it up and put it on jackstands, clean it, then start her up and watch the show.....

i kinda wanted to attempt a fix while everything is apart while im doing the hoses though. just in case it is something in a place that is a pain to get to. i did find many other oil leaks under the car before using this method though. isnt that kinda the only way to do it?

(see pic) Is this the area you are leaking oil? If it is then the oil line connection bolt is the only point I could find that could possibly leak oil there..

ill have to check it out when i get home later this afternoon.

by the way, how the hell did you get a camera in there to take that picture??? i am assuming i will need some more room like that to work on it. when i look at it, there are is whole shitload of wiring and stuff in the way.

if it is that, would there be some type of o-ring or something i would be able to get to seal it back up??? if thats it, it looks like it will be cake to fix!

I didn't get the camera in, i got the engine out!
It's a lot easier to rebuild it that way. :)

There are 2 copper rings there.. You are sure to loose some oil if one of those are damaged.

Like I said in your last post...it's most likely the oil line that connects right at the top of the front housing. The gasket on the nut usually goes out from the intense heat. I believe there is actually a metal tube that comes off the top of the front housing. I have this EXACT leak. It drips from there and goes right down the two trailing plugs on the font housing. ALSO, if you look at the bottom of your hood you will see a little spot of oil where a mist of oil is shot out under WOT. :cool:

ok, thanks for the great advice guys. i have not had a chance to get to checking it out lately, ive actually been kinda lazy about it. since running into so much broken shit in what was supposed to be just a "simple" hose job, ive lost a lot of the motivation that had me pumped up in the beginning. but im sure that will all come back once i get the car running right.

badass7, maybe you should leave the leak and drill a hole in the hood where the mist sprays so that ricers will be scared of your surging NAHSSSSSS!

You can buy fluorescent dyes that you add to your oil, then trace the leak points with a blacklight. Eastwood sells the stuff.

http://www.eastwoodco.com/

Maybe Pepboys carries it too...

I got the dye in my car right now at least for another 100 miles or so. Then checking it.

yeah me to!
 

ive followed some of your post. i believe we started the hose job about the same time. so far, ive broke 4 selonoids, found out that 2 of my couplers where cracked, found fuel seaping from the top of my fuel pulsation damper, threw away both of the stock boost pills (because i didnt know they where in vacum lines), and i also have an oil leak that i never had before taking everything apart. needless to say my cars been on jacks for about 3 weeks now. anyway... i guess thats enough whinning from me. i just feel like i want ever drive my car again. good luck man. brad

Where is the best place to purchase these cooper o-rings? I need them asap.

Oil Leak, your post 2/27/02
 

Brede -

I know this is an old post but couldn't see the pic. where you said, (I think), that the copper ring-based oil leak was likely located. If you still have it would you mind resending me the pic. please. Reply to this or PM or email me at david.tovey@cox.net

Thanks

Dave