oil leak on valve cover.... somwhere...

scottsee · #1 02-20-2005, 09:25 PM

well if i had a digital camara this would be easy to explain. but i dont. so; i've been having a leak somwhere causing oil to spew onto my valve cover for the last 3 months. i haven't done anything about it beacause i really didnt care, it was just to cold outside!!!

the oil seems to be consentrated around the first sparkplug on the right (i forgot what # it was, and im to lazzy to look). its hasn't caused much of a problem but its ugly to look at, but now it seems to be makeing its way to the timming belt so i want to fix it before i lube the timing belt and have to take it off and replace it as well as clean all the pullys and sprockets.

i've looked at the oil cap, i cant see any abnormal ware or signes of a leak though there is allways a little oil located slightly right of the cap. i've takein the sparkplug wires out and ran my finger down to see of any of the seals had been cracked and were leeking oil. But not one hole had any oil residue or oil lubricating the sparkplug wire. it sparkplug wires do have a little oil on the cap seals, but that seems to be the extent of that.

the only thing i can think of is the oil may be leeking out of one of those little screws that hold the little plastic peices that the spark plug wires clip into for support. i know thats one hell of a vague discription. but agian im lazzy. i've taken them all out and cleaned the screws and tightend them back to the valve cover untell i felt if i want any further i'd crack the cover. but sure enough the oil leak's still there and mostly on that one side.

could one of thoses screws be causeing a leak? possable/impossable? the one i was thinking might would be the one at the veary bottlem right that uses one of the bolts that keeps the valvecover on that shares its use with the plastic thing. (im starting to confuse myself) Or is it 100% just the oil seals or oil cap i need to replace??

any thought would be appriciated.

SygmaGST · #2 02-21-2005, 01:16 AM

it maybe a cracked valve cover

kjewer1 · #3 02-21-2005, 06:30 AM

Oil cap is most likely culprit. And you usually cant see anything wrong with the gasket. And replacing it may not help. I use two to get it to seal on the 2g. If thats not it (spend the 2 bucks to rule it out), then cracked valve cover is the next most likely cause.

scottsee · #4 03-09-2005, 03:40 PM

well, i did crack the valve cover. and the crack is starting to get bigger.

before i go searching for an unrelable ebay valve cover or ever more unreliable Dsmtrader. does anyone have a spare 4g63 valve cover they could sell me? i need one soon, its pukeing oil all over!!

hit me up. Thanks guys..

kjewer1 · #5 03-09-2005, 08:31 PM

I think I got lucky on my DD. The oil cap from the 2g with its doubled up gaskets seems to have done the trick. Unfortunately though, I dont have any spare covers. This is another part I like to buy in person though, or from a veyr trusted source. Also note that if the cover has been bead blasted, snad blasted, or just left outside in a duststorm for 5 years, you could lose the motor. Its happened before

Even washing it in a machine shops hot solvent washer may not do it.

scottsee · #6 03-09-2005, 09:47 PM

the cracks about a 1/3 of an inch long, and thiner then my finger nail. its amazing how much oil it pukes out.

kjewer1 · #7 03-10-2005, 07:59 AM

I was able to stop the leak on the 2g valve cover that my brother spent a good deal of time polishing. I didnt want to abandon it after he had worked on it. JB welded that bitch from the inside. The cracks were two, and a few inches long each, right in all the corners and hard to reach areas by the valve cover. Hasnt ever leaked, even with boost over 35 psi (crankcase pressure must have been pretty damn high). Might be worth a shot. The thought slipped my mind until now.

scottsee · #8 03-10-2005, 09:44 AM

i thought about it. i wan't sure if it was a good idea because of the heat. i'm going to have to do somthing.

1stGenRocks · #9 03-10-2005, 08:53 PM

replace your pcv valve too. if the valve is bad then it lets pressure build up which makes oil leaks worse. btw i have a valve cover i could sell you. im in lancaster pa. pm me if you're interested

slowgsowner · #10 03-11-2005, 03:46 AM

Hey, Kevin you think he could get away with someone tig welding it. I know you would have to be carefull with the heat, But when I was fixing molds at rubbermaid and we got cracks in the air manifolds thats what we did. turned out fine 99.9% of the time, and under close to 150psi.
just a thought. Plus if you or someone you know has one, you could save big time.

kjewer1 · #11 03-11-2005, 08:12 AM

Sure, that should work.

And good point about the PCV valve. If its not closing (junk built up in it) you will get manifold pressure in the crankcase. That makes for all kinds of oil leaks and smoke in some cars...

joemathews · #12 03-12-2005, 12:44 AM

Scottsee, I JB welded the top of my valve cover, on the inside of the spark plug well corner. It was a small crack, and has stopped the oil leakage 95%--a little bit still oozes out and I have to wipe it clean once every few months.
I would just JB weld over the top of the crack, and try to stick a little bit down in there, and it should hold fine.

kjewer1 · #13 03-12-2005, 03:40 AM

I JB welded the inside, so the pressure inside will push the JB welded into the defect, not try to blow it out. Plus it doesnt reduce the bling factor of the polsihed cover. But that was a very minor consideration

You should try doing the inside joe and see if that doesnt stop the other 5%... Doesnt sound like a significant leak at all, but JB weld is cheap and easy.

joemathews · #14 03-12-2005, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 95GSXracer

so the pressure inside will push the JB welded into the defect, not try to blow it out

Ah, a brilliant idea!

: Should have thought of that

Next time I have the valve cover off, JB weld will be going on the inside of that crack.

scottsee · #15 03-22-2005, 05:43 PM

finaly got a day off and decided to mix up some jb weld. i bought some of the 4 minute kind. i was a little worried the stuff would set to quickly so i decited to so it while the valve cover was really hot!! it worked out preatty well. i used a putty knife, and flathead screwdriver to butter up my crack around one of the bolts in the sparkplug area. the jb weld just kinda melted onto the valve cover. i just kept adding layer apon layer untell i felt comfortable with the amount i put on. it was really easy. i aslo used a small screwdriver to scrape the parts i didnt want off so it would look messy.

after 5 hours of letting it sit i took it for a 30min run in the country and not a leak out of her. (i was worried the jb weld might liqufy agian like when i put it on!, but it didnt)

unfortunitly it looks like my oil cap is leaking, so i guess i'll need to get a new one of those too!!

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