2002 3.8l...oil up by the injectors?

[1Bradymichael]

I just recently bought an 02 Impala with the 3800. I am familiar with the older 3800's and the 3400's(after doing the LIM twice on my Montana ), but am not as familiar with the Series II. I was looking the engine over and noticed some oil is pooling in the area by the injectors on the back cylinder bank, kind of down in that little valley area right there. Are these engines known for valve cover gaskets going out? Or do I have something else like an upper intake plenum gasket leaking? Although I would not think there are oil passages in a upper intake.

Thanks for any help.

[maxwedge]

Clean it off and keep an eye on the source, no other way to tell.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by 1Bradymichael

I just recently bought an 02 Impala with the 3800. I am familiar with the older 3800's and the 3400's(after doing the LIM twice on my Montana ), but am not as familiar with the Series II. I was looking the engine over and noticed some oil is pooling in the area by the injectors on the back cylinder bank, kind of down in that little valley area right there. Are these engines known for valve cover gaskets going out? Or do I have something else like an upper intake plenum gasket leaking? Although I would not think there are oil passages in a upper intake.

Thanks for any help.

sometimes if the pcv or vacuum lines on the crankcase vent are plugged damaged this can be your oil leak..


remove the oil fill and place a piece of paper over the hole, see if the paper at idle stays in place ...this is good ,,, if it blows off this means crankcase pressure is too high.. bad crankcase pcv / vent lines will cause this...


It could also be many other, more complicated, and expensive things too...

[BNaylor]

The best thing to do is follow Maxwedge's advice and clean it up the best you can up to find the actual source. Sometimes old coolant after sitting on the engine in this case the lower intake manifold will eventually turn black and look like engine oil. Valve cover gaskets are an issue on the SII 3800 engine. Also, the LIM port gaskets can cause the issue. There is no oil flowing through the UIM plenum but it could be coolant leaking due to the UIM gasket.