*update* oil leak with pics need some info

[lucas]

so my car started leaking oil and at first i thought it was the cam cover seals but took a look and turns out it might be something further back from that like under the turbo area. It looks like somewhere around the up pipe idk I'm not really sure anyone have an idea/quick fix?

[kimokalihi]

You've got oil everywhere. It's very difficult to see where it's coming from especially because the pictures are so up close that I can't get an idea if it's like that all over the bottom of your engine or just that one small area and I can't tell if it's coming down from the valve covers or it could be the oil drain hose, oil feed line or the turbo itself.

If you haven't replaced the valve cover seals including the seals for the valve cover bolts, do that now. While you're doing that clean the valve covers and get under there with a pressure washer or some simple green and a hose or even just a rag and clean off the bottom of the engine and anywhere else it's leaking and then if it keeps leaking you should be able to easily tell where it's coming from.

[lucas]

ya valve cover gaskets are new as of last august. Turbo doesn't sound bad.

[Legacy777]

Yeah, you need to try and clean things off a little bit to be able to determine where the oil is coming from. You can go to a car wash place and use the engine degreaser to pressure wash some of the oil off.

[jp233]

Yeah, could be rear main seal, oil pan, or the oil separator plate.....or something else (cover @ rear end of cam on passenger side? or I think this may be different on a turbo head). It gets slung all over the place back there from the flywheel/flexplate too from that open area on the bottom.

FWIW, on my N/A car the exhaust flanges looked similar from a very leaky cam seal.

Need to clean it all up really well and then see where fresh oil gets spurt out.

[lucas]

huh rear main seal eh, would an oil pan fling oil half way up the up pipe? it goes as far back as the motor mounts. cam seals are not leaking that was the first thing i checked.

[jp233]

dude I have no idea, those pics are so close up, and i'm not familiar with the turbo cars, with all those pipes going everywhere.... could have been a sewer pipe for all I know.

Really might check the aft end of the cylinder heads, at least on the N/A motor there is a cover on the passenger head that has an o-ring and can leak like hell

[Turbo_Carl]

I would take Legacy777's advice and spray it down with heavy duty de-greaser, let it sit for a while, and then spray it off at the carwash. That's what I did, and found the leak at the Valve Covers. Still need to change the gaskets.

[lucas]

I'm thinking the oil is from the valve covers but also found out my axles are pooping out

[Legacy777]

Oil/grease has a way of just coating everything. Until you get everything cleaned off, you won't know for sure.

[lucas]

ya sucks axles are lame to change

[lucas]

*update* so after cleaning it all up under there, still oil leaking on the up, and not axel grease either. Anyone have another idea sense i can see anything really under the turbo

[Legacy777]

Where on the up-pipe is it leaking? The top or bottom part? Have you replaced the valve cover grommets? I think you said you replaced the valve cover gaskets not too long ago.

[rallyak]

It kinda looks like valve cover gaskets the way it is coating the exhaust, depending on the brand of gaskets I have seen get hard and leak in three mounths. That's my guess looking at the pictures.

[lucas]

ya replaced all grommets same time as the gasket so its probably those rear cam seals which would suck