Hey guys,
I had added this to another post of mine, but looks like no one noticed since it was tacked onto another problem. LOL I am getting the faint smell of oil when just sitting idle (no air flow). Now, there is a small amount of oil down by the distributor which has run down onto other areas of the engine. Obviously this getting warm and burning off will give some smell, but after I clean it up, I was wondering where folks think I should start looking for potential leaks?

The oil level does not appear to be dropping and the truck is not even leaving oil spots on the pavement after being driven and then parked. So I'm not sure if this was possibly some blow back by a bad PCV valve (just replaced it) or if its actually a leak somewhere.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

Hard to see the pics bc im on my phone. Check the valve cover area. The gasket might be looking

 

Yeah, I was thinking that probably should be the first place (and probably the cheapest too) to look at. Once I get the oil off, I'll start there.

 

So cleaned up the engine yesterday with some Simple Green and will see if that helps the oil smell as well as help me see if there is any leakage any where.

As some of you may know, I recently changed out the PCV valve also. Just wanted to check it yesterday and see if things are working properly. So there was no oil in the air filter tray, but there was some water (clear water, not anitfreeze). Can I assume this is just condensation from the breather hose? I did clean the hose out the best I could with Dawn and hot water and let dry a week before putting it back on, but there may have been some trapped as well. Could this also be condensation from the crankcase as was suggested in another post? Truck is running great and as I said, no oil in the air filter tray, so should I not sweat this? I also am still waiting on a Motorcraft PCV to come in so right now there is a new Autozone one on there.

 

So after the clean up, I still found some wet oil in the same area and along the rim of the valve cover where the bolts are. Just out of curiosity, I turned one of the bolts and it turned by hand!!! So checked all of the bolts and they all seemed to be loose if not quite that bad. So I tightened them all up.

Judging by the location of the oil, I am guessing that the loose valve cover bolts are probably the culprit, but any suggestions after that to check?

 

Somebody has probably replaced the original steel core VC gaskets with cork so I'd suggest you pull them, replace with OEM spec and torque to spec.

 

They definitely look like the softer gaskets. I'm pretty sure they are not the steel core gaskets.

 

Ok, just got home from work to check and the rim of the valve cover did not have oil on it (possibly was the bolts for this area), but the little area down by the distributor created another little puddle. What else in this area could be leaking/seeping? If you look from the top of distributor straight down on the right side (facing engine) between the distributor and AC compressor, that is where it is collecting. Pics follow:

 

I'm going to go with Conanski's advice and redo the valve cover gaskets, but wanted to get more possible culprits to check as I'd like to check/redo the stuff while I already have the engine prepped for the valve cover work. It isn't actively leaking while just sitting, so this is leading me to believe that it only happens while running and given the small amount of oil, that it also is happening at higher speeds (producing more pressure in the engine I think). Any idea of something that may be leaking when driving? The oil sender possibly? I can't think of too many things near the top of the engine that could cause it, but then, I'm no pro mechanic either.

 

Did anyone have any other suggestions to check on this issue?

 

Check the O-ring on the distributor itself - you're going to want to have a timing light or take pictures of it's alignment and the rotor before you pull it though.

 

Ah, when I changed the ICM, I didn't even think that there was an O-ring on the distributor to check! I only raised it up enough to get at the back screw on the ICM. I'll double check that, but with the area I'm experiencing the leak, that is definitely a great suggestion and possible culprit! Thank you sir.