Passenger side oil leak
 

So my bone dry engine compartment is suddenly no longer bone dry. I have a little pool of fluid on top of the underside protective engine cover on the passenger side. The fluid is also coating the passenger side suspension components and the lower control arm in particular. I don't see a lot of fluid under the power steering reservoir but I suppose that o-ring could be leaking. It is difficult to see the color of the fluid at this point. It looks a little darker than when my PS fluid was leaking. My dip stick is still popping up (never got around to replacing the o-ring) so I suppose oil could be getting pushed out.

Thoughts?

Re: Passenger side oil leak
 

you could use a tissue or a napkin to wipe some of it up so you can see the color of it a bit easier

Re: Passenger side oil leak
 

I got a little better look at it and it does look like engine oil. Could the passenger side valve cover gasket be leaking that much? I recently ran some FI cleaner with upper cylinder lube in a full tank of gas. The fuel to air ratio was still running high many weeks after replacing the O2 sensor so I thought maybe one of the injectors was a little clogged. Maybe it cleaned off the valve cover gaskets and exposed a leak?

I looked at the area under where the plastic air intake connects to the intake manifold and that was very clean. I'm less inclined to think this is a PCV issue but maybe the oil is being pushed out somewhere else.

Re: Passenger side oil leak
 

Maybe from one of the cam seals. It tends to drip out from under the belt cover onto the shield. Mine did anyway till I replaced them. I suppose it could be the cam cover o-ring too. Clean the area and see if you can locate it. Good luck.

Re: Passenger side oil leak
 

My mechanic checked it out today and said the leak was from the valve cover. I also had him check the PCV due to the dipstick popping up and that is clogged/stuck too. Apparently the clogged PCV was causing pressure to push oil out of an already leaky valve cover. We are replacing all valve cover gaskets and the PCV next week.

Re: Passenger side oil leak
 

Good luck doing that!

Keith:cool:

Re: Passenger side oil leak
 

That sounds about right. A full reseal would probably be worth it. Not that much more expensive if he plans on taking the engine out to do the valve cover. Make sure that you at least replace the 3 gaskets on that side and all the washes (there are ten of them).

Re: Passenger side oil leak
 

on that side?

Re: Passenger side oil leak
 

I don't think he was planning on pulling the engine as he is estimating 4 hours for the PCV and both valve covers. At first I was inclined to have him just do the PCV and see what happens with the valve covers but the passenger side is leaking enough that it probably will continue to leak after the PCV is replaced.

Re: Passenger side oil leak
 

Yes. There are 3 seals for the valve covers on each side. One for the periphery of the valve cover, and 2 for the coil passages that pass through the middle of the valve cover and into the head. (One gasket goes around 2 coils, and the other is for just one coil).

4 hours is pretty quick for the PCV and the valve covers in the car. Pulling the engine is rather easy and does not take long if you have done it before. May open a can of worms though, as you will most likely notice engine mounts that need replacing. Things like that are very expensive. Hope it works out for you. MAKE SURE YOU REPLACE THE WASHERS. They are expensive, but you can save some trouble by buying a reseal kit. That way when you need to do a full reseal eventually you have most the gaskets. Your valve cover gaskets will probably still be good at that point.

Re: Passenger side oil leak
 

Thanks Cam. Are the washers included in the reseal kit? Actually, what is included in such a kit?

What do you think about doing the valve covers and PCV instead of just doing the PCV and seeing where we stand?

Re: Passenger side oil leak
 

Just do the valve covers too, if you don't need them yet you probably will need them soon.

Re: Passenger side oil leak
 

I would say this is good advice. The reseal kit does include washers, and valve stem seals (part of valve train). Also included is the O-ring for the dipstick. All other seals on engine are included as well (Headgaskets, O-rings internal and external for the block, and too much other stuff to list). It is the best deal as I believe its about 300 bucks but I cant really remember at the moment. It's around there somewhere, but considering the head gaskets are half of that by themselves, and the valve covers are not cheap themselves, you save a lot of money in the long run by getting the reseal kit. It should literally have every seal for the entire engine.

Just looked it up. $249.97
Part # 10105AA060

Re: Passenger side oil leak
 

4 hours for only the passenger side and pcv? yikes.

The passenger side valve cover is a piece of cake. Super easy to do. 1 hour tops including a beer or two and time to clean out the inside of the valve cover.

The driver side is a bastard. The pcv can also be a real trouble if it doesn't want to break free and it's tough with such a small place to work in and the crows foot.

Are you handy at all with tools? You could do the passenger valve cover yourself if you can change your own oil.

Re: Passenger side oil leak
 

I hear what you are saying. I will check back with him tomorrow on ordering the full kit.

The thing that is a shame is that the engine seemed so nice and dry until only a couple of days ago. Sure, the valve covers seeped like every other Subaru but just enough to be noticeable. All of a sudden the leak wanted to step it up a notch. Seems crazy to go from a pretty dry engine to a full re-seal. Also, as background, the previous owner already did the cam seals and replaced the oil pump. If the passenger side valve cover is the problem and it is easier to do and the driver's side valve cover is still pretty dry, maybe I should still go for the kit but only have him fix what is actually an issue for now. I would be willing to give it a shot myself if I had the tools, a place to do the work and it wasn't so friggin cold here right now. Luckily, my mechanic is very fair on his labor charges.

On the bright side, the tranny fluid looks pristine and the engine oil that leaked still looked quite clean for 3K+ miles.