oil collecting on top of motor

[solarsvx]

hey guys i have some oil that’s collecting on top of the motor between the intake manifold and motor and leaking down the back side on the driver’s side,

i don’t think its a critical issue but i would like to solve it or find were its coming from

both valve cover gaskets were replace by the previous owner and are dry as a whistle ! also the power steering pump is dry as a whistle also !

nothing around the oil dipstick or goose neck filler either

seems to be more on the driver’s side then anything

im guessing its the pcv valve? is there any external oil lines on the top part of the engine ?

any sugestions or ideas ?or pretty much bite the bullet and pull of the intake manifold im guessing ?

thanks guys

[Crazy_pilot]

That seems to be a common-ish SVX issue. Oil collects in the intake manifold and then drips out from the IRIS valve in the center. Replacing your PCV valve may help to fix the issue, but don't expect it to stop instantly (oil will continue to drip until it's all gone from the intake).

[solarsvx]

Originally Posted by Crazy_pilot

That seems to be a common-ish SVX issue. Oil collects in the intake manifold and then drips out from the IRIS valve in the center. Replacing your PCV valve may help to fix the issue, but don't expect it to stop instantly (oil will continue to drip until it's all gone from the intake).

it seems to be a lot of oil from just the air intake track

im going to clean thar area up and see how bad it is or how long it takes to puddle up again

never had this on any of my 3 other svxes so i guess it makes the odds of 1 inn 4 LOL

[KJC Pearlie]

I have this same problem with my 92. I was thinking of taking off the Intake manifold to see what's going on but I know that's a bit of work. Please post anything that you might find and I'll do same. Good luck

[wdb]

I had oil on top of my motor. I took off the intake and it was all oiled up, and the oil was dripping out of it. I cleaned up the mess, replaced the PCV and all the vacuum hoses, plus replaced the knock sensors while I was in there. I haven't driven the car a lot since then but have not noticed any oil.

[huck369]

Are you sure it's oil? as the PS tank is prone to leak onto the top of the motor...

[NikFu S.]

My manifold leaked oil, which was cured when my IRIS/some part of the manifold was replaced/operated on.

[oab_au]

The oil collects down where the IRIS butterfly is. It leaks out of the shaft ends.
The question is where does all this oil come from.

No brainier, out of the crankcase breathers, both the PCV, that can be blocking, forcing it into the air delivery pipe.
Or the cam cover breathers, that block inside of the air box in front of the throttle bodies. This then forces all the crankcase gas up the inlet air pipe.

So it ends up collecting in places like the IRIS, Idle Air Valve, and the Auxiliary Air Valve, the last one, makes it blow smoke on start-up.

Fix, clean all the cam breather passages, renew the PCV valve.

Harvey.

[NikFu S.]

Was just looking through my service history, and I remember the oil pressure switch leaked like CrAzAy, so crazy, I had to type it out like that to emphasize the craziness.

It's between the PS pump and alternator. Check it out.

[svxfiles]

Originally Posted by NikFu S.

Was just looking through my service history, and I remember the oil pressure switch leaked like CrAzAy, so crazy, I had to type it out like that to emphasize the craziness.

It's between the PS pump and alternator. Check it out.

IF you decide to replace the oil pressure sensor, make sure that you replace it with a Subaru one!
The part # is 25240KA040.

[solarsvx]

thanks for the information guys with your guys help i narrowed it down to the iris valve area and its a common issue

i just havent had time to take it apart looks like its and extensive job

every day i have a small puddle on the right side of the car area "its not from the valve covers "

if i get a flash light i can see the area where it is leaking,

can you just buy the o ring itself for the iris valve? or do you use hi temp rtv to re-seal it ? or is there another o ring where the center shaft is for the butterflies are inside the IRIS ?

i still have to find the root of the problem i was thinking of going ahead and replacing the pcv valve first but it was done from the previous owner and blowing all the lines out,

there is no oil around the oil pressure senser and none by the power steering pump area

again thanks for all your help

[alia176]

I wonder if an external oil catch can would help with the oil issue. Not sure if that would affect anything detrimentally or not!

I have the same puddle on top of the engien and my IRIS valve gasket/seal was renewed couple of years ago when I did all seals and hoses. Guess, i'll need to revisit it again

[Wikedjuggalo]

Originally Posted by alia176

I wonder if an external oil catch can would help with the oil issue. Not sure if that would affect anything detrimentally or not!

I have the same puddle on top of the engien and my IRIS valve gasket/seal was renewed couple of years ago when I did all seals and hoses. Guess, i'll need to revisit it again

Did you replace the PCV valve?

[SVXMAN2001]

Out of curiousity, are you guys using synthetic oil? Since this thread I've noticed a significant amount of oil buildup in the same areas. I use Amsoil. I've always heard that going from conventional to synthetic would cause leaks, this may be the extreme result. If this is true, the effect may be compounded by the age of the hoses and gaskets...just a thought.

[Subaru Alliance]

+1 for the amsoil (i love that stuff) I just put new gaskets and seals on my spare engine and didn't notice there being a puddle there but it was setting for a while before I replaced everything. I will look at my daily driver to see if it having a similar issue. If so I can reference this post to fix it.