rundwark Posted July 21, 2013 Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 Had my dime's engine bay steam-cleaned today. With those 40+ years of grime gone, it looks a lot better :) (By the way, if you live in the bay area, this guy is great: http://www.yelp.com/biz/manuels-auto-detail-santa-clara ) It's been leaking oil for a while, so I thought I'd be able to spot where from more easily now. And boom, same day – after a spirited drive – I noticed this motor oil spray on the side if the valve cover (and on the spark plug leads). I've seen this before on my 510, just not this clearly. I already have a replacement (cork) valve cover gasket ready for the L16 for when I set the valve gaps next weekend or so, so I'm hoping it'll just go away. Is it normal for a bad valve cover to result in this kind of a mess, with oil spraying up on the engine? Or should I do a deeper dive when I open it up? It seems weird to me that there'd be enough pressure on that gasket to make this kind of a spraying happen. But, since I'm completely unhindered by knowledge or experience, this may just as well be the most normal thing in the world… ;) Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted July 21, 2013 Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 Looks like it's dripping down from somewhere else. Your valve cover vent hose is off. Blow by can push oil spray out of the valve cover. Could be on the under side of the hood and dripping. Quote Link to comment
DanielC Posted July 21, 2013 Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 Does the PCV valve work on the engine? In most cases, the PCV valve keeps the crankcase at a slight vacuum, and this really reduces the tendency for oil to leak out. However, at WOT, and high RPM, the blowby overcomes the flow of the PCV valve, and pressurizes the crankcase. As the engine and the rings wear, blowby gets worse. This is usually checked by testing compression on a warm engine. Quote Link to comment
rundwark Posted July 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 Looks like it's dripping down from somewhere else. Your valve cover vent hose is off. Blow by can push oil spray out of the valve cover. Could be on the under side of the hood and dripping. I just looked, there's nothing on the underside of the hood… I've seen this same situation before also when the hose from the valve cover to the air cleaner was still on. Does the PCV valve work on the engine? In most cases, the PCV valve keeps the crankcase at a slight vacuum, and this really reduces the tendency for oil to leak out. However, at WOT, and high RPM, the blowby overcomes the flow of the PCV valve, and pressurizes the crankcase. As the engine and the rings wear, blowby gets worse. This is usually checked by testing compression on a warm engine. Interesting.. Picked up a new PCV valve today (3 bucks at AutoZone), we'll see if that makes a difference :) Thanks! Quote Link to comment
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