2.5 DOHC Post HG-Overhaul Oil Leak

[stevetro1]

Hello all,

 

I'm monitoring my recent HG job on a 1998 GT that appears to have gone very well except for the fact that I now have a very persistent oil leak which I believe I have the source of, bit wouldn't mind some comment. I will of course be pulling the engine again soon to confirm the source. The resulting leak is a puddle dripping from the cross member center bracket and small spots under each valve cover. The 6 areas that were worked on that could be the source of the leak are:

 

1. Rear main seal - replaced with OEM and installed precisely to the bevels as the original was.

2. Oil separator/vapor - replaced with updated OEM metal kit with screws in proper locations.

3. Valve cover gaskets - replaced with AFTERMARKET FelPro.

4. Cam seals - replaced with OEM and verifed not leaking.

5. Front main seal/oil pump seal - replaced with OEM and verified not leaking.

6. Oil pan re-sealed with Ultra Grey - verified not leaking.

 

I have looked at this very carefully and am putting the blame on the valve cover gaskets and/or the front exhaust cam end caps. I know the rear main seal and the separator plate are the usual suspects but I predict they aren't because of the following. The outer oil pan and perimeter are absolutely dry and if I look very carefully at the space between the front of the oil pan and the trans torque converter, it is not wet at all and appears dry. If the rear of the engine is leaking wouldn't I expect to see leakage where I described above?

 

Where I do see the leak, is slowly running down the lower valve gasket seal, dripping high on the cross member and running down to the center cross member bracket where the puddle forms.

 

When I did the job, I was very careful to put sealant on the valve cover gasket end cap areas as the instructions say to, but unfortunately they are not very precise about this. What I can't really tell is if the gasket itself is leaking or if the cam end cap is the issue and then running along the seam. Since the valve cover gaskets are not OEM and appeared somewhat narrower than the OEMs they replaced, I'm looking to replace them again and reseal that endcap area with better anerobic sealant.

 

I was really curious what others thought about my rear engine observations and dismissing the rear of the engine as a source of any leaks at this point. Once we pull the engine again, we'll know for sure.

 

Thanks a bunch !

[snederhiser]

Hello;

Check your power steering rack for leaking boots/seals. A bottle of lucas solved my problem, Steven.

[suprastarr]

I have got bad fel pro gaskets before

[stevetro1]

Update: We removed the engine once again with oil intact to inspect close up, and as I thought, no leaks at rear of engine. RM seal and separator cover were clean. The leaks were coming from both valve covers and I believe originating at either the cam seals or cam end caps - was still hard to tell.

 

We replaced 4 cam seals with OEM, both valve cover gaskets with OEM and re-sealed the 4 cam end caps - this time with Loctite 518 anaerobic sealant. I've always found this stuff to be very good. I should also point out that the OEM cam seals appeared to have wider outside lips as opposed to the aftermarkets we originally used.

 

After this second time around, the engine appears leak-free. We put about 200 miles on it yesterday and all is well.

 

Lesson learned for these engine tasks? OEM, OEM !! No more un-named manufacturer parts in kits for me again!

 

Thanks all,

Steve