Oil leak pooling in heat exchanger, catching fire

[Christien]

Something is leaking onto and into the driver'a side heat exchanger, and the oil is catching fire when the exhaust gets hot. I replaced the oil return tubes (1 was definitely leaking) and tightened the valve cover nuts a tiny bit (half turn each). I can't think of anything else than can be dripping on there. Any thoughts?

Today I did a "controlled burn" to try to clear out the remaining oil. Have a look. It's been burning for almost 15 minutes now!

Heat exchanger oil fire - YouTube

[emac]

Christine replace the v/c gaskets with the silicone style I had the same issue. I washed my oil off didn't have the balls to do a controlled burn. Lol
Ernie 81sc

[Christien]

Already have the silicone gaskets. I can't wash the oil off because it's inside the heat exchanger.

[Christien]

It burned for over 30 minutes, until I finally splashed some water on it to put it out.

[ClickClickBoom]

Drill a .040 hole at the low spot. Or remove the air hoses in the engine compartment and run a hose with water into the heat exchanger, the oil will float out around the holes you can see fire through. The "controlled burn" is without a doubt the dumbest thing you can do, burning petroleum with a high cubic foot fan on the frontside is a recipe for disaster. Up your insurance on the car and house to the max, you will need it eventually.

[Christien]

Good idea. The car wasn't running when I was burning it off - I hit it with a blowtorch, and the fire extinguisher was right beside me.

[Christien]

I think I got it taken care of. I hit it with some degreaser, let it sit a while, then flushed it with lots of water. Fired the car up for the first time this season and let it run for about 20 minutes. The smoke gradually diminished, and no flame. When I shut it off, it was still sizzling inside the heater box like a bbq!

Heat exchanger bbq - YouTube

[timmy2]

Have you found and stopped the leak?
You'll be back doing it again if not.

[fastfredracing]

Any leakage at the rocker shaft areas?

[Kirk911SC]

Cam towers leaking?

I had oil dripping on my exhaust in the 930 and it would smoke. Nothing quite likes yours though!!

Your heater is going to smell reeeeal nice!

[Christien]

Once it's cool I'm going to put some paper over top of the heat exchanger to see if there's any fresh leakage.

[timmy2]

If it is the rocker shaft(s) or cam tower it won't leak unless it is running. Ask me how I know!

[Christien]

I'm about 90% certain it was leaking while not running, because the big oil buildup leading to flames only happened after the car had sat for a few days. It happened twice last fall, but not when it was being driven regularly, at least once a day. That leads me to believe that it was leaking while sitting, and if it was just a small amount (like overnight) it would burn off as smoke the next day.

[James Brown]

remember all that smoke/crap will go in the cabin with the heat on.

[Christien]

Yesterday evening I put some paper on top of the heat exchanger, and this morning it was 100% clean, not a drop of oil - good news!