Trying to find source of oil leak

[Christien]

I need to find and fix this - I'm losing a TON of oil. The car is away for winter, so the leak has slowed, but while it's running, I'll bet I lose a litre (quart) is less than a week. It's significantly worse on the driver's side, and if the car isn't driven for a couple days, pools in the exhaust and ignites - Fire!!!

Today I finally got some time with the car, so I got underneath and hit it with a degreaser, and wiped a lot of oil off.

A couple shots from before cleaning (iphone pics turned out a bit better):

First the driver's side - note the difference between the 2 different oil return tubes:



Passenger side - less wet, but still not dry:


I'm suspicious it's the oil return tubes. I can move the front one on the driver's side side-to-side a bit. Is that normal?

Any other thoughts or suggestions?.

[James Brown]

if not sure, get in there with a pressure washer and clean everything real well, then new oil leakage should be easy to spot. If not, there is a oil dye that you can put in and using a black light they glow brightly. a lift would be helpful also

[Christien]

No lift (no room) and no pressure washer (stored for the winter). Will the dye work via seepage alone or does it need to run?

[James Brown]

needs to run, if you can't run the engine, might have to start taking off components to find the leak

[diy83sc]

If you suspect the oil return tubes, you might want to try rotating the tubes 1/4 turn to re-seat the o-ring. I hoped for the same but mine was leaking at the rocker shaft. You can check by taking the valve covers off and wiping the allen end and opposite end of each through bolt with a clean paper towel. If they are wet, good place to start. There's a few threads that explain how you can repair this yourself. Search on "rocker shaft leak" to get started. My engine had other issues, lousy work by PO's engine guy, incorrect sealant, etc., so had to pull the engine - going through a rebuild now.

[86 911 Targa]

Here are some other options:







Clean the engine as best you can, then look for the leak(s) or apply the dye.

Someone else might chime in with a better cleaner.

Good luck,

Gerry

[James Brown]

Super clean is great stuff, just don't get it on "sensitive" skin areas!

[Christien]

No doubt it's the return tubes. I just checked and there's fresh oil dripping from 3 out of 4 of them (driver's side fore and both passenger side).

Does this look like a significant amount, or a minor leak? (not sure if you can even tell from the pics) I want to be fairly certain this is the main source of my leaking oil, rather than other areas. The valve covers look dry, and the "triangle" on top is dry also.




btw, rotating the tubes and seeing if that works isn't an option - the leaking oil is pooling and catching fire. I've had 2 fires now, and I don't want to risk a third. I'm replacing them.

[Jcslocum]

Those are replacement tubes on the right side (I think it the right side) lower picture. Hard to tell in the upper picture but atleaset one looks like a replacement. New seals may be available for them.

Hard to tell how much oil is leaking but fire is bad. Replacing these parts isn't expensive ut the left side looks to be a real PIA to get at them.

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by Christien

I'm suspicious it's the oil return tubes. I can move the front one on the driver's side side-to-side a bit. Is that normal?

Any other thoughts or suggestions?.

According to John Walker: ...if they're loose, they're leakers". May not be an exact quote but I recall him weighing in on the subject in another thread. I had two loosey gooseys that I replaced and no more leaks.

Oil Return Tube Replacement Tip