Oil Leak Pics need help!!!

[Bravo]

I have been trying to figure out this oil leak since rebuilding the engine last year. I put boxes around the area but you canst see them very well. Ideas
1. oil coming from rear return tube??
2. cam tower to head not sealed properly?
3. any other things I'm missing.

I have got under there and looke with the car running, not running, on a jacck, on a hill, etc. etc. I just can't figure this one out. Not wet around the tube, not wet along the bonding area for the cam tower. lets hear the ideas!!

Thanks

Dean

[Bravo]

another pic better angle. Im getting ready to just pull the engine but if its something stupid I would like to avoid it

[pjv911]

likely the cam case is leaking if its not the return tube. However it could be a rocker shaft . Is that a real early 2.0 ? The first pic had me stareing for a while trying to figure out what the finned area was ? Thats an early lower valve cover right ?


Kurt Williams

[Bravo]

right you are! it is a 1966 2.0L with 2.2E P&C's. Yes it could be a rocker leaking. I put thos seals in them but I think one may have malfunctiond. the oil does not appear to be coming from under a valve cover though

[david914]

I wish mine leaked as little as that

[Bravo]

Hah! If I let it completely warm up you cant see me at a light. my wife wont even ride with me. The problem is it falls right on to the heat exchanger. it it just dripped I would not be so concerned

Dean

[tmctguer]

i've got a similar leak on my driver's side. the oil appears to be coming from a point in which the engine case mates with the chain tensioner housing. the oil travels downward and sometimes makes its way onto the lower valve covers and drips on the front part of the heat exchangers. i also believe i could have some slight rocker shaft leakage, but not as significant as the leak i described above.

BTW, i have a '73 911E w/ 2.4L engine. i resolved other lower valve cover leaks by replacing my gaskets and LIGHTLY torquing the bolts.

problem with oil leaks is that they start at point A, and follow all kinds of paths to get the point B, often masking the true point of origin.

good luck and let us know what you find.

[yelcab1]

When I did my engine, I had an exact same leak. It came from the rocker shaft. Yours may be the same. Given the location of the leak though, that is not a guarranty

[beamonk]

valve cover?

[antares]

What I have seen is that the leak, if after rebuild tends to be where the cam tower meets the head and usually at the center cam tower under side through bolt(s) on either side. But what I can't understand is how even if the individual rocker shafts leak at any point, would this cause a leak outside of the cam tower/head junction? Would'nt the oil stay inside the cam tower case or is there some route the oil takes if the shaft is leaking past it's journel in head to follow done to the mating surface and bolts of cam tower and head???? Any body.

Antares
fatnwide

[Fishcop]

My left side (2.2T) is leaking much the same. I did a recon' and found it to be leaking valve rocker shafts. Will be adding the "RS" o rings shortly.

An easy way to check is to jack up the opposite side and leave the car over night. The following morning there will be a large puddle of oil where the pooled up oil finds an egress point.

Hope it helps (not terminal, just annoying)

[Bravo]

Well I removed the muffler today and will be removing the heat exchangers tomorrow. I just can't see where this leak is coming from but when the car is at temp it really comes out of there! thanks everyone for the ideas. I am ordering new collapsible oil return tubes tomorrow. I am hoping I dont have to drop the engine all the way but if thats what it takes then I'm gonna do it because It has really got me perplexed. Not the least emberassed to sit at a stop light on a hot summer day

Dean

[jtgith]

I had a similar leak. I removed the black engine pans so that I could access the upper and lower valve covers from underneath the car. Turned out to be a rocker shaft that had slid partially out of the head. While I was in there I decided to check the torque of the nuts holding the heads together (as well as the cylinder nuts; always a good idea after a rebuild). One head was a little loose. I re-torqued the head and it seems to had fixed my leak.

[Bravo]

I pulled off the heat exchangers and looked and looked and all I could see is some oil pooled around the rear outward end of the oil return tube. I am going to surmise that this is the leak. After analyzing the heat echanger it appears oil would drip onto it run down the side to the joint line and be distributed to various points to then leak to the floor/ground. I sure hope this is the problem.

Dean

[Gunter]

If it is a rocker shaft, you'll see it when you take the valve cover off on the next oil change. One shaft may have moved.

[Bravo]

Problem solved!!!!! after removing the left side Heat exchanger I noticed some oil around the return tube hole kept on looking and my eyeballs about popped out of my head when I see #1 exhaust rocker shaft hanging out of the friggin hole at the back of the engine. I immediately took off lower valve cover loosened (sp) the shaft slid it back in and that should take care of it!! See what was happening is when it would leak out would fill up its little area run down on top of the oil return tube drip onto heat exchanger and annoy me to no end. well it seems I will have a good nights rest knowing may have finally licked this leak!!! thanks for all of the input.

Dean

[911pcars]

If the rocker arm shafts are sealing, the area on either side should be dry. If so, the leak source is elsewhere. If oil is dripping from the cam cover/cylinder head joint, it could be coming from that spot. Most likely it's coming from above (gravity). The sources above are numerous. They include cam line fittings and hose, oil pressure switch, oil temp. switch, oil tank breather tube-to-crankcase, and upper valve cover.

Oil dripped from the exact same spot on my engine and resigned myself it was from the cam housing-to-head joint. I left it alone for several months until I discovered it was just a loose cam oil line fitting behind the distributor. A quarter turn and the oil leak disappeared.

Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars