is this oil leaking from my headgasket?

[docterelliott]

1.6n/a.  I had a leaky valve cover and valve cover breather hose when I first bought this vehicle.  fixed that.  now I noticed this oil seep on the backside of the motor. does this look like the HG or could it have been from the valve cover.  would have to travel horizontally across the HG edge considering the manifolds are in the way.  if this is the HG, is it ok to just replace the HG without a head redeck since Im getting no coolant leaks?  
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[Dakotakid]

To me, it appears as though the bulk is from valve cover. How novel....you are the ONLY guy out there that has an engine like this......NOT! Every one of these "sweats" a little around the head gasket over time and miles. Pulling the head (if no other problems exist) to "repair" this is going to be like amputating your toe because the nail isn't perfectly smooth.

Have you seen the photos of the very south Indian ocean that have been in the news recently? Well, THAT is how oil tends to move across these engines. Oil "migrates" like crazy and that is just a part of life with these. Myself, I occasionally blast things off at the local car wash.

If you are "itching" to get your hands dirty spinning wrenches, I'll get you a plane ticket and fly you up here and you can work on all my stuff for awhile! Freezing your fingers off in the cold builds character..........

[745 turbogreasel]

That ain't oil, that's CHARACHTER!

[ORCoaster]

Hit it with some degreaser and watch it over time.  I say it was mostly from the Valve cover but the head is weeping a bit as well.  But I wouldn't worry about it.  Unless the cleaning says something else. 

[Dakotakid]

Sorry, man, we never answered your basic question:  ya, you would want to clean up the deck as best as possible with light rotating disc, green scratch pads, whatever. But, it is best to keep the crudskis from falling in your holes.

A clean hole is a happy hole!

Clean up the head, too and be careful with the soft aluminum surface. I suppose you could check out how many dents you have in the pistons and what the bores look like. Sometimes, stuff like this can be the proverbial "Pandora's box."

Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
Added: Lucas would want me to remind you to make sure and NOT chamfer the holes (oil and water) when cleaning with abrasives so that you don't encourage inefficient gasket sealing.

[bajacalal]

Oil does leak out of the head gaskets on these cars as the head gasket fails, but it tends to leak out the front side of the engine at the head gasket, because that is where the pressurized oil comes through. Oil on the back of the engine is far more likely to come out of the valve cover gasket because of how the engine is inclined, oil pools towards that side under the valve covers. It could also be leaking right out the intake manifold gasket if your engine is ingesting enough of its own oil.