Author Topic: Oil on rocker cover? (Read 2885 times)

con · « **on:** January 16, 2007, 03:52:30 am »

A layer of oil is gradually building up on my rocker cover, but I do not know where this mist of oil is coming from, anyone else have his problem and know where it is coming from? Thanks.

jtanguay · « **Reply #1 on:** January 16, 2007, 06:27:09 am »

sounds to me like blowby... do you have the plastic cover for the inside??? mine doesn't...

con · « **Reply #2 on:** January 16, 2007, 09:52:21 am »

I don't think so, this is my engine bay -

Ignore the red circle and arrow, it was from something else.

Please note that it's quite clean in the picture compared to how oily it is now.
At first I thought it was the round plastic breather, but I'm not sure :roll:

jtanguay · « **Reply #3 on:** January 16, 2007, 10:59:41 am »

ohhh excuse me... you meant the outside of the cover??? hmmm well at least it will inhibit the rust formations... :lol: is it more biased to the breather side or the valve cap side??? i think the breather might have some sort of o-ring or gasket to seal it... maybe thats on its way out???

what kind of oil did you put in? 15w40??? maybe if you could take a pic of what it looks like now, that would help a lot!

edit: i love ETKA! yay after finally finding out how to change the language to English... :lol:

the (3) points to the gasket... that may be leaking on your vehicle!
part number is 028 103 500 and is around $3.30

con · « **Reply #4 on:** January 16, 2007, 12:54:00 pm »

Definitely on the breather side, Wow the diagrams are good. Thanks for the help. I'll have a look at that gasket and get a pic of the bay in its oily glory. And yeah I suppose it does look a bit better than rust orange!

MontanaGTD · « **Reply #5 on:** January 16, 2007, 01:10:21 pm »

Mine does the same - previous owner replaced the gasket with electrical tape!

Vincent Waldon · « **Reply #6 on:** January 16, 2007, 01:30:14 pm »

If the oil is in fact near the back of the engine near the red circle I suspect that your turbo seals are bleeding a bit and misting oil at 100K RPM or whatever the poor thing rotates at... I have exactly the same pattern, and it comes back slowly over several months when I clean it up.

I proved it to myself by completely degreasing the entire engine (including the back side)... after tightening everything down, including new valve cover gaskets etc. The oil was clearly coming from the turbo housing and eventually splattering on the rocker panel. Have a peek with a flashlight at the back side of the engine and specifically the turbo... my guess is that you'll strike oil.

According to my research this is a pretty common thing as the bearings and seals on the turbo age and not really much to worry about provided the seeping doesn't become extreme and run you out of oil someday. I just keep a good eye on my oil level (rarely actually dips between changes) and every couple of years degrease the turbo and the back of the engine so that I can clearly see what's going on.

The alternative is new bearings and seals on the turbo... that means fighting with extremely rusty bolts in tight spaces... not gonna do it until I have to !!!

Just one other possiblity after you've replaced the valve cover gasket, the PVC grommet, and tightened the clamps on every thing else.

Vince

con · « **Reply #7 on:** January 16, 2007, 06:47:01 pm »

Thanks for the help. I'll have a look around the turbo and see if it's seeping oil. My car has run perfectly for the 10000 miles since I bought it and it was like this on day one so I'm not worried.