Oil leak, what should I fix next?

[Moazzam]

hi all

so I had a really small oil leak (2 drops per week) and stupid me, I went and got it fixed. Now, after fixing several things (see below), the oil leak has gotten much bigger:

I had these fixed:

Valve cover gaskets
cam plugs
oil pan, and gasket

now I get smoke coming out of the top vents when I stop, after a hard drive.

what should I fix next?

OR, could I use high mileage thick oil to lessen the leak?

thanks in advance.

Moazzam

 

[Briank]

Looks like you forgot the Vtec solenoid gaskets.

 

[zahntech]

I would double check the repairs to make sure those items are not still leaking.

And as Brian says, checkout your Vtec solenoid seals.

 

[AAMIR SHAIKH]

I apologize for changing the subject. But where are the VTEC seals located and how difficult and expensive are they to replace.

Thanks

 

[Doc308]

The Vtech solenoids are located on the driver's side of the engine just below the valve covers. The smoking which you report likely indicates that these are leaking--as the rear one can leak onto the exhaust. They are easy and not expensive to do.

 

[Moazzam]

sorry, actually I did have the vtec soleoids replaced too.

Well, the guy who did these, we all trust extremely up here. And when he
got under it after doing the oil pan, he said it wasnt the oil pan (actually he showed me). He said its probably some other seal but he'll have to take the tranny down for it.

Any opinions on heavy oil?

M

 

[Doc308]

Heavier oil might leak a bit less, but I don't know about the advisability of this with such a high revving engine. Perhaps some of the real gurus on Prime could chime in here. I think you'd be better off just fixing the leak.

Re: the smoke, oil is dripping onto the exhaust somewhere and should have been corrected by all of the work you had done. Maybe one of gaskets wasn't installed evenly(?) Are you sure that there isn't just some old oil pooled somewhere which may be burning off? How many miles have you driven since the work?

There is a way of clearly dx'g exactly where the leak is coming from if you can't see it with the naked eye. You can buy a cheap ultraviolet dye kit from someplace like Advance Auto or NAPA. You dump a small vile of oil dye into your oil and then run the car for awhile to ensure good circulation throughout the system. Next, in the dark, shine the ultraviolet light into the engine area and any oil which leaked out will show up in very bright ultraviolt green.