22RE Noise/Oil Leak
 

So about two weeks ago my truck started making a weird chattering tick on the passenger side of the engine compartment. At first I thought it was part of my axle or wheel due to its speed, however after listening for a bit I realized the sound was only occuring when I was giving the truck gas when it was in gear. If in neutral, giving it gas does not produce the squeaking tick.

Its a very faint noise, which can be drowned out when playing the radio. Upon having a buddy ride with me to diagnose it, we parked and I popped the hood. While he was inspecting the engine, I took a peek in the passenger side wheel well. Everything below the oil filter was coated in oil, dripping down over the starter to the ground. I know its originating in the rear right part of the engine, somewhere behind where the intake manifold hides it.

After debating, my buddy theorized that the gasket shellac I used on my 22RE gasket strip (rather than simply oil) caused a void which let oil leak out. Changed the gasket out yesterday and lubricated it with oil, but to no avail. After changing the oil (2.5 quarts had been lost) and filter, I drove home hoping that the gasket change was all that was needed, but when I got back to the apartment I looked underneath my front axle there were a few drops of oil on the ground. I popped the hood and inspected. The new oil filter was dry and clean, but the starter motor, parts of the bell housing and right side of the frame had oil residue on them again.

any idea what could be causing the leak (its coming from the same area as the noise. I'm assuming they're related.)

UPDATE: Just went outside to see if I could trace the leak any better in daylight. Got underneath with a flashlight when it was idling, couldn't find anything above a damp spot in there. Nothing was beading up, it seemed fine. Talked to a guy for a few minutes while the engine idled, regularly checking for any drips onto the clean parking spot I had chosen. Still nothing. The guy I was talking to left, and I took it for a spin around the lot a few times, maybe doing 500m or so before coming back and letting it idle. I inspected it again, still no drips.

Took it for a second spin, maybe 800m around the lot. Looked underneath, wiped away what I thought could be a drip to see if it would bead up again; it didn't.

Satisfied that my imagination had been getting the better of me, I turned the ignition off to go inside and warm up only to hear a steady "plip plop" noise. I stuck my head under the truck again and saw a steady drip of oil coming down the right side of my bell housing, branching off around the lip of the oil pan.

SO: It appears the dripping only starts when I shut the truck off. Now that I have thought back to every time it started dripping, it was usually when I shut the truck off.

So, this opens up a plethora of new questions for me. Can anybody help?

Loose valve cover would be your cheapest fix, after that it gets expensive. Get an inspection mirror, any mirror old makeup compact whatever, and a good flash light.

Since it's happening during the cool down, it could just be something pooling in the valve cover but it could be worse like iron block and aluminium head not cooling at the same rate.

have you done any head work recently and forgot to retorque the head bolts maybe. follow the manual sequence and torque to a little bit over 60(58 is the what the book says).

Of course if you have to go in there and haven't done any work before, start getting ready(eg saving) to replace the headgasket ect..

Sorry man the only cheap suspect is the VC gasket. Not alot back there compared to the front.

You can get a faint ticking by a valve cover being too tight and the valve cover making contact with a rocker.

Change valve cover gaskets and pay close attention to the half moon pieces in the head. Those need to have rtv per the FSM. I normally do not advocate throwing parts at something, but the gaskets are very cheap and easy to replace.

I redid the valve cover gasket a few months ago and its been fine. Just rechanged it the other night with fresh RTV for good measure. Sure enough just like old faithful, as soon as I shut the truck off, I can stick my head under my truck and there's about 10-15 drops of oil dripping off of the bottom of my front diff onto the ground. I have had about 15 friends and even some of my senior NCO's go through my engine bay with me. I even sprayed it down with Gunk degreaser and cleaned it up real good to better track an oil leak, but its buried under the back end of the intake manifold.

Going to throw a bunch of pictures at ya

shows the lack of anything to leak.
https://lh4.ggpht.com/-Fky20vJ6rQ0/S...PvcFWo/223.JPG
shows two likely suspects for rear end leaks, half moon and pinchable wire.
https://i859.photobucket.com/albums/...30_640x480.jpg
shows a "vast" distance between bell housing and differential.
Attachment 167688
there is a plugged oil galley tap behind the P-side engine mount.
Attachment 167689

Don't know what to tell ya, good light and a mirror, on a clean and dry motor should find it. My only tip would be don't overdue the sealant too much is as bad or worse than none.

Still no luck. The gasket's been redone twice with RTV, the truck runs just fine. There is a strange ticking (not the overtightened VC, I already experienced that) that only picks up when I accelerate coming from the same area of the rear of the passenger-side of the engine bay. If I bring the RPMs up in neutral, the sound doesn't appear.

The leak is somewhere above and to the rear of my starter. The bottom of the intake manifold hides it, cant even get a hand or a mirror in there. The fan is blowing the oil all over when I drive, so tracing the leak is hard, even if I degrease and scrub the engine bay, the oil just trickles down above the starter.

I'm gonna try removing the access panel in the passenger side wheel well tomorrow during the day and get up there with a shaving mirror and a flashlight and have a buddy shut my truck down while I look up there to see if I can get eyes on the point of origin.

This one's got me and everyone I've asked scratching heads.

Check the oil pressure sender real good. I've seen these fail and blow a rediculous amount of oil out.

Where is the oil pump on that engine? Since it's not leaking when it's running, but starts leaking immediately after shut-down, it points to a part of the lubrication system that is under negative pressure when running, i.e., somewhere near the input side of the oil pump. I have no idea if that's even possible, but worth investigating, I would think.

Interesting problem, for sure.

Ron

I agree on the oil sending unit. I'd try popping the upper plenum off and that MAY give you a better line of sight

GOT IT!!!

Had a buddy turn the engine on and off while I kept looking with a flashlight. One of the bolts in the EGR valve mount had fallen out and the oil was dripping through the hole every time the engine shut off.

To my astonishment, I managed to find the SAME bolt that fell out stuck in a mud-filled recess of my frame where the power-washer missed it. Pulled it out, wiped it down, and put it back in. Oil leak stopped.

Thanks for the input though guys, and the pictures. I appreciate the help.

Haha totally didn't think about that bolt! But if she isn't there it'll surely leak