I'm wrapping up a timing belt/valve cover install on a friend's '92 3vze, and as I was putting the tensioner spring on, it popped off and flew back under the intake manifold. When I fished it out, it was soaked in oil, and upon further inspection, there is about 1/2 to 1 inch of oil pooled up on top of the block under the intake manifold. My ideas thus far:

1. the valve cover gaskets were pretty bad - would it be possible to pool that much oil from a bad valve cover gasket? I don't see oil on top of the plenum or intake manifold, just below them on the block, i.e. I don't see any obvious path that oil would be taking from the valve covers to in between the cylinder banks.

2. my friend has only had the truck a couple of weeks, and I never drove it or heard it run pre-teardown, so I can't necessarily rule out a blown head gasket. I'm assuming that it wasn't smoking, etc., but it was using quite a bit of oil. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary in the coolant when I drained it for the timing belt install.

3. any other ideas? I really don't want to pull the manifold off just to look around in there... Are there any other oil lines, etc. that I should be looking at that could leak under the intake manifold?

thanks,

Mark

 

Would it be possible for oil from the inboard edge of the valve covers to leak down past the intake manifold onto the block?

 

Ever figure this out? I just got my top end back together (rebuilt heads and new gaskets) and now I have a pretty decent oil leak coming from the back middle of the block (above the bell housing) with a mirror I can see it start pooling up on my bell housing then runs down the mating surface of the block/trans and also drips from the shift lever area on the side of the trans (auto)...when I tore the motor down initially there was a pool of oil under the intake...I'm about to tear the top and apart again to try to figure this out...I'm guessing I'm going to find a pool of oil..it takes about 15 seconds or so until I see the oil start to drip onto they top of the bellhousing.The motor still sounds strong and idles great, no smoke or anything.....valve cover gaskets are good as well as rear the cam seals. I cant feel any oil with my hand anywhere on the back of the head....I think its coming from under the coolant sensor block

Could this be from an bad head gasket ?
What else would cause oil to pool up under the intake?


.

 

The PCV valve may have blown out it it got crapped up, its on the passenger side rear top valve cover, and very had to see. Some people say they can even change it with needle nose pliers, but I pull the air plenom, change VC gasket while in there.

 

Its a new pcv and after removing the intake I can see the oil pooled up on the head gasket...passenger side head near the firewall

 

The hose or clamp might have failed, or the grommet is leaking (you are supposed to replace it when you replace the pcv valve). It's also possible that the valve cover is leaking on the inside edge and pooling up there.

Unless this is a noticeable, massive leak (oil levels depleting)... you don't have to fix it... my truck has a half-dozen PS and oil leaks, I call it rust protection

 

Its a pretty major leak...looks like its coming from my passenger side head gasket, then it pools up under my intake until it starts to overflow down my bell housing

 

I have the exact problem. I also believe it is coming from the head gasket passenger rear as the valve cover gaskets are dry (I tried them first) So, I am in the middle of replacing the head gaskets. Hopefully there are others who can confirm cause and fix.

Mako

 

I ended up taking off te passenger side head again. Once I had the head off I could see that there was a oil passage on te top corner of the head near the firwall, which is where my leak appeared to be coming from. This time when i put the head back on i chased all the threads in the block (M10 1.25 Tap) twice. I then used a handful of cue tips to clean out any water or moisture in the holes. I re cleaned the blick surface (scotch bright and carb cleaner). I replaced the head gasket and all the intake gaskets (Again) with Victor Reinze Gaskets (Made in Japan and only 40 bucks a pair on ebay). Torqued to 33ftlb then 90* then another 90* ....No more leaks! I believe my problem was a combination of dirty head bolt holes and improper torque.