Help me find my oil leak PLEASE!

[samcrac]

Before I start I would like the preface that my ST has no warranty left. I have what seems to be an oil leak/spray of sorts all around the turbo area. Droplets coming off the harness that goes where the Boomba BOV adapter is. The only aftermarket hardware on the car is this Boomba BOV/Spacer (which I'd like to remove just haven't gotten around to doing so).

In the last few weeks, I had a leaky water pump, so I took apart the entire side of the motor, timing cover, timing tensioner, re-timed the motor and put a new pump in. (Just FYI in case it gives any hints). Also installed a new plastic tube which ran from the turbo to the air intake. Lastly installed a new front passenger side axle and put in new transmission fluid.

When I first noticed the oil leak it was all around the turbo area, so I cleaned it, and installed a new gasket around the back side of the turbo because it felt oily (was a green paper gasket). This clearly hadn't failed.

I cleaned the entire back end of the motor with degrease and drove the car about 50 miles today, and it is still leaking oil. The best I can describe is that it looks like someone sprayed a mist of motor oil all around/on the turbo. There is no clear "trail" just mist, which leads me to believe the air coming out of the boomba spacer is blowing the dripped oil around or (I'm not sure how) the BOV itself is blowing oil out from the turbo? I really don't know how this all works so please excuse my ignorance. There was some drips on the adapter that plugs into the BOV and the final leaks before they hit the garage floor were on the downpipe.

Car has no warranty due to a rebuilt title, but only contains 9k miles. As far as I know, this leaky oil wasn't here prior to me tearing apart the side of the motor. If anyone has any good ideas for me, or has experienced something similar I'd really be happy to hear. Due to the compact nature of this car, it seems a real pain to find this leak! Thanks again!

 

[M-Sport fan]

I take for granted that you already checked the gasket on the oil line inlet flange to the turbo housing, as well as that line itself?

 

[Initial_Will]

From my experience with these kinds of things, the best thing to do is to clean everything (as you did and probably should do again) and run the car on a lift or suspended where you can somehow see under the engine. When you drive it, the air currents and such, blow the oil around which causes you to not see a clear path where the leak is coming from. It'll be easier to spot from a stand still position. You will, of course, have to be extremely thorough, especially if its small. Start from the areas you worked on first. Timing cover/tensioner leaks can spew oil quite a bit if not done correctly. You have to figure out which direction its coming from first, then you can assess the possible causes. Remember to check the oil filter area too, things can be blown from the front to the back if its dripping down. Again, You need to be THOROUGH.

*ANY oil leak near a turbo has to be looked at closely. You also should check ALL oil lines and connections. Turbo seals could be a possibility in order to be spraying that much oil. Blow-by isnt out of the question but highly unlikely since your car seems to be running fine.
*Check ALL gaskets on the valve cover and timing chain areas.
*Check All areas you have serviced yourself

You should find the leak pretty quick if you are careful and thorough.

 

[localbacon]

Prior to my turbo upgrade, I found one of the turbo to block oil lines holding on by 1 of 2 gaskets. I'm not sure how it stayed in b/c I was flogging the crap, but it did. The bolt backed itself out at 32K miles. It is always a good thing to check over every critical connection at least once a year; more if you race.

 

[samcrac]

Thank you guys for the info. I've been definitely checking from under the car. I'm ready to stop laying under it on the concrete!

When I did the timing job, everything under the timing cover was bone dry, no oil anywhere. Why it is so strange, but as we all know when you work on something, and then there is a change in operation, 99% of the time there was an error in the work that caused the issue. Just a very small car, and odd location for there to be a lot of oil. I plan to keep digging tomorrow. Thanks for the ideas!

 

[Initial_Will]

No problem. Good luck!

 

[OCS12]

To be honest, I'd start with the simplest spot first. Ditch the BOV adapter, especially since you plan to anyway. The way you describe it as a mist of oil, I can't help but wonder if it's just blow by oil being vented out the adapter.

 

[samcrac]

Found a crack in the valve cover! Thats where its coming from!!!

 

[Initial_Will]

Glad you found it! That sucks though, means a new valve cover but atleast it isn't a super expensive fix if you do it yourself!