Strange Oil Leak

[c3po]

I have a small block chevy in my 1983 El Camino and I have oil leaking onto the starter and then a few drips on the ground, when I got home today I took the PCV off and there was less drips, meaning when I disconnected the PCV there were only 2 drops, whereas last night when I came home I parked the car and the next day those 2 drips ran to the other side of the pan, it has a new PCV and on the other side is a chrome breather that is about a year old and looks fine. The drips are obviously below the starter and not at the back of the oil pan, the oil pressure switch is on the other side of the block, driver's side. Now El Camino's of that era that did not have the oil pressure gauge had the oil pressure sender by the distributor, the valve cover gaskets seem fine, the engine has 360,000 miles and is on the rinse phase of Auto-Rx, I pulled a trailer a few days ago and the leak was pretty bad, so no more trailering, the back of the block by the starter seems wet but I cannot see any new oil, it has to be coming from somewhere, car is running fantastic, no smoking, no loss of power, maybe I will have to totally clean off the engine to see where the leak is, since I took the PCV out and there was only a few drips could this be PCV related, if I drive it tonite and come home, should I take the breather off and disconnect the PCV and if there are no leaks the problem is some pressure in the engine. I heard it is not a good idea to take out the PCV and put a breather on because the PCV sucks vapors out of the valve covers and back into the carburetor to get burned, I have the Edelbrock valve covers with the baffles in them, could these baffles be some kind of restriction. Or could this just be that a small block with 360,000 miles is always going to leak.

 

[pickled]

I had one of those once on a 5.7. It can be a leaking valve cover gasket at the very back of the motor...it's a PIA to see. Get some UV dye and see if you can track it. Good luck.

 

[c3po]

Pickled, I took out my heater core and A/C and it is still a PITA too see back there. I might have to put a beed of RTV where the valve cover gasket meets the block, I should mention the heater core was taken out a year ago, but anyway where there is some oil, if I look up above that area I am looking at the back of the valve cover gasket by the firewall.

 

[pickled]

Clean with some brake cleaner first and try to mold it with your finger. It will get you by until you can put a new gasket in there. Be sure to extend that bead of RTV about 3" beyond where you think the leak really is

 

[punisher]

Either a leaky valve cover or the intake manifold/block seal.

 

[mechtech2]

That paragragh is hard to understand!
But oil leaks are from valve covers, intake manifold, or the distributor.

 

[c3po]

I checked the distributor and it was fine, not sure about the intake manifold, it is really hard to see in that area, I might just drive the car and put it up on my friend's lift and see what happens, I ran my finger along the valve cover gasket and did not notice anything unusual, I may have to check out where the intake manifold and block seal.

 

[onion]

Clean it up. Get a good mechanic's mirror and flashlight. Drive it around, then have a look and see where the oil is coming out.

It ain't rocket science.

 

[c3po]

What is a good engine degreaser to use besides Gunk, could I use some Castrol Super Clean.

 

[Harley Anderson]

If it was mine, I buy a partial gasket set and take a day to replace some of the minor gaskets on the engine. I am guessing the rear of the intake manifold where the rtv probably hardened and broke off. Plus this gives you a chance to inspect the valley area and other things around the intake. Of course cleaning the engine first is a good thing when pulling things apart.

 

[onion]

I'd suggest a pressure washer. Spray-can degreaser is a waste of time.

 

[c3po]

I found the leak, it is the valve cover gasket, I will be replacing it on Friday.