Oil evacuated through oil filler cap (Solved?)

[Mr.wReckless]

I had a look around under the hood yesterday. Even started the car, let it warm up and gave it a couple of revs without a sign of any leaks. That is until I returned today and found a puddle under the car. I've yet to jack it up and inspect thoroughly, however it seemed to amass mostly underneath the oil cooler pipes area. I've got an aftermarket external Mishimoto thermostat and AN lines running to a larger CSF cooler so I guess I have to inspect my lines and fittings for breaches.

Regards

[Mr.wReckless]

For those still following:



I think I'll remove some pulleys and possibly the vibration dampener. It only leaks/pours when the engine is running. I wonder if this is a secondary fault after the blowout.. Overpressure maybe blew the sump gasket.. I'm not sure whether I hope it's the sump gasket or the oil filter housing gasket as both require a fair bit of disassembly. But perhaps the filter housing is slightly less messy..

Regards

[sapote]

1. I think I'll remove some pulleys and possibly the vibration dampener.
2. Overpressure maybe blew the sump gasket..
3. oil filter housing gasket as both require a fair bit of disassembly.

1. With the engine tilted to the right, the oil leaking doesn't seem to leak from the crank front seal so don't waste time touching the crank pulley.
2. Not the sum gasket as the leak is at the highest location of the gasket above the oil level.
3. maybe the oil filter can cover is loose. Bad oil filter housing gasket cannot leak as bad as this.

[Mr.wReckless]

1. With the engine tilted to the right, the oil leaking doesn't seem to leak from the crank front seal so don't waste time touching the crank pulley.
2. Not the sum gasket as the leak is at the highest location of the gasket above the oil level.
3. maybe the oil filter can cover is loose. Bad oil filter housing gasket cannot leak as bad as this.

I agree, but I find it so hard to see so I'd really like to get the belts off and move the various pumps/pulleys and perhaps alternator out of the way to see better. But I'll definitely take it step by step.

Regards

[sapote]

Yes, remove the fan, belt and tensioner/pulleys, and alternator if needed (search for pulling the slide-nut backward 1mm for ease removing), but don't touch crank pulley.

[Mr.wReckless]

What do you guys reckon?

I removed the belts, the idler pulley and the tensioner, a bit of clean up and started the engine. I didn't think much of the oil filter housing cap, but it didn't take long for it to seep oil.

Apparently not uncommon for the o-ring to shrink a bit, but you can also see there is damage along the o-ring on each side of the missing bit.. The breach was pointed towards the TPS, so I wonder if the engine spewed oil from this gap, and for my lack of better wisdom, thought it was coming out the oil refill cap, but it probably just pooled in the recess there instead.

I've never seen this type of fault before, perhaps not unheard of, but not particularly common either? Can anyone tell me the oil flow of the engine? Sump -> pump -> filter -> engine -> cooler -> sump ? Also inside the filter housing the outside is unfiltered, passes through the filter and from the filter center circulates the engine?

I've bypassed the internal oil thermostat and fitted an external one. Not that it would make much of a difference, but parts of me wonder if the cooler or lines close by could be clogged somehow and cause a back pressure? Not likely as I imagine the oil flows from the pump straight through the filter catching any debris before it goes anywhere else in the engine bay?

Regards

[Barracooda]

I can't imagine that o-ring in good condition would fail at a pressure the oil pump is able to generate. I don't know the full oil flow path, but unfiltered oil does pass through from the outside to the center.

Was the o-ring replaced at the last oil change? Mine has always looked fine, but the filters come with a new one so I always swap it out. I think you either had an old, deteriorated o-ring, or perhaps it got pinched and damaged during the last oil change. I'd consider this great news since it's so easy to take care of, put a new one on there and see what happens.

[sapote]

.
3. maybe the oil filter can cover is loose. Bad oil filter housing gasket cannot leak as bad as this.

I assumed you would have checked the filter can body for oil wetness before doing anything.

Re to the broken cap Oring: it was in the groove so the high pressure can’t damage it. Just old or bad oring.

[Mr.wReckless]

There was oil everywhere so a bit difficult to pinpoint the source to the bad gasket at the filter cap. I think also my initial assumption of the oil filler cap led me a bit astray too. I always change these o-rings since they come with the filter kit, but I guess it was either a damaged one or it got pinched somehow.. Will swap for a new one and see what happens next, but I'm fairly confident this was the source of the leak for sure.

Regards

[sapote]

There was oil everywhere so a bit difficult to pinpoint the source to the bad gasket at the filter cap.
Regards

I would clean the oil off the filter can then put a plastic bag over it and tie the bottom with a rubber band, run the engine a couple minutes then check the can for leak.

[fattycharged]

Having seen it leak from the filter cap, from stacked crush washers, this was my initial suggestion to check the cap…


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