Need Some Help Identifying A Leak

[stash1]

Hey fellas, not usually in the position of asking for help, but this one has me slightly stumped & just wanna get some opinions. So, I was swapping out my front LCA’s & noticed some oil on the driver’s side of the oil pan. It wasn’t a lot, but clearly a leak coming from somewhere. I was almost convinced that it was the oil pan seal, but I noticed that there appeared to be oil slightly above the pan as well.

Sooo, for shits & giggles (before I removed the pan), I removed the intake & some other shit to get a better view. Well, it def appears that the leak is originating from above the pan (slight sigh of relief)...but for the love of God, I can’t quite pinpoint the leak 100%. I do have a theory, and would like some opinions first.

You can see by the photos that there is oil by the SMG motor/pump bracket (first & last pic), and along the top of the oil pan (second pic). When I installed my Karb CSL intake (about 1 yr ago ago) I left the intake oil drain back line unplugged (but capped up w/a rubber vacuum line type plug), and my only current guess is that oil made its way up from the pan and leaked out of the vacuum cap plug (not shown because I removed it)??? I do not see any other source for leaks in that area. There’s no oil running from the front of the motor to this point...it’s strictly isolated in that area.

See attached pics & plz let me know your thoughts—thanx fellas!

Also, please excuse the dirt, I haven't cleaned anything yet-lol.


Oil drain back line

[SliM3]

Hey Stan, that sounds about right in that area. I ended up swapping the stock fitting for a cheap summit racing 6AN hose fitting and cap. Cant remember the thread size off hand.


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[bigjae46]

Probably an M8 hole? I’d just find an M8 plug.


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[stash1]

Hey Stan, that sounds about right in that area. I ended up swapping the stock fitting for a cheap summit racing 6AN hose fitting and cap. Cant remember the thread size off hand.


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Probably an M8 hole? I’d just find an M8 plug.


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Thanx Brian/biggie, soooo, you guys agree w/my diagnosis? I just don't see another source for possible leaks in that area, and can't track it back to anything else. I'm pretty sure it's motor oil, and not SMG fluid. I was just wondering if anyone else's line perhaps became detached somehow, and they experienced something similar?

[heinzboehmer]

Did you cap the port on the bottom of the airbox? If not, is the inside of the airbox oily? Could be excessively oily crankcase vapors coming from the oil separator and dripping out the bottom port of the airbox. Besides that, I can't think of anything else that could be leaking oil directly onto that line.

Just out of curiosity, why didn't you plug the drain line in when you installed the airbox?

[stash1]

Did you cap the port on the bottom of the airbox? If not, is the inside of the airbox oily? Could be excessively oily crankcase vapors coming from the oil separator and dripping out the bottom port of the airbox. Besides that, I can't think of anything else that could be leaking oil directly onto that line.

Just out of curiosity, why didn't you plug the drain line in when you installed the airbox?

Yep, and nope, inside is dry because I run a catch can set up. Ehh, no real reason other than it wasn't really functionally needed...but I wasn't aware that oil could perhaps creep back up the drain line.