I just bought an oil dye and UV flashlight on Amazon Prime. They should arrive in time for me to look again this weekend but if anyone has any suggestions I can check between now and then I'd really appreciate it.

 

should be pretty obvious if its from the head gasket I think. it was pretty obvious with mine. Did you check the block deck for flatness when the heads were off? it can be out of flatness and require milling as well as the heads. what kind of head gasket did you use?

 

It's definitely not the new head gasket. The seam of the head and block is clean and dry. I used the Felpro MLS gasket and as stated in my original post I sent the heads to a machinist who took care of cleaning and decking.

 

If you can take some photos of the leakage that may help us identify the issue. I would also recommend cleaning the oil off, so that when it leaks again you can easily point to the source of the leak.

 

Photos are a good idea. I should have thought of that. At this point I'm confident that the dye will reveal the source of the leak. I was just hoping someone had some kind of magical advice I could try before the weekend. My wife drives a lot and I don't want her running all over the place in a leaky car. She's been in my car and I've been on a bike pending a fix of the leak.

I had already cleaned off the oil. That didn't help so much to point to the source as to get me in the ballpark.

 

I had a leaky oil dipstick tube gasket once that took me awhile to pinpoint. The whole time i was looking under the car, when actually it was right in front of me on the top of the head

 

Can be leaking from the valve cover gasket, dip stick hole, oil pan, a couple of the oil lines that connect to the head, etc. A few pictures would be best to see where it could be coming from.

Even better if you take it and power wash all around the area so you can spot the fresh leak.

 

Oil Dye

Got the oil dye in and ran the engine for a while. Here's my first pic taken just in front of the intake manifold on the passenger side. Are there oil passages in the intake manifold?

 

No oil passages in the IM. Check your pcv valve for leakage maybe? I thought it was leaking on the drivers side? any more pics?

 

I think I've got multiple leaks. It looks bad on both sides. It looks bad on the top of the engine on the passenger side and it looks bad behind the timing cover on the driver side. The dye in the oil looks like it's everywhere. In some places it looks like it puddled and in other places it looks like a fine spray.

I've removed the variable valve system oil switches and cleaned them. Then I put teflon tape on them and ran them all the way down to about 18 lbs-ft. I made sure I didn't crack the heads around the oil switch. Any other ideas?

 

There is a gasket under the variable valve switch system on both heads which may have failed. Your oil pressure sensor may be leaking (not very likely), but that's cheap to replace. Double check your pcv valve & the hoses connecting to it. They tend to get hard and crack over time, and are cheap also. Run your finger along the underside of the hose where it connects to the valve to feel for oil. I stated before that there's no oil passages in the IM, but there are oily "fumes" that ventilate through there and back into the engine, which can drip down if the valve or hoses are cracked or clogged. Maybe those ventilation fumes could be leaking from bad intake manifold gaskets? As far as behind the drivers side timing cover... sounds like the camshaft seal may not have been installed properly or wasn't OEM quality, or maybe the walls were scored when prying the old seal out.

More pics would help (especially if you clean the crap out of everything first, then show us the fresh oil spots when they appear)

 

There is a gasket under the variable valve switch system on both heads which may have failed.

I replaced those at the same time as the HG R&R and re-inspected them when I noticed the leak. I don't think they are the problem.

Double check your pcv valve & the hoses connecting to it.

Did that upon your suggestion. They feel soft and appear intact. No oil outside them. I included a pic of the PCV valve.

Maybe those ventilation fumes could be leaking from bad intake manifold gaskets?

Those intake manifold gaskets are brand new. They came with the HG kit. And I torqued the manifold down per the Haynes repair manual.

As far as behind the drivers side timing cover... sounds like the camshaft seal may not have been installed properly or wasn't OEM quality, or maybe the walls were scored when prying the old seal out.

I inspected the camshaft seal as soon as I noticed the leak coming from that area. Once I got the timing cover off I saw that the camshaft seal was clean and dry but I replaced it anyway (mostly since I had already ordered it and it was a major job to get to such a cheap part. :smile2: ).

More pics would help (especially if you clean the crap out of everything first, then show us the fresh oil spots when they appear)

I've attached a few more.

 

camshaft repair sleeve?

A Timken or similar camshaft repair sleeve might help, if the front of your camshaft was scratched or scored [scratches could be almost invisible to naked eye, but often occur during timing belt/water pump service].

Rock Auto carries more than one brand.

 

A Timken or similar camshaft repair sleeve might help, if the front of your camshaft was scratched or scored [scratches could be almost invisible to naked eye, but often occur during timing belt/water pump service].

Rock Auto carries more than one brand.

I've given up. I took the car to the dealership in Silver Spring, MD. They are replacing both front camshaft seals and the passenger side rear camshaft seal and plug for ~$1200.