Revn29k00

So a few days ago the weather was nice so I pulled the car out of the garage to put my front bumper and headlights back on the car. I am planning on changing my plugs and coils soon so I decided to have a look at them to see what the access is like the rear most coil. I take the right side passenger tire off and begin to snoop around. I was disappointed to find an oil leak on the right bank. Originally I thought it was the coil that cracked and was leaking but it is not just localized around the coil. It appears to be originating from higher on the engine. From what I read it could be a few things like a valve cover gasket or oil temp sending unit but its tight back there and I cannot really pin point exactly were it is coming from. I have already called a local indy and when I get the car back on the road (probably another week) it will go straight to his shop to diagnose.

I'm just looking for some ideas on what it potentially could be. The car has been stored for the winter so this must have been present before storage. I do not have any oil drips on my garage floor. Here are two pics.

Imo000

Looks like the oil pressure sending unit area but it looks really minor. I wouldn't worry about it, bet you 90% of the cars have oil seeps like this. If it gets worse, address it then.

wyovino

"Your thought on an oil Leak"

I'm against them. (Sorry, couldn't resist)

chadmartin512

Oh yea? Mine has at least 3 different leaks

aviography

Here's a few pix taken on the day I went to check the car and ended up buying after PPI, the owner was upset I pointed out the leak to him as he said, and I saw for myself, that there was no mark on the garage floor where he parked the car.

https://rennlist.com/forums/8756453-post1.html

EU Autowerks identified as one or more of the spark plug oil tubes during their PPI.

In fact it took me another 8 months after buying the car to change the plugs and plastic oil tubes at all cylinders, the tubes each have two O rings, and as suspected the oil leak came from these O rings as they start to leak over time, but not necessarily enough accumulation to actually drip on to the floor, I didn't have a single oil drip on the garage floor for that 8 months.

I cleaned the oil soaked areas thoroughly while changing the plugs and tubes and O rings last summer, and have not seen any oil stain since.

BTW I can loan you my home made oil tube extraction tool, either you pick it up or Clive can at the GTG, and then pass it to you, then bring it back to me when you are done.

Zanzibar Red 996

That's Not a Leak !!!
It's called a seap or sweat , it has to drip to be called Leak

Revn29k00

That's reassuring Imo. Thanks. I think I will still try to pin point the exact location

I kind of expected a comment like that

The leak in your post looks very similar to mine but if it were the plugs would it not be localized to that are? I can see some oil residue above the coils as well. I may have to get that extractor from you at a GTG. Thanks

aviography

You know there is going to be airflow turbulance in the engine compartment and I think the oil gets spread over a larger area as a result.

I'll keep the tool in the car for GTG.

If you are replacing the plugs, definitely replace both the tubes and O rings at the same time since they are likely now 13+ years old and are made of plastic and rubber which WILL deterioate over time.

It's the same logic as replacing water pump when replacing timing belt on other cars, 95% of the labor to replace the tubes are parallel with replacing the plugs, actually I'll go as far as saying 99% of the effort, especially after I made up the tool, it's takes less than 30 secondsto replace each tube with that tool.

aviography

Yeah I agree.

This IS an oil leak https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-problems.html

Revn29k00

WOW! That makes me feel much better

Revn29k00

Today I got the car back on stands and decided to get a real good look at the seep that I have. Upon close examination it looks like its seeping from the coil in cylinder #6. I thought I would clean everything up as best as possible and check back after a few drives to see if this is the case. I then decided to check the left side coils and sure enough I see the same condition around the coil on cylinder #2. I was planning on doing the plugs and coils this year anyway so I think this just confirms it needs to be done.

I then start the car to park it in the garage and the car is idling kind of rough then the CEL comes on. I hook up the scanner and guess what code I get? p0306 misfire cylinder #6. I've never experienced a misfire but will this cause the car to idle this way?

aviography

Wel, coils don't/can't leak, so it's got to be the plug tubes/O-rings.

As for the mis-fire, bad coil or one with impending failure will certainly cause rough running if it starts to arc, were you washing the car while the car was up on the stand and got some water on to the coil? As a minimum check to see if the two screws holding the coil in place are still tight and the connector to the coil is not loose either.

alpine003

Yes. Replace spark plugs, coils(if original and/or cracked, use OEM or Beru), spark plug tube o-rings(use OEM), you can buy all new tubes but generally they don't crack often. I bought a couple just in case but mine were all fine.

You will need a marine plug which can be bought from a marine supply store. I bought a 1" boat plug from Menards for under $2. I had to wrap electrical tape a few times to get it nice and tight to grip the tubes.

Luxter

+1
Easy and relatively low $$$$ fix.

Revn29k00

Thanks guys. Looks like I've got some parts to order.