# So.... Found this this morning



## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

Driving to work smelled hot oil. Popped the hood to find this mess:

































Soo ya not sure where its coming from, but the valve cover and header heat sheild are covered in oil... The head gasket is fine, the only possibility is the valve cover gasket which is new, tq'd down to proper specs and in the proper pattern, it is a Mayle gasket. Or its the oil cap. I jiggled it with the motor running and it sprayed out pressurized air, but its only on the motor, side of the head, heat sheild and fuel rail, no where else... F*cking irritating

What do you guys think is up? Could also be coming from the middle spark plug tunnel


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## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

Funny thing. I had that happen to me last night. -30C outside and I started smelling burning oil coming through the ventilation.when I get home I realize that I have hot oil bubbling out from underneath my VC. I posted on my local club forum and one of the mechanics said that the torque specs need to be precise and that it might be the rubber gasket. Last night I tightened down the bolts and they were quite loose, I'll be checking the VC gasket tonight and also checking the torque spec on the bolts. Kevin, id love to know what you determine to be the problem. How cold was it where you are?

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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

lessthanalex said:


> Funny thing. I had that happen to me last night. -30C outside and I started smelling burning oil coming through the ventilation.when I get home I realize that I have hot oil bubbling out from underneath my VC. I posted on my local club forum and one of the mechanics said that the torque specs need to be precise and that it might be the rubber gasket. Last night I tightened down the bolts and they were quite loose, I'll be checking the VC gasket tonight and also checking the torque spec on the bolts. Kevin, id love to know what you determine to be the problem. How cold was it where you are?
> 
> Sent from my GT-P7500R using Tapatalk


It went from 50F to 21F in a matter of 2 hrs the car was parked at 9pm restarted at 3am for me to go home, cooled and restarted at 830 for me to come to work. I guess Ill have to recheck tq specs and see what happens. It does look as if it came from the oil cap. But that doesnt account for oil on heat sheild and fuel rail. So maybe the system got sort of a cold shock and had to relieve pressure? But I have a catch can so should be no extra pressure  Thing that sucks is Im not gonna be able to clean it till spring Its too cold here for me to go washing my motor


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## timmiller05 (Mar 26, 2010)

It wouldn't surprise me if it was the cheap meyle gasket, there cheap made in China junk. I have seen ALOT of there products fail. The Cold weather thing is interesting though, esspecially if its happen to others...


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

timmiller05 said:


> It wouldn't surprise me if it was the cheap meyle gasket, there cheap made in China junk. I have seen ALOT of there products fail. The Cold weather thing is interesting though, esspecially if its happen to others...


Whats the gasket of choice then? My local performance shop supplied me with this... Im not really sure how Im supposed to check to see where its coming from. Just high rev it parked and see if oil is sprayed out? I wish it was in the 40's and I would degrease and clean it up use brake cleaner to find the leak. I just hope the oil doesnt stain the vc and heat sheild if I have to leave it till warmer temps come


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## nothing-leaves-stock (Mar 1, 2005)

ummmm. its not a seal issue...its a venting issue.
is you catch can setup clear? did the can fill a bit and the water vapor freeze?


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## timmiller05 (Mar 26, 2010)

With v/c gaskets I stick to factory. part # is 07K-103-483-B List is only $24.30....so it's not alot of money. If your not close to a dealer I could ship one to you if you like...


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

nothing-leaves-stock said:


> ummmm. its not a seal issue...its a venting issue.
> is you catch can setup clear? did the can fill a bit and the water vapor freeze?


But how would oil get all over the head and header if the catchcan is located next to the headlight? Pressure backed up and blown out of the cap maybe? But ya frozen water vapor is a possibility


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

timmiller05 said:


> With v/c gaskets I stick to factory. part # is 07K-103-483-B List is only $24.30....so it's not alot of money. If your not close to a dealer I could ship one to you if you like...


Will order, thats about the same price as I paid for the one I have


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

Pic of cc setup


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## nothing-leaves-stock (Mar 1, 2005)

yes blow out the cap.... weakest point.


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

nothing-leaves-stock said:


> yes blow out the cap.... weakest point.


Could be then. As nothing is to the right of the cap, and nothing is past the left side of the valve cover, besieds salt spots. Whats a good fix for this?


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## DerekH (Sep 4, 2010)

Could disconnect the CC for the winter and just run a down tube. This is why i don't run one. i guess the other option is emptying the CC all the time.


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

Would letting the car warm up to a decent temp before driving achieve the same thing?


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## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

Now that you mention it mine is probably the gasket which went because the catch can hose has frozen water in it. My car would have gone from 60F in my parking garage to -20F. That pressure would easily be able to blow out the valve cover gasket. I had used an OEM one when I did mine. Guess I might have to rethink my catch can setup our something. Any ideas?

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## nothing-leaves-stock (Mar 1, 2005)

down draft tube....far back passed the cat.
screw the polar bears and ice caps.


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## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

kevin FaKiN spLits said:


> Would letting the car warm up to a decent temp before driving achieve the same thing?


I'll let you know how mine runs when I get home from school today since I will be back at 60F or higher temp. Seems like we must have had the same problem but with a different fail point.

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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

lessthanalex said:


> Now that you mention it mine is probably the gasket which went because the catch can hose has frozen water in it. My car would have gone from 60F in my parking garage to -20F. That pressure would easily be able to blow out the valve cover gasket. I had used an OEM one when I did mine. Guess I might have to rethink my catch can setup our something. Any ideas?
> 
> Sent from my GT-P7500R using Tapatalk


Like Josh said it would pop the oil cap before the tq'd down valve cover. Maybe Ill just run a dump tube till spring. My valve cover still doesnt have a baffle. I made one but Im nervous to weld it in. I kinda want to send it out to someone to make a baffle and weld it into the cover


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## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

I'll recheck my oil cap today but it really didn't look like that as I had oil around my entire VC, remember, I'm looking at huge temperature fluctuations, which I don't doubt might not help the cause. Either way, I'll get back to you when I get home and let you know if I can find out anything else. Want me to take some pics?

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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

lessthanalex said:


> I'll recheck my oil cap today but it really didn't look like that as I had oil around my entire VC, remember, I'm looking at huge temperature fluctuations, which I don't doubt might not help the cause. Either way, I'll get back to you when I get home and let you know if I can find out anything else. Want me to take some pics?
> 
> Sent from my GT-P7500R using Tapatalk


Ya please do take some pics :beer:


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## Adam Pristas (Jan 19, 2008)

It's definitely the oil cap. Look at the way the oil runs down the side of it in the photo.


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

I guess when I attempt to shave the filler neck, I should do a pressure relief valve, not sure what psi I should use tho.


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## DerekH (Sep 4, 2010)

kevin FaKiN spLits said:


> I guess when I attempt to shave the filler neck, I should do a pressure relief valve, not sure what psi I should use tho.


If you still have the stock pcv you could check to see what kind of pressure it uses.


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## eatrach (May 13, 2004)

yikes. sorry to hear about Kyle


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

eatrach said:


> yikes. sorry to hear about Kyle


Im gonna have to just let the car warm up before driving. Not just get in and go like I usually have to do. The whole bypass thing is completely out of the question. Im not doing that. 

Just needed others to check out so I dont go replacing everything :beer:


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## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

As promised I snapped some pics. These were taken after the car had sat all night and all day in 60F parking garage. I just drove to the gym, no more oil seems to be coming out, but its cold again do we'll see if it happens again. note that I did wipe the front of the engine off a bit last night.

Hopefully these pics work, I've never uploaded from Tapatalk before.










































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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

Yep we had the same problem alright


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## [email protected] (Jan 2, 2009)

Find a way to drain the catch can back to the oil pan, or drain it very regularly (when hot). No amount of pressure in the crank case is acceptable. 

I'll look around and see if there is a spot where it can easily be drained back to. 

lessthanalex- your breather hose off your valve cover is not properly assembled, fwiw. Google how to assemble AN fittings.


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

[email protected] said:


> Find a way to drain the catch can back to the oil pan, or drain it very regularly (when hot). No amount of pressure in the crank case is acceptable.
> 
> I'll look around and see if there is a spot where it can easily be drained back to.
> 
> lessthanalex- your breather hose off your valve cover is not properly assembled, fwiw. Google how to assemble AN fittings.


I have a modified eurojet cc. It has thin layer of steel wool, and the silver hose you see vents to the ground. Only thing I can think of is water vapor freezing in the main valve cover hose. Not sure there is much we can do about that. I think I'm gonna run an open dump hose for the rest of the winter. How about that, would that work?


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## thygreyt (Jun 7, 2009)

nothing-leaves-stock said:


> down draft tube....far back passed the cat.
> screw the polar bears and ice caps.


agreed.

when its cold, i think that the vacuum created in by the exhaust nipple and the exhaust temps would help to NOT have this issue.


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

thygreyt said:


> agreed.
> 
> when its cold, i think that the vacuum created in by the exhaust nipple and the exhaust temps would help to NOT have this issue.


Then hey pm me the diagram of how its done. I can always cap it in the spring summer and run the catch can


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## nothing-leaves-stock (Mar 1, 2005)

no, not into exhaust just opne tube dump...easy, simple and works.


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## Brabbit32 (Apr 13, 2009)

or try one of these, i think im going this route.

http://www.verociousmotorsports.com/Shop-by-Category/O2-Rings-and-Weld-Bungs/E-Vac-Scavenger


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## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

[email protected] said:


> Find a way to drain the catch can back to the oil pan, or drain it very regularly (when hot). No amount of pressure in the crank case is acceptable.
> 
> I'll look around and see if there is a spot where it can easily be drained back to.
> 
> lessthanalex- your breather hose off your valve cover is not properly assembled, fwiw. Google how to assemble AN fittings.


Yeah, I kinda figured I did something wrong, just never made the effort to fix it. I'm thinking maybe if I switch over to a braided hose it might help? I just emptied my catch can on Sunday, so only two days before this happened.

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## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

Brabbit32 said:


> or try one of these, i think im going this route.
> 
> http://www.verociousmotorsports.com/Shop-by-Category/O2-Rings-and-Weld-Bungs/E-Vac-Scavenger


I really like the look of this thing. I'm thinking it might be a good idea for me to set something like this up for my car, especially with the extremely cold temperatures we get up here in the great white north.

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## b1aCkDeA7h (May 27, 2008)

Brabbit32 said:


> or try one of these, i think im going this route.
> 
> http://www.verociousmotorsports.com/Shop-by-Category/O2-Rings-and-Weld-Bungs/E-Vac-Scavenger


I'm guessing that's basically an exhaust slash cut crankcase evac.


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## thygreyt (Jun 7, 2009)

nothing-leaves-stock said:


> no, not into exhaust just opne tube dump...easy, simple and works.





Brabbit32 said:


> or try one of these, i think im going this route.
> 
> http://www.verociousmotorsports.com/Shop-by-Category/O2-Rings-and-Weld-Bungs/E-Vac-Scavenger





b1aCkDeA7h said:


> I'm guessing that's basically an exhaust slash cut crankcase evac.


which is exactly what im running! lol.

btw, josh the only difference by adding it to the exhaust is the created vacuum that assures you that stuff is flowing


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## nothing-leaves-stock (Mar 1, 2005)

yes fred, i know that, its just not needed on these cars, it's really not.. will it hurt? no. i don't think so. MOST people that use those exhaust pieces use them for race cars where they want NO pressure at all and want it SUCKED out of the motor. in fact i have a friend that drag races and he uses two GM secondary air pumps to suck the crank case vent out of the motor faster....


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

nothing-leaves-stock said:


> no, not into exhaust just opne tube dump...easy, simple and works.


I just did this. Spent 3$ on hose dumped it to the skid plate and zip tied it so it drains to the street. Now the task becomes how to get the cabin to stop smelling like burning oil


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## wnhanna (Nov 21, 2011)

Hope you got it fixed.



kevin FaKiN spLits said:


> Now the task becomes how to get the cabin to stop smelling like burning oil


Hope it isn't too early for some humor.
[video=dailymotion;xmj7cs]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xmj7cs_smelly-fish-from-grumpy-old-men-1993_shortfilms[/video]


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## nothing-leaves-stock (Mar 1, 2005)

kevin FaKiN spLits said:


> I just did this. Spent 3$ on hose dumped it to the skid plate and zip tied it so it drains to the street. Now the task becomes how to get the cabin to stop smelling like burning oil


run the hose BACK. i run it all the way to the cross brace in the center of the car. tie it there away from exhaust, smell is gone.


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

nothing-leaves-stock said:


> run the hose BACK. i run it all the way to the cross brace in the center of the car. tie it there away from exhaust, smell is gone.


Well did this, and was fine, then find the valve cover, and header covered in oil again. Its not the head gasket, too far down, it has to be the valve cover gasket. There is no oil on the cap or filler neck, so it never came from there to begin with. Im gonna order a new gasket from the dealer, and see what happens. If that doesnt work Im going back to the oem valve cover


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## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

That's where mine was coming from. It's fine now for me. Did you recheck your torque spec or tighten it down? My thought is the heating and cooling could have messed the bolts up somehow... :screwy:


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

lessthanalex said:


> That's where mine was coming from. It's fine now for me. Did you recheck your torque spec or tighten it down? My thought is the heating and cooling could have messed the bolts up somehow... :screwy:


No Im gonna check that tonight clean off again fill with oil. Im ordering a new gasket anyhow as a backup, plus I may go back to the stock vc untill IE comes out with theirs... I have to ghetto make a tq wrench  Someone stole my 1/4" digital, as its not in my tool box


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## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

That sucks a lot. Thankfully I haven't had a problem with my baffle yet and my engine is holding oil. I'm back at work today, but it's only -17*C so we'll see if it happens again today. I'll keep you updated. :laugh:


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

lessthanalex said:


> That sucks a lot. Thankfully I haven't had a problem with my baffle yet and my engine is holding oil. I'm back at work today, but it's only -17*C so we'll see if it happens again today. I'll keep you updated. :laugh:


Well its the three of us whove had it fail vs what EJ claims, so the best advice I can give on the baffle is check it regularly. Its as simple as taking off the 90* elbow and looking in. 

Honestly Id like to figure out some sort of filtration system with a vent and route filtered oil back ot the oil pan, may be pointless but Im consuming ALOT of oil not having a baffle in that cover.. BUT I dont want all the crap going back into the motor :sly: What to do-what to do opcorn:


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## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

Well sir, my engine pressurized again and blew oil out the VC gasket. ****. I'm gonna set up the dump tube setup tomorrow. It was Hella pressurized,I could tell when I loosened the oil cap. I looked inside the breather house and of course there was a build up of I've on the inside.I tried to blow through it and couldn't, do its obviously the problem...

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## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

So I've got an idea, could I run a double hose? One as a I dump tube and the other as a breather hose? My thought here being that if the breather hose became blocked it would "switch" to the dump tube, thoughts?

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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

Yep same here.

Catch can full of this:









I used the drain **** the other day and only a little fluid came out... This peanut butter substance wont drain through that valve  Also both of my hoses were clogged shut. I used a rifle bore cleaner brush to clean them out. Re-tq'd all the studs, Im about to go buy some extra hose, and do an oil change again.


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## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

Holy ShiZa. That's ridiculous! I'm gonna do a full scrub down on mine tomorrow then. You thinkin maybe the cold had something to do with the oil separating/congealing like that?

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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

lessthanalex said:


> Holy ShiZa. That's ridiculous! I'm gonna do a full scrub down on mine tomorrow then. You thinkin maybe the cold had something to do with the oil separating/congealing like that?
> 
> Sent from my GT-P7500R using Tapatalk


Somethin because I emptied it a few weeks ago, and it was mostly water in it... Makes me wonder if I have that sludge in my motor... BTW I use Mobil 1 5w-30


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## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

I'm a Castrol man myself although I'm thinking I may try Total on my next change. I'll take pics and report back here tomorrow once I clean my **** myself.

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## thygreyt (Jun 7, 2009)

Huh... talk about penaut butter...

sent from tapatalk


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## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

As promised...










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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

Hm same thing you just dont have as much as I did. Well just clean out the can and store it away till spring. Get a long dump tube. You should be fine after that.


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## nothing-leaves-stock (Mar 1, 2005)

geez, i NEVER had that with my custom VC. wow..thats terrible.


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

nothing-leaves-stock said:


> geez, i NEVER had that with my custom VC. wow..thats terrible.


 I think Id have less if I had a baffle in the valve cover... maybe. But either way that much garbage would still exist in the system, whether or not it all comes out... Not really sure what to do about this one. Keep the EJ cover or get rid of it opcorn:


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## nothing-leaves-stock (Mar 1, 2005)

the thing is...thats barely a baffle at all. there is no mesh or breather material in there, just a plate with holes in it...thats NOT correct. not good for the street and not wise to sell like that


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

nothing-leaves-stock said:


> the thing is...thats barely a baffle at all. there is no mesh or breather material in there, just a plate with holes in it...thats NOT correct. not good for the street and not wise to sell like that


 Yep, and I dont have that half ass baffle. Im thinking about sending it out to have a proper one put in...


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

Put about 500 or so miles since I got it all taken care of. So far problem free. Emptied the catch can twice already, each time draining mostly 4oz of water and gas tiny bit of oil. Time for new spark plugs and probably coilpacks this spring. In the process of the fix I found out my oil filter housing was cracked straight up the back not sure how it happened, but replaced and so far so good.


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## thygreyt (Jun 7, 2009)

kevin FaKiN spLits said:


> Put about 500 or so miles since I got it all taken care of. So far problem free. Emptied the catch can twice already, each time draining mostly 4oz of water and gas tiny bit of oil. Time for new spark plugs and probably coilpacks this spring. In the process of the fix I found out my oil filter housing was cracked straight up the back not sure how it happened, but replaced and so far so good.


 So, what was your solution?

sent from tapatalk


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

thygreyt said:


> So, what was your solution?
> 
> sent from tapatalk


 Run a lighter oil, and keep up with cleaning the catchcan, thats my solution. Its been working so far another 200 or so miles today problem free :beer:


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## thygreyt (Jun 7, 2009)

ok!


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## dhenry (Feb 10, 2009)

kevin FaKiN spLits said:


> Run a lighter oil, and keep up with cleaning the catchcan, thats my solution. Its been working so far another 200 or so miles today problem free :beer:


 how often do you have to empty out and clean the catch can?


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

nickbeezy said:


> how often do you have to empty out and clean the catch can?


 It's been about 3-4 days. I'm gonna check it every Friday until it gets warmer out.


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## [email protected] (Jan 2, 2009)

I'm proud to report that the baffle system on our new billet valve cover works exceptionally well. As you can see here, on our blog- when we threw one of these on our shop 2.5L this week, we did it at 11pm and we didn't even have the right parts to put a catch can on it. Soooo, it's been run around all week with NO catch can, and there isn't even any oil residue on the valve cover. 

It uses two layers of baffles with alternating vent holes- which are physically welded into the cover. 

Check it out here: http://www.intengineering.com/intblog/archives/204

We will have them for sale online later tomorrow- otherwise just call us to place an order... The guys are a little backed up with listing products.


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## b1aCkDeA7h (May 27, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> I'm proud to report that the baffle system on our new billet valve cover works exceptionally well. As you can see here, on our blog- when we threw one of these on our shop 2.5L this week, we did it at 11pm and we didn't even have the right parts to put a catch can on it. Soooo, it's been run around all week with NO catch can, and there isn't even any oil residue on the valve cover.
> 
> It uses two layers of baffles with alternating vent holes- which are physically welded into the cover.
> 
> ...


The install on Facebook said you can hook up the stock PCV.. Sounds like a good selling point to me.


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## kevin splits (Aug 23, 2010)

In for price so I know what to sell the one I have for.


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