Oil leak from back of engine block

[crazy-asian]

I noticed a bit of an oil leak coming from the back of the engine block. It's coming from what appears to be a plug/valve of some sort. In the image below, the yellow stick is touching the problem area. I have no idea what this thing is called or what it does, so any insight as to it's name or function would be helpful.

It's located on/near the back right corner when facing the engine block, and is almost directly beneath the radiator overflow tank.

There is another on the opposite side of the engine, and it also is leaking oil.

EDIT: Now with less blurry photo

Additional information or photos can be provided upon request.

[walky_talky20]

I'm guessing this is a 2.8 30V.

I believe that is just the cover for the exhaust manifold. Most likely you just have the very common leak from the valve cover gaskets. They leak down onto the manifolds and make a burning oil smell. Generally you do the VC gaskets, cam chain tensioner gaskets, and cam plugs all at the same time to take care of all the common 30V oil leaks. You also want to make sure your PCV system is in good working order as that can cause leaks as well. Generally this all needs done around 100k miles. I often recommend it is done at timing belt service time.

The above is going off 1 extrememly blurry photo where I don't even see any oil leaking. So take from that what you will.

[crazy-asian]

I'm guessing this is a 2.8 30V.

I believe that is just the cover for the exhaust manifold. Most likely you just have the very common leak from the valve cover gaskets. They leak down onto the manifolds and make a burning oil smell. Generally you do the VC gaskets, cam chain tensioner gaskets, and cam plugs all at the same time to take care of all the common 30V oil leaks. You also want to make sure your PCV system is in good working order as that can cause leaks as well. Generally this all needs done around 100k miles. I often recommend it is done at timing belt service time.

The above is going off 1 extrememly blurry photo where I don't even see any oil leaking. So take from that what you will.

Sorry, I should have specified which engine this is, but you are correct.

The oil leak is not coming from the valve cover gaskets, as those have already been replaced. The leak starts from the bottom of this plug, thing, and continues down onto the exhaust manifold. Due to the position that the camera is in, you won't see any oil, but if you were to get a flexscope behind/underneath the plug, you see oil.

Also, edited photo is uploaded to provide emphasis on what I'm talking about.

[howardfootball]

Cam plugs?

[walky_talky20]

^If the VC gaskets were replaced, I'm thinking it may be the cam plugs.

There is one on the back of each head:


You can get a better look with a mirror:

[crazy-asian]

No, it's not the cam plug. The item I circled in my original post is the source of the leak. When a mirror is set up, I can clearly see that it is the source of the leak.

[crazy-asian]

I took a better picture. Significantly less blurry

[howardfootball]

It is less blurry but take a picture of the leak from farther back so we know where in the bay your pointing.

[walky_talky20]

He's pointing to the outside edge, at the rear of the driver's side cylinder head.

OP: Firstly, nice work on the better photo. That plug you are pointing to is part of the exhaust manifold. I believe it is a test port for emissions or a port for EGR that we didn't get, or something. In any case, I really don't think the oil is coming out of it, but rather dripping onto it from an oil leak on the cylinder head. This can be VC gasket, cam plug, or possibly the rear cam seal for the intake cam. That thing is directly in the drip-zone for oil coming off the corner of the head.

You just need to get a small mirror-on-a-stick, a flash light, and go to town. Look up under that edge of the head, around back, etc. You should be able to see what's going on.

[crazy-asian]

while we're on the topic of this test port thing, should it be tightened down all the way? or slightly undone like mine is?

[walky_talky20]

I would assume it should be tightened to a particular torque spec. It probably shouldn't be loose. Here's a better photo of the manifold that shows this thing:

[crazy-asian]

Thank you for that last image Walky. We cleaned the engine and let it idle for a bit, and it started smoking. Got a mirror in behind the engine and it's not coming from the cam plug. Me and my dad can't seem to find a source if the leak.

[crazy-asian]

Also, it is not coming from the valve covers