Oil leak...from where???

I've got a small oil leak on my '95 series 1. I noticed it about 2 weeks ago, cleaned it up, and then drove it for 1 week (750 miles) and checked it again. It looked like oil was seeping past the #3 injector, but that didn't make sense because I didn't think the injector would be exposed to engine oil, but I changed the injector o-rings anyway. Again I cleaned it up nicely and drove for another week. There is still a small puddle of oil forming between the #1 and #3 injector bosses and a very small amount between the #3 and #5 injectors on the intake manifold.

I am puzzled as to where the oil is coming from. Can it be from the SC base? I would think that would only cause an intake vacuum leak, not an oil leak. The joint between the cyl head and valve cover looks to be dry, but I can't think of any other sources. Any ideas???
Otherwise the engine is basically spotless, has 104,000 miles, and get drives 750+ miles/week. I hate oil leaks
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Nice clean engine!
I would think V/C gasket to end up with oil there?

i had the same problem a couple weeks ago. i changed out the valve cover gaskets and problem solved. also went in there and changed the manifiold gaskets,valley gaskets,and s/c gasket. all good!

Thanks! I'll torque the VC bolts and see if that helps. If not, then it time for new gaskets. Is the series 1 affected by the recall? Maybe I should get the newer style gaskets, if available.

i didnt know anyting about a recal? i got mine from gmpartsdirect. they were the plastic kind with blue gasket sealant built in. btw the old ones ,even though they were 110000 miles old, didnt look that bad. no melting or anything like that. but they were leaking.

btw. if your going to change out the valve gaskets, why dont you just do a whole upper engine gasket exchange? s/c, valve, manifold, valley, throttle. dont forget the two little yellow coolant o-rings that go underneath the supercharger. if you dont ask for them ,they wont send em! set aside a weekend to do it. you can do it in a day if you really get at it. but i took my time,and it came out pretty good! dont forget the permatex black gasket maker on the valley gaskets in the corners! the manifold gasket kit comes with them! they are blue.

oh and...change out the injector o-rings while youre at it! shop around for best prices. the o- rings you can get them at A.Z for around 15.00 bucks.

My GM parts guy explained the O-rings are treated with a coating that keeps gasoline from degrading the rubber. Price is $59.99. Do you think the Autozone O-ring kit has this coating?

AA wrote:

My GM parts guy explained the O-rings are treated with a coating that keeps gasoline from degrading the rubber. Price is $59.99. Do you think the Autozone O-ring kit has this coating?

sounds like dealer b.s.
ZZP sells those for like $5. Apparently they are just as good. I dont konw personally. I ones I just put in were the dealer rape-me orings I bought a year or so ago.

i dont know AA? from the pics at A.Z online they look like a different color? stock are green. A.Z, black. unfortunatly i reused my old ones. its one of those little things i usually forget. but after inspecting them,and lubing em up real good , they worked. no fuel seepage or odor. next week sometime, im going to change out the s/c coupler and bearings,and then ill order the o rings from A.Z . i hope they work. i used aftermarket o-rings when i serviced my old legend injectors,and not a problem.

I just changed the injector o-rings. I believe they were about $10 at A-Z. They are reddish-brown in color, which really doesn' mean anything. The stockers were green. The material is most likely Viton, a fuel resistant material. Its more $$$ than the buna material that "standard" o-rings are made from, but not that much more $$$. Wholesale cost of an o-ring that size would be less than a quarter each.
I'm gonna stick with just changing out the valve cover gaskets for now. You know, if it aint broke....

blackbart95 wrote:

I just changed the injector o-rings. I believe they were about $10 at A-Z. They are reddish-brown in color, which really doesn' mean anything. The stockers were green. The material is most likely Viton, a fuel resistant material. Its more $$$ than the buna material that "standard" o-rings are made from, but not that much more $$$. Wholesale cost of an o-ring that size would be less than a quarter each.
I'm gonna stick with just changing out the valve cover gaskets for now. You know, if it aint broke....

when I had oil sitting in my manifold like that, I changed my valve cover gaskets and it didnt help. it may be the intake gasket leaking. the oil can leak from the edge of where the intake meets the block.

Clean it all up good and include a good wipe across the bottom of the valve cover. Drive again and then you should be able to narrow it down to the LIM or valve cover gasket. Both are good suspects.

With all the reports of fuel fires related to O-ring failure, I spent the $59.99 on the OEMs. So far, my car hasn't burst into flames yet. It's just a choice I made. You can use the cheaper ones if you wish.

It wasn't dealer BS, either. I had a friend who worked at the dealer parts counter (owner of modded GTP). I showed him the cheap ones at ZZP and asked why the price difference. He didn't know, but told me he'd look it up. Called me back a few hours later with the answer. Josh never let me down before. I was a long-time customer with him. There was no reason to BS me about this.

Coatings can and do make a difference, and they aren't cheap when applied.

Bill and Aaron, do you know if the Felpro o-rings would be OEM equivalents, or the cheaper ones? Bill, these are the ones you tossed in with the injectors.

Dave, I looked around, and couldn't find any real evidence that there is a coating, or that a coating is needed. Viton material is supposed to stand up to fuel and heat pretty well. Could be they fed me some BS, but I don't think it was delivered with the intention to deceive. Might be they were misinformed. The cheaper ones are probably ok if they are made of Viton.

The strangest thing has happened. I drove to work and back today (~150 miles). I didn't clean up the oil puddle that is pictured. I just left it there to see how bad it would get by the end of the week. Well, I opened the hood after letting the car sit for about 30 minutes and...no puddle of oil. It looked and felt dry. The manifold was discolored and stained, but no puddle of oil. I will check it tomorrow morning when cold to see if a puddle has formed.
BTW, the pics of the oil puddle were taken with the engine cold after it had sat w/o running for 2 days.

AA wrote:

Dave, I looked around, and couldn't find any real evidence that there is a coating, or that a coating is needed. Viton material is supposed to stand up to fuel and heat pretty well. Could be they fed me some BS, but I don't think it was delivered with the intention to deceive. Might be they were misinformed. The cheaper ones are probably ok if they are made of Viton.

I can't find any info online that tells what the Felpro o-rings are made of, and the package does not say either. They sell at about $7 per set of 4 at autopartswarehouse, about $25 to get a dozen. Less than $6 for a dozen at rockauto, who has the ACDelco complete kit for $59.

robotennis61 wrote:

i dont know AA? from the pics at A.Z online they look like a different color? stock are green. A.Z, black. unfortunatly i reused my old ones. its one of those little things i usually forget. but after inspecting them,and lubing em up real good , they worked. no fuel seepage or odor. next week sometime, im going to change out the s/c coupler and bearings,and then ill order the o rings from A.Z . i hope they work. i used aftermarket o-rings when i serviced my old legend injectors,and not a problem.

Viton material is frequently green, though not always. We sell a lot of viton gaskets and o-rings at work, and they can be green, brown or black. The brown ones always smell like cinammon.

ok. wish i could afford the oem ones. but to be honest,the o-rings i bought for my legend were around $40 bucks. maybe they were viton rubber. couldnt say,that was around 8 years ago. ran them until 04 without a prob. the originals started to weep a little.

Should add, the AC Delco o-ring kit includes 2 other larger o-rings, not sure where they are used though. I'm sure someone here knows.

They seal the fuel pressure regulator on the fuel rail.

MOVED TO: SERIES I TECH

I have an oil leak too, with only 60K miles on the car. I thought it was coming from the drain plug because it was dripping around it. Changed it out and still leaking. I've looked all around the oil pan, used a mirror and light and looked around as much of the valve cover gaskets and the intake manifold and all I can see is a very light old dirty film around the valve covers and intake. But still my car marks it spot wherever I park. about the size of a typical beer coaster in 24 hours.

When I got mine we had to have the valve cover gaskets and the oil pan gasket replaced. It only had 48k on it so that probably means it sat a lot which gave the gaskets time to harden.

QAGuy1 wrote:

I have an oil leak too, with only 60K miles on the car. I thought it was coming from the drain plug because it was dripping around it. Changed it out and still leaking. I've looked all around the oil pan, used a mirror and light and looked around as much of the valve cover gaskets and the intake manifold and all I can see is a very light old dirty film around the valve covers and intake. But still my car marks it spot wherever I park. about the size of a typical beer coaster in 24 hours.

Drain plug is the low point so any oil would run that direction. I'm sure that my leak is under the plastic that covers the driver side of the pan.