Oil in Engine bay
 

Hey 86 knowledge base!

I was squirrel-protecting my engine bay today and noticed a scary sight... a pool of engine oil under my air intake! Im puzzled by how it got there and it looked pretty old, a bit dark and dust-infused. Pics here:

https://i.ibb.co/XW5VrBv/20210315-155557.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/D9Gn36Z/20210315-155018.jpg


After absorbing it all out with a paper towel I saw that the hole goes nowhere, straight down to a metal casing.

So an empty hole and inch of thread for what purpose, what goes in this hole, and more importantly why was there oil in it??

Thanks in advance!

It's a threaded hole used for fixing appropriate engine hangers when removing the engine assembly from the engine bay and is right next to the main oil gallery plug/hole.

Source of the oil?

There could be a hairline crack or something similiar in the threaded hole/short block and since it's right on the top of the oil gallery, there could be some oil seeping out -> clean the hole and close it with a suitable plug (sadly, I don't know the size/pitch of the thread) and examine if it solves the oil contamination.

Or a wrench monkey played around your engine bay and contaminated this area with an oily residue :)

Perfect thanks for the clarification!!! Ill keep an eye on the area now.

Sloppy oil change?

Clean it up and keep an eye on it. Probably come back again in 7,500km

Ive owned the car a year, ive been in the engine bay a few times looking around, and never noticed it before. Ive only driven it 2800 miles and about to do my first oil change, so I dont think so? Itd be hard to believe that little pool of wtness has been there for a year lol

Although, until recently I havent had a need to inspect every inch for damage, so maybe its always been there. Im hoping youre right haha

That would be a hell of a sloppy oil change considering how far that hole is away from the filler neck and filter. Could have had some other work done that left that oil behind though. Oil trapped in a spot like that could easily last a year. It doesn’t evaporate like water. Get some degreaser in there and wash it out and I bet it doesn’t come back.

"Right now", I was going to say that oil in the engine bay is a good start..