Oil on Header Gaskets

[TxDave89]

When pulling my header off to heat wrap, I noticed engine oil on the gaskets. I've had this header on for about 6 months (Tomei UEL), and the amount of oil seems a little excessive for blow-by. The oil is definitely coming from inside, there are no leaks to be found. I'd take photos but I already cleaned them before thinking about it. I've searched the forums and see that it could be leaking past the valves or piston rings. Has anyone else had this issue resolved? I'd like to identify the most likely point of failure before taking things apart. I'm just shy of 78k miles.

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[humfrz]

Originally Posted by TxDave89

When pulling my header off to heat wrap, I noticed engine oil on the gaskets. I've had this header on for about 6 months (Tomei UEL), and the amount of oil seems a little excessive for blow-by. The oil is definitely coming from inside, there are no leaks to be found. I'd take photos but I already cleaned them before thinking about it. I've searched the forums and see that it could be leaking past the valves or piston rings. Has anyone else had this issue resolved? I'd like to identify the most likely point of failure before taking things apart. I'm just shy of 78k miles.

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Hello TxDave89 and welcome to our forum -

Do you have a forced induction unit on your car?

How did you conclude the oil was coming from the inside? Is the inside of the head and the inside of the header oily?

Since the engine is OHV and OH cams, I doubt that much oil could be sneaking past the valve guides.

If the oil rings were letting that much oil past, your car would look like a smoke bomb while its running.

OK, who else has some thoughts??


humfrz

[TxDave89]

I'm NA, and there has never been FI on this motor. I believe it's coming from the inside because there is no oil externally anywhere. The only place I'm seeing oil is on the manifold gasket, and the mating surface of the head and header. I ran my finger around the inside of the head and didn't notice any oil, my assumption was that it burned off and was expelled through the exhaust. I have noticed a little smoke during warm-up and the first few minutes of driving, but nothing crazy. I've also noticed a little oil consumption (less than a quart every 5000 miles), but from what I've read I believe that is normal for these motors.

I'm going to compression test just to be sure, but after struggling to change the spark plugs on this thing, I'm really not looking forward to it.

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