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Need help figuring out where my oil leak is coming from. Its coming from above the sump gasket so I don't believe its that. Its running down the fins of both heads and drips off the bottom of the heads near the exhaust ports. It's not the valve cover gaskets because I made sure they were sealed. The only thing I can think it might be is head gaskets. I looked over the sump gasket seam and it looks good and dry. Should I just start tearing off the heads? What else could it be?

Looks more like Rocker cover gasket leakage.

Anything oil on the top side of the valve cover?

All the cooling fins on the block clean?

StarTech said:

Looks more like Rocker cover gasket leakage.

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Its not coming from the rocker cover / valve cover.

Do I see a loose connection at the exhaust and head?

MParr said:

Do I see a loose connection at the exhaust and head?

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It looks that way in the pic but it was tight and there was no exhaust leak that I noticed.

How do you tell if the heads are cracked? I pulled the heads and it looks like it's coming from the middle of the heads. I would think the only place you would have an oil leak in the head would be in the rocker valve area or the oil passages going from the block to the head in the head gasket. You should not get an oil leak from the air or exhaust passages in the head.

These pics were taken looking upward from the bottom of the head.

sdnomad said:

Its not coming from the rocker cover / valve cover.

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Then you should be using some UV tracer dye to find the leak.

The chances of both heads being cracked at the same location at the same time are slim and none. I would be looking higher on the engine like between the ignition modules side of the engine.

Do as startech says.
Use a UV tracer in your motor's oil.

You can get a Automotive store. Review on-line how to use first.
Be sure and get the correct type for motor oil. (not for water, antifreeze, freon, etc)
Do not let the UV dry for long time once detected use the uv remover immediately because it will be permanent dye when going back to confirm no leak later.
I've had to use black matte spray paint over old dried dye to cover up the first dye test to confirm that I had fixed the original leak.

I'll get it cleaned up and pick up some UV dye and a black light and see what's going on.

Do as startech says.
Use a UV tracer in your motor's oil.

You can get a Automotive store. Review on-line how to use first.
Be sure and get the correct type for motor oil. (not for water, antifreeze, freon, etc)
Do not let the RV dry for long time once detected because it will be permanent dye when going back to confirm no leak later.
I've had to use black matte spray paint over old dried dye to confirm that I had fixed the original leak

Doubt it's warped enough that it's the heads/block.
Those use the thicker type head gasket. If it's the head gasket on both it's probly not been torqued in the proper sequence.

You can check a head by lapping on a piece of glass, usually

How long do you run the engine with UV dye to find the leak? Do you run for a certain length of time or just until you see fresh oil dripping? It was dripping after running 1 minute.

Not seeing a reason to buy UV dye.

Do see several reasons to clean those oil/grit/dirt/grass lined/insulated cooling fins before you toss a valve or other engine damage occurs.

Once the engine is CLEAN, that will help you locate the leak.

slomo said:

Not seeing a reason to buy UV dye.

Do see several reasons to clean those oil/grit/dirt/grass lined/insulated cooling fins before you toss a valve other engine damage occurs.

Once the engine is CLEAN, that will help you locate the leak.

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Well in a shop setup it makes finding the true source of the leak a lot faster. Besides you can make a false find without it. Recently had a horizontal shaft engine leaking oil that appeared to be the crankshaft seal behind the flywheel. I almost pull the shroud and flywheel but instead went the UV dye route first. The oil leak wasn't even where it appeared to be. It was the oil fill cap leaking and the engine fan was sucking it up around the flywheel.

The last 1 oz dye bottles were 4.40 ea and I use only a 1/2 oz per engine so for me it is well worth it. Now of course the local 374CS is around $10 per oz.. Still even at this price it is worth it Now you would need a 365 nM light source. A pet urine strain UV won't cut it as it is around 400 nM.

Now of course I use the UV light here for counterfeit bill detection too to see the different color strips.

I even use it to find Hydro leaks.

I put the dye in and ran it. It looks like it is coming from the head gaskets. I don't see where it could be coming from anything else in that area. It must be the way the air circulates that it pushes the majority of the leak towards the block and away from the head gasket. The two cooling fins past the head gasket have dye up in between them on both cylinders. The head gaskets between the heads and block are wet but most of the oil and dye is dripping behind the gaskets between the next two cooling fins on the block. I'll do what I can to check if there is anything warped and install new head gaskets.

New head gaskets fixed it. Thanks to all for the help!

Looks like the dye worked. Nice job.

Strange that both were leaking.

Engine must have been excessively hot or the previous gaskets were not torqued in proper sequence and to torque specs or someone previously removed the heads and re-installed using the old gaskets.

Head gaskets are pricy now days and some/most are China type.

Another trick is to lightly coat the area with flour. It is magnify the leak spot.

sdnomad said:

Need help figuring out where my oil leak is coming from. Its coming from above the sump gasket so I don't believe its that. Its running down the fins of both heads and drips off the bottom of the heads near the exhaust ports. It's not the valve cover gaskets because I made sure they were sealed. The only thing I can think it might be is head gaskets. I looked over the sump gasket seam and it looks good and dry. Should I just start tearing off the heads? What else could it be?

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Looks like an exhaust gasket is bad.

sdnomad said:

Need help figuring out where my oil leak is coming from. Its coming from above the sump gasket so I don't believe its that. Its running down the fins of both heads and drips off the bottom of the heads near the exhaust ports. It's not the valve cover gaskets because I made sure they were sealed. The only thing I can think it might be is head gaskets. I looked over the sump gasket seam and it looks good and dry. Should I just start tearing off the heads? What else could it be?

Click to expand...

Have you checked the head to see if it is flat. It could be warped. Also check the block.

problem was solved.