Blowing oil smoke and gas on passenger side above header. Please help disgnose.

**Wakingcrow** · 01-29-2020

As described above, I thought it was the header gasket, so I took the header out which was fully intact, and replaced the gasket. No change whatsoever. I can't see exactly where the smoking gun is because it's behind the engine and the billows are large, but it appears to be right above the header on passenger side. There was oil residue on top of the header heat shield as well if that helps narrow it down. Fuel economy is way down and way too much CO is getting into the cabin and my CO alarm goes off after driving for more than 5 minutes, so I keep getting CO poisoning and it sucks. Please help me diagnose so I can spend another 16 hours of hard labor working on it instead of breathing fumes.

**Scottydoggs** · 01-29-2020

have you had the alt and its bracket off lately? theres a long bolt there, if used in the top hole it breaks the valve cover makes a 2 inch hole in the side of it. will blow oil out the side of it and smoke.

**Wakingcrow** · 01-29-2020

No the alt hasn't been removed in a couple of years after I did water pump and elbows on that side. If it's just a broken valve cover I'll be relieved but also feel like a complete idiot for all the work I put in on the header gasket without even putting in a new header. If I haven't removed it recently could it still be the problem?

**Wakingcrow** · 01-29-2020

I should add that it's been making a ****load of noise since this started which is why I thought it was an exhaust problem. But I guess any leak in the engine housing will cause that.

**Scottydoggs** · 01-29-2020

Originally Posted by Wakingcrow

No the alt hasn't been removed in a couple of years after I did water pump and elbows on that side. If it's just a broken valve cover I'll be relieved but also feel like a complete idiot for all the work I put in on the header gasket without even putting in a new header. If I haven't removed it recently could it still be the problem?

if you did elbows you took the alt and bracket off. if you busted the cover you'll see it asap. just look down at the end where the alt bracket is 1/2 inch away from it.

or the valve cover gasket is leaking really bad. if you take a clean rag and drag it under the bottom of the lip and it comes up coated in oil. thats the gasket leaking.

**bandook** · 01-29-2020

Maybe the egr tube has a big crack in it? Did you look it over real well when you did the manifold? Personally I would smoke it and find the leak. And you can stick a leaf blower up to the tailpipe then feel around for air leaks. Car off obviously. But it is funny how many cars I've seen in the junkyard with a hole in the valve cover, as Scotty said. It's like the long screw through the motherboard on Apple computers.

**Wakingcrow** · 01-30-2020

OH I should have also added that the car keeps stalling since this started a couple weeks ago. It stalls out equally while driving or idling but starts right up as long as the battery is in good charge. Also the elbows and alternator weren't removed for at least 2 years and that is well before the problem developed. I'll take off the alternator tomorrow and look over the valve cover in more detail and hope that's it.
Far as the EGR, that's on the other side from the leak and it is still much intact. Thanks for the comments.

**Scottydoggs** · 01-30-2020

no need to take the alt off. you can see the side of the cover if its broken or not.

the cel lit up? if not scan it running anyways. might have a bad bulb in the cluster and you dont know it, or it may have a pending code.

**Wakingcrow** · 01-31-2020

Engine light not always on but OBD port doesn't work anyway. I want to post some pics but not seeing the option from phone.

**Scottydoggs** · 01-31-2020

replace the power port fuse, cause it and the obd port are on the same fuse.

**Wakingcrow** · 02-05-2020

OK let me try to sum up all the symptoms that all appeared at once, like I should have done to begin with.
- Large amount of unspent gas out coming out, can smell it easily
- Consequent very poor fuel econ and CO still getting into the cabin
- LOUD NOISES! I can hear every piston firing, except when they misfire, and I can hear that too.
- Header had no holes or cracks, and now has new gasket
- Valve cover no cracks or holes, put in new gasket, which did stop the smoking oil problem but not anything else
- Engine light usually blinking on and off, sometimes stays on
- I still don't know how to post pics here.

**Wakingcrow** · 02-05-2020

OK let's try some pics. See if there's anything that needs attention. Looks like major leakage between SC and engine, but I don't know if that's the problem. Looks like it will only let me share 40kb which is about 1/10th of a photo, so here's the onedrive link.
Microsoft services
Thanks for your commentary.

**bandook** · 02-05-2020

I just made a long reply but it disappeared ☹️. My advice is double check spark plugs wiring. Make sure they are in right order. Look for burnt wires. Fix any intake leaks you have. Get the code if you can. I'm most curious about the blowing exhaust you said u had in engine bay. Can u get video?

**Scottydoggs** · 02-05-2020

post a vid of it running. if you smell raw gas it has to be a crack in the fuel line or return line. and for the love of god, clean that engine, its one greasy mess.

heres the firing order, if coils been moved they may not read the right number on them. this is whats what.

**BillBoost37** · 02-06-2020

It's very tough to diagnose a motor that is that dirty for leaks. I'd suggest cleaning it as well.

Is that RTV on the vacuum elbow under the supercharger snout? If so.. I hope it's not cracked with an attempted rtv fix, that could be an issue.

**Wakingcrow** · 02-06-2020

Of course I forgot 2 more things that started at the same time as all of this.
- stalling out while driving, usually only at low rpm.
- cruise control stopped working
Keep in mind that all of this started without me moving anything under the hood except oil and coolant caps for a year.

I don't know how to find a fuel leak. That's the first thing I wanted to look for but the auto shop said they didn't have anything for that. I have some putty I can seal it with if I can find it. What about the loud noises? It's never made this much noise before, like there's a gaping hole or crack somewhere but nowhere that I can see. I'll clean it up and see if anything manifests. Thanks again.

**Scottydoggs** · 02-06-2020

you look for a wet spot, let your nose guide you to the gas smell. no you cant use putty to fix it, its a hi pressure line. you need to cut it off where its leaking and install a dorman repair kitt, has a new quick connect to click on the fuel rail.....those QC's also fail and leak gas. o rings inside fail.

stalling could be anything, from lack of fuel pressure to a large vac leak. dont sound like a crank sensor they stall driving at speed. tack quits working in many cases.

**tomsteve** · 02-07-2020

pic #8- is there a gasket in there between manifold and exhaust? looks like theres quite a gap with no gasket

**tomsteve** · 02-07-2020

could the misfire,poor fuel economy and gas smell all be caused by the same problem? pushin unspent gas out the exhaust?

**bandook** · 02-07-2020

That's why I was thinking he had a plug wire swapped. You'll smell a lot of fuel, it will be down on power but it will still run. It could be a coil acting up,.or something spark related too. Or a big vac leak. He needs to get a video up.

Take a video, make it at least a minute long, and get all angles. Around the top and underneath.