Foaming oil leaking from the "top", i.e. dipstick and elsewhere

[far raf]

Hi,

Found a new oil leak on the driveway and checked oil level, but cannot see where it is, as the entire dipstick tube is filled with oil which has lots of tiny air bubbles. Not really foam-foam, but still bubbling a lot. Nothing like "milk shake" where antifreeze mixed it - oil is dark but clear.

I have 110k on the engine and it runs strong, quiet and with good gas mileage.

The last tank of gas had a can of Seafoam added. Could Seafoam cause that? The oil change is due and I will be changing oil tonight anyway, was just curious if anyone had the same issue. The tank of gas is almost empty too.

Thank you!

[centralcoaster33]

Seafoam could do that if you had bad rings or a blown head gasket. Where you flooring it every now and then to sort of clean out the intake? See if oil smells like gas at all. Do your flush and buy gas if you like. I think you should plan for a compression test real soon, maybe tomorrow?

[PoMansVan]

Does the engine run well? Is the check engine light on? Regardless, I'd do an oil/filter change and monitor.

[far raf]

Found the root cause while changing oil last night: it was the damaged gasket under the front VTC solenoid.
The oil leaked when the engine was running only. Ordered the gasket, replacing tomorrow.

[centralcoaster33]

I'm not sure where that gasket is. Can intake air be on one side and oil on the other? If not, I'd look into it further. Like, if you replace this seal and then put seafoam in the tank again, would your oil bubble up or not?

[far raf]

This gasket is under the front VTC solenoid. You can see it under the front passenger side corner of engine cover, right near the timing chain housing. I guess it is sucking in a bit of air through the crack in the gasket and foaming oil.

[centralcoaster33]

Okay, well hopefully being able to see it means it will be relatively easy to replace. I guess it was just a coincidence that you had seafoam in the tank at the time. I'm glad you found your culprit. At least gaskets are cheap!

[far raf]

Not sure now. I replaced the gasket this morning and when checking oil level it was absolutely normal, no foaming anymore. This is only 3 days after the oil change, so it is inconclusive what contributed more - the broken gasket or Seafoam.

Almost got burned by the dealership. I ordered the gasket 2 days ago and was told it would be available yesterday afternoon. I show up first thing in the morning today and it is not there. When I complain, the salesperson goes into the back to check their stock and comes back saying "I have them!". So he sold me the gasket for $3.50 which I ordered for $12. They had it in stock all along. The other salesperson who took the order did not even bother checking the stock.

[centralcoaster33]

Stealerships have weird pricing systems. They differ dealership to dealership, online to in shop and everything in between. I'm glad you got the better price this time.