Oil leak on rebuilt KA

[mutiny]

Ok I'm getting pretty frustrated with this damn car already....

anyways, its a ka24e sohc rebuilt. there is oil leaking somewhere, and i think its leaking from between the head and the timing cover. I cant really trace it, but it seems to be coming from that general area, and possible on both sides of the motor.

but then.... when i look on the ground where the oil puddle is, its milky light brown color, does that mean coolant mixed with oil? So i have 2 problems now? No smoke from exhaust or anything, doesnt overheat i dont think, so im hopefully ruling out bad headgasket?

i redid the front timing cover because i thought that was the problem with a coolant leak before and coolant mixing with oil (i thought the seal between the coolant channel from water pump in timing cover was bad) and made sure to do a good job with permatex gasket around the timing cover, but i started it up and oil is now leaking (oil + coolant im guessing by the look of the oil). Any idea on why the oil looks like that or where it could be leaking from?

[mutiny]

here some pictures... click thumbnail for bigger version

liquid running down timing cover just above oil pump:

running down under oil pan....

oil running down behind timing cover... on block (shiny stuff)

liquid running down opposite side of block, behind alternator under intake manifold:

liquid puddle that dripped off oil pan and stuff....

[nelson8708]

pop the dip stick and see if the oil on it is that color. From the looks of it i would say that is coolant and oil. Hard to say where it is coming from with out seeing it in person.

[assassin7420]

Congrats sir, You now have a milk shake maker for an oil pan!

If you want to rule out the headgasket just do a compression test.

[junkyard240]

doing a compression test doesnt necessarily mean that you will find its a bad head gasket. you can have good compression and oil and coolantleaking out the sides. ive found that the front oil feed to the head (which is plugged off in the block) can leak. especially after machining is done. it is located at the front of the block just behind the upper timing cover. as for the coolant, you may have a leak near there as well. such as where the intake manifold bolts to the head on the right side. they are near each other and must have a machine finish to seal properly.

[mutiny]

From what I can tell, I don't think anything is leaking out from between the head and block.... but its so hard to see through all the mess around the power steering pump/intake manifold. Also, it only leaks after running the motor, not while sitting cold.... so it could be something that leaks under pressure?

I'll check the dipstick when I get home to see if coolant is actually mixing with oil, but do you think that milky stuff could be just leftover from the last oil change that coolant actually did mix? I'm thinking maybe the seal between the front of the head and timing cover could be bad.... and timing chain tensioner squirting oil? I can't think of any other oil galleys or anything in that area that would force oil out the motor....

Should I remove the power steering pump and try running the motor like that?

[240sxmech]

on the inside of the timing chain cover they get were marks from the chain causing coolant to leak into the oil remove front cover and inspect the backside were the water pump is .as for your leak probably coming from corner of front cover were it meets the head gasket have to really seal that area good

[mutiny]

timing cover is fine, guides are pretty much new since rebuild.... i dont think the chain has eaten through the water port in the cover when it hasnt even left the driveway lol.

what is spraying oil towards the top of the timing cover to cause it to leak out both sides of the timing cover? (Actually im just assuming that its leaking on the driver side, i need to wipe up the oil, and run the engine again to see if its actually seeping out. ill do that tomorrow if i can find the time)

as for the coolant mixing with oil.... if its not a hole in the timing cover water port, what else would introduce coolant into the oil? blown headgasket?

are iron blocks known for cracking? i mean has anyone ever heard of a cracked ka?

[mutiny]

any input would be appreciated

heres the source....:

any ideas why coolant would be mixing? I checked the dipstick and it isnt that color.... but the car is kinda sloped upwards maybe the coolant in the oil pan could be in the bottom and dipstick is only reaching the top/front of oil pan.

i should just throw this motor away already aaaaaaaa

[mutiny]