Minor oil leak

[ToddS1971]

Discovered a minor oil leak around the PCV valve, kinda where the intake and head meet. I thought valve cover gaskets, but saw a YouTube video of a guy who had a leak in the same area and it was the intake itself and not the valve cover gasket. Any quick fix/band aid ideas instead of pulling the intake off? I really don’t want to do that, but if I have to I have to. It’s a very slow leak. I check oil fairly often and it took 2800 miles since last oil change for it to be half quart low. And some of that half quart may not have been this leak, could be burning a slight amount, truck has 189k.

 

[Wild one]

Discovered a minor oil leak around the PCV valve, kinda where the intake and head meet. I thought valve cover gaskets, but saw a YouTube video of a guy who had a leak in the same area and it was the intake itself and not the valve cover gasket. Any quick fix/band aid ideas instead of pulling the intake off? I really don’t want to do that, but if I have to I have to. It’s a very slow leak. I check oil fairly often and it took 2800 miles since last oil change for it to be half quart low. And some of that half quart may not have been this leak, could be burning a slight amount, truck has 189k.

Check your intake manifold bolts

This hasn't been talked about for awhile,but check your intake manifold bolts.They call for 108 in-lbs or roughly 9 ft-lbs of torque,and they should be checked at least yearly,as they do loosen up. I've been doing mine at least twice a year on all 3 of of my hemi equipped vehicles.They should be...

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[Wild one]

Discovered a minor oil leak around the PCV valve, kinda where the intake and head meet. I thought valve cover gaskets, but saw a YouTube video of a guy who had a leak in the same area and it was the intake itself and not the valve cover gasket. Any quick fix/band aid ideas instead of pulling the intake off? I really don’t want to do that, but if I have to I have to. It’s a very slow leak. I check oil fairly often and it took 2800 miles since last oil change for it to be half quart low. And some of that half quart may not have been this leak, could be burning a slight amount, truck has 189k.

If you end up pulling the intake,it's easier to disconnect the brake booster hose at the brake booster,then it is to get it pulled off the nipple on the back side of the manifold.I'd also pull the engine cover off and run it through your local coin-op carwash and wash the hell out of the top end of the engine,it's alot better to start with most of the dirt gone.A rag soaked in brake clean or laquer thinner helps to wipe out the intake ports,as there's a good chance they'll be a bit grimy,also wouldn't hurt to wash the inside of the manifold out when you have it off

 

[ToddS1971]

Thanks wild one for the intake bolt check. I’ll do that this coming weekend.

 

[Wild one]

Thanks wild one for the intake bolt check. I’ll do that this coming weekend.

They're something i check every oil change as they have a habit of losing torque.I usually use a 5/16's or 8mm nutdriver to check them,if i can twist a couple of the easy to get at ones,out comes the 1/4" ratchet /extension and 5/16's socket,and i tighten all of them,you can use a torque wrench if you want,but i'm old school and usually tighten most smaller bolts by hand

 

[Daw14]

Once when adding oil during a change , I got sloppy and slightly missed the hole .
This later caused me to freak out , when I saw oil dripping from my exhaust pipe crossover.
Of course I thought something was leaking , it had been a few days since the oil change.
So I got out a mirror ,then the scope camera to look for the source.
Needless to say after several minutes, it became clear that I had no leak.

 

[ToddS1971]

Yep…every intake bolt was a little loose. Not loose enough to turn by my bare fingers, but I gave em all about a half a turn…until it gave what I thought was about 8lbs resistance.

 

[Wild one]

Yep…every intake bolt was a little loose. Not loose enough to turn by my bare fingers, but I gave em all about a half a turn…until it gave what I thought was about 8lbs resistance.

Technically they call for 108 inch-lbs or roughly 9 ft-lbs,but 8 is close enough.If you take a look through the linked thread above Red has the torque sequence posted Todd

 

[Hemi395]

The intake bolts definitely loosen over time, I have a slight seep on my passengers head from the intake gasket. Probably looking at a new intake gasket set soon but I also found several bolts had loosened on that side.

One thing I have started to do yearly is back each bolt off and then torque it down to 108 in/lbs in the tightening sequence. Due to the nature of my environment being near the coast, corrosion is always a problem and this helps with tare torque.

 

[Wild one]

The intake bolts definitely loosen over time, I have a slight seep on my passengers head from the intake gasket. Probably looking at a new intake gasket set soon but I also found several bolts had loosened on that side.

One thing I have started to do yearly is back each bold off and then torque it down to 108 in/lbs in the tightening sequence. Due to the nature of my environment being near the coast, corrosion is always a problem and this helps with tare torque.

That's a good idea Cory.That used to be fairly common on head bolts in the days before TTY head bolts,torque the head bolts to spec,let sit overnight,then back them off and retorque to the proper values.
I've wondered if it might be something that'd work on the newer head bolts,but only torque them to the 45lb-ft spec,let them sit overnight,back them off ,then retorque to 45 and then give them the 90 degree final torque