Headgasket oil seepage?

[Gary - K7GLD]

I have a small oil seepage at the front of my Cummins, passenger side, #1 cylinder area - it's nothing to get terribly excited about, and there are no other symptoms of gasket leakage ie, no water in oil, oil in water, etc. Dunno if it's been doing it for a while, or if it's connected with an overheating session that occured immediately prior to my first noticing it...



In examining photos of engines with the head removed, I see there isn't much but what appears to be a major oil return chamber/gallery running between the head and block in the area of my seepage - anyone else have this problem?

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

HMMmmmm - from the thundrous silence, I guess my oil seepage is NOT too common... wonder what caused mine... WAY too much hassle to fix, in relation to the small amount of seepage, guess it'll have to wait 'til it needs a valve grind or something...

 

[R.E. Miller]

Sorry about the quiet here Gary, I have been really busy and have not had much time to play TDR tag My w-350 dump had the common head warp/gasket leak around the thermostat housing when I first got it. Cummins Power Systems fixed it with a new gasket, but I have never seen or heard of oil leaks there. My valve cover gaskets are leaking which makes a mess in that area, but that does look different.



What amount of boost are you hitting these days, you know with that bar"B"que gas flowin' and the fuel up the way you do? Just curious, because I just got my 12cm^2 housings today More fun!

Good luck,

Russell

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Russell, my turbo is the stock unit - ran about 22 lbs max before the Banks intercooler, about 20 with it... Yeah, since there is apparently nothing adjacent to the oil seepage that provides any pressure, dunno why THAT spot should seep oil... Guess I should count my blessings - the seepage is just enough to keep the block ledge wet with oil, and a small trickle down the side of the block if I don't clean it off ocassionally - no real problem, just a curiosity. It's definitely coming from the head gasket - all other surrounding surfaces and the exhaust from #1 cylinder directly above it are perfectly clean... And, I haven't turned the stock injector pump up all that much - about a quarter turn on the star wheel, same on the smoke adjustment.



LOTS of room for MO POWER!

 

[Demon Dodge]

I had a water seepage problem on mine. I could see a trail down block at about cyl #4. I bought all the new gaskets and pulled the head. When I loosened the head bolts they were way low on torque but i changed the head gasket anyway. You may be able to just retorque the head and solve your problem. Just a suggestion.