mystery Options

[enderswift]

hey everyone,

my oil pressure light flashed on every time I hit the brakes on my way home today so I knew something was very wrong. Sure enough the dipstick was bone dry. I added roughly two quarts and it still doesn't register oil. So I'm pretty sure my engine has been running on next to nothing for at least a week. I'm pissed

but i dont understand how this could happen. I ALWAYS warm up my car until at least the cold mark, I don't leak oil anywhere, and I dont think i could lose 3 quarts through the valve stem seals... the car does not smoke at all!

anyone ever have something like this happen?

[enderswift]

hey guys I jacked my car up today and did a more thorough inspection of the engine. I found a small oil leak coming from the drivers side near the distributor cap. It looks relatively recent since there is very little of the grime that forms on oil leaks; it looks like someone poured oil on the engine block a week ago or something. Anyway, there is a treaded hole near the distributor that looks like it may be the source:




Is there supposed to be a bolt that threads into this hole??? If not then its probably coming from the gasket. I think that switching to 5w-30 on the last oil change was the main culprit of my disappearing oil. And maybe its working its way past this gasket too. Its just too thin for the tolerances in this engine.



here is a view from underneath the engine:



that same threaded hole is viewed from the side in the middle of this photo (under the distributor). It seems that this leak is originating from there

what is this hole and what threads into it???

This post has been edited by enderswift: Dec 17, 2010 - 12:36 PM