taylorgang

iTrader: (5)

Over the past few days I've been browsing threads related to oil leaks and the effects of e85 on oil.

My oil has been depleting at a somewhat rapid rate (was at top dipstick indicator 2 weeks ago, then at the bottom one last week, and just before I drained the oil tonight it was halfway between the tip of the dip stick and the bottom indicator. At first I thought maybe it was just because cars running on e85 burn through oil really fast, and that e85 thins oil. But over the past 2 weeks I haven't driven the car much, and noticed that the oil was getting lower and lower.

What's odd is that I did NOT drive the car over the last 2 days, yet the dip stick indicated that there was a good amount of oil lost...

Over the past 2 days I have only noticed a few drops of oil under my car (placed a new piece of cardboard under each day to see how much was dripping).

Tonight I jacked the car up and noticed a good amount of oil surrounding the hose in the attached picture. There was also a "puddle" of oil above/on it.

Does anyone know what hose that is?

Also, where else could the oil possibly be going if there aren't many drops on the ground?


Hopefully I gave enough info.
FWIW I last changed my oil about 3k miles/3 months ago and started running e85 about a month ago.



Any help/info regarding oil loss/e85 is welcome!

Thanks!

binky

iTrader: (11)

That is the line going from the oil filter housing to your oil cooler.

Shouldn't be to hard to replace.

*EDIT*
This should give you an idea of what your up against:
http://www.maperformance.com/blog/20...r-kit-install/

Yes, that is MAP's aftermarket oil cooler, however, it shows the line your talking about.



-Bink

WHTEVO

iTrader: (18)

You can replace the washers on the banjo bolt as well. Those hoses aren't super cheap. If you do need one, i bought a new set, put them on, then switched to braided lines for a different oil cooler so i'll sell you mine if you need them. Let me know, good luck.

Aaron

taylorgang

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for the replies guys. Does it look like that hose is just loose?

Is there anywhere else the oil could be going though?

danextreyes7

iTrader: (1)

for the cost might as well just replace it no biggy...93 FTW

binky

iTrader: (11)

No problem

1) Can you give us a mod list

2) What oil you are running?

3) Have you checked your plugs to see how they look?

4) Have you done a compression test?

5) How does your coolant look? What color is it? It it murky?

6) Does the car smoke at all? If so, what color?



-Bink

taylorgang

iTrader: (5)

Binky:

1) Can you give us a mod list
Catless tbe, perrin air filter, gsc s2 cams, pte 1200 injectors, walbro 255, licp, hallman mbc, running on e85.

2) What oil you are running?
At the time, mobil 1 5w30
Not sure what oil is best for e85 but for now I'm going to try amsoil 5w30
To my knowledge, e85 thins oil, so I should run thicker oil, right?

3) Have you checked your plugs to see how they look?
I just put in NGK bpr8es gapped at .020 about 50-100 miles ago - spoolin up COP should be arriving soon...

4) Have you done a compression test?
Not yet... I'm going to do a compression test as well as a leakdown test pretty soon.

5) How does your coolant look? What color is it? It it murky?
Last time I checked it about 2 months ago, it was the normal color (bluish/greenish?)

6) Does the car smoke at all? If so, what color?
No smoke, but when I start the car up in the cold there is a little bit of smoke from the exhaust (pretty normal in cold weather, right?)

Hope that helps?

WHTEVO

iTrader: (18)

I would wash off the area, start the car and visually see where it is coming from. That would be the best bet.

Aaron

binky

iTrader: (11)

I could have sworn the factory fill was 10W-30, but when I looked it up on AMSOIL's site, they said 5W-20 and Mobil One said 5W-30.

I ran Mobil One 10W-30 with the stock turbo for 25K+ miles on the stock motor/turbo, without an issue. Since your on E85 (even with stock turbo), I'd consider running, 10W-30 AMSOIL, with one of their filters.


Anyways,
Definitely check your coolant and confirm that its still a green color. Check the overflow tank and check under the radiator cap. Make sure nothing is discolored or brown'ish / white'ish.

If nothing else, definitely do a compression test. It's relatively easy to do as long as you have the tools. This will give you a good idea of how healthy the motor is.

The car smoking on start up when cold is fine, that's just water vapor. I was just curious if you saw any blue'ish smoke coming out the tail. If you do a WOT pull and look in your rear view mirror, do you see any blue/white smoke?

How did your old plugs look? Any indication oil was on them?


-Bink

taylorgang

iTrader: (5)

Aaron. Great advice! I'll definitely do that once I put new oil into the car.



Well I was going to use 5w30 since it's winter, so I ordered 5w30 from amsoil. But then figured since I'm on e85 I should use a thicker oil. Went to autozone for 10w40 and came back with 10w30.

Thinner oil for winter right? I could run the 5w30 during winter and switch to the 10w30 mobil 1 in spring to see how that is. Good idea?

What oil would be best for cold weather on e85 (low of ~35F in the morning, with high of ~50F)?
Normal weather?

I'm worried my injectors or fuel filter might be clogged up too... I haven't really noticed any problems but my gas mileage/startup were a little funky when I was driving the car.
See : https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...age-10mpg.html

No smoke when WOT. My old plugs looked fine I ran them for about 500 miles and switched them out for the exact same plug (ngk bpr8es) because I was having blowout issues. Found out it was the ignition so I ordered a spoolinup COP

Just checked overflow tank and under radiator cap. Perfectly green. But the fluid is pretty high up under the radiator cap, is that normal? I took a pic if anyone wants to see..

binky

iTrader: (11)

Yeah, good call Aaron.

Yes, you could use a thinner oil in the winter in order to help with a cold start and a thicker oil in the summer due to higher temperatures. I used to switch oils (not in my Evo), but in my SUV in the winter, once the temperatures would hover between -5/0 and 32. For 35 and up I don't see a problem with using the thicker oil, except it may take an extra second to fire up.

As far as the coolant goes, that's a good thing. The fluid being up high is normal.

Based on everything you've said, I bet the overall issue is the oil cooling line.
My theory is when your driving the oil leaks out of the oil cooling line much more rapidly because of the higher oil PSI. At idle it won't leak as much since the oil PSI will be much lower, which explains why you don't see a bunch of oil on the ground where you park.


-Bink

taylorgang

iTrader: (5)

I think I'll fill it with Amsoil 5w30 since it's already being shipped to me. Then maybe change to 10w40 in 3 months and see how that is.

Going to wash off the bottom of the car and see what I can find. I'll post a followup within the next week.

wizzo 8

iTrader: (35)

I would do this first. I had this same looking leak before my build and it was from my head gasket seeping oil. Also check your exhaust manifold studs. They tend to leak also.

taylorgang

iTrader: (5)

You have no clue... I'm too cautious/poor to ignore a problem lol


It's too bad I didn't have better mechanical/skills knowledge, otherwise I'd probably check everything on my car once a month

taylorgang

iTrader: (5)

Just an update...

I cleaned the area a bit last night and just checked again about 24 hrs later.

I noticed that there were oil drips on the end of that same hose.

I think I'm going to try changing the washers on the hose but I'm not sure what size the washers are or where to get them from. Will any washers work?