oil smoke from under hood

[MERVERNATOR]

Ive had a slight smoke issue for quite some time coming from the front of the engine (passenger side) and usually only could see it when coming to a stop after the car was warm. it would smoke a little and then stop once whatever it was had burned off. its usually much more noticable in the winter cause the cold air makes it easier to see. Today it got worse by a lot. doesnt seem to matter if Im idle or at high RPMs. its hard to tell where its coming from because theres no drip or stream of liquid to trace, and the smoke is coming from the very bottom and of course makes it almost impossible to see where its coming from because as it rises, it appears to be coming from everywhere. The car continued to run fine when this started. no loss of power, and the smoke was not coming from the exhaust. was definately from under the hood on the passenger side. the only thing I can think of is maybe the crank seal. about 2 years ago, I did the valve cover gaskets and plug seals. I replaced the oil pressure switch when that developed a leak last year. I did the oil pan gasket kit about a year ago as well. does anyone have any other ideas?

this is a 1994 ATX with 257,000 on it.

thanks in advance for any help or advice you may provide.

 

[MADDOG11]

Slight leak in the power steering pressure hose?

 

[MERVERNATOR]

no, definately oil. put in a quart last night and it was gone after this. I can see oil on the ground where I parked it today.

 

[TankII]

The Oil seal on the Camshaft under the Cam Position Sensor. I need to do the same thing to mine. I'm hardly burning any, just leaking 4-6 quarts in 5K miles...

TankII

 

[dpsutphin]

Had almost the same exact problem. Turned out to be the rear valve cover gasket.

The leak will be hard to see because of all the stuff in the way at the passenger side rear of the engine. You have to get under the car with it idling (prefereably on a lift of course), and shine a light upwards to actually see the leak.

Replacing the gasket isn't too hard, just a lot of stuff to take off to get to it.

 

[MERVERNATOR]

yup

sorry for the ong delay in reply.. been real busy.

my first guess was correct. was the crank seal. Ive been down to it before, so I knew what to expect time wise. drilled a small hole in the old one so I could pick it out without needing to pry against anything. worked well. used a wood block and hammer to tap the new one in.. has been smoke free since I did it. and for once, in a long time.. Ive gone a full week without the friggin oil light coming on.. Im not used to that. lol. I just assumed I was burning a lot, but maybe this thing was leaking in a less obvious way for a long time.... or maybe tomorrow the light will come on. lol.

the old seal was hard as a rock.. brittle and had cracks in the center. you just cant get 258,000 miles out of anything there days can you? ( sarcasim )