So Ive had a pesky oil leak that Ive been chasing for probably 6 months now. At stop lights shortly after startup I would get a burning oil smell and sometimes I would even get smoke coming out from the fenders or up by the windshield wipers. I would also get drips of oil (maybe the size of a quarter per day) on the ground. Well, in troubleshooting this dilemma I replaced my front and rear cam seals and my valve cover gaskets. This cured most of the leaking...replacing the front cam seals got rid of the drips. Well, I thought all was well but I would still get burning oil smell and smoke. Turns out it was the cam seal caps on the back of the motor. I could reach back on the rear of the valve cover and feel the little black plastic cap and could wipe up about a dime sized drip from below it every day. The oil was leaking out of this cap and dripping onto the exhaust. I took it back to my mechanic and over the next 2 months he replaced the caps 3 times and still to no avail. Well, after a little digging here on the site I came across a thread that mentioned replacing the caps on a cold car. It said that if the caps were installed on a warm car and not allowed to seat for 24hrs they would not seal properly and would continually leak. I would always drop my car off to my mechanic in the morning and get it after work...never allowing the caps to seal properly. I told my mechanic this and he said he too had just learned this. I asked him if he had a spare set of caps and he did so he gave them to me and over last weekend I swapped them out, cleaned out the area where they go back in, coated the new caps with a think smear of silicone grease (orange looking stuff...my friend had it) and reinserted them. Well its been 1 week and I have not had a single drip! I really think there is truth to installing the caps on a cold motor and then letting them seat for a good 24hrs before getting the car to operating temp. So if you are having trouble like this, try what I did. It should cure your problem.
FYI, to get the caps out - driver side - remove the coolant tank and move it out of the way, then take a large flat head screwdriver and tap the end with a hammer, denting the cap and then pry it out of the hole. wipe out the hole with a rag and maybe a little carb and choke cleaner on a rag to make sure there is no chunks or debris in there. It just takes a firm press to put the new one back in. pass side - remove the intake hose between the airbox and the throttle body and repeat the same prying procedure. Should only take about 15min for both sides. Good luck all.
FYI, to get the caps out - driver side - remove the coolant tank and move it out of the way, then take a large flat head screwdriver and tap the end with a hammer, denting the cap and then pry it out of the hole. wipe out the hole with a rag and maybe a little carb and choke cleaner on a rag to make sure there is no chunks or debris in there. It just takes a firm press to put the new one back in. pass side - remove the intake hose between the airbox and the throttle body and repeat the same prying procedure. Should only take about 15min for both sides. Good luck all.
