Hi guys, I have again the oil leak

It's the same problem I had 18 days back, here is my post:

And the picture of the first leak: http://s21.postimage.org/qnkkcxd0n/Oil_leak.jpg

After two weeks, dealer came to the conclusion the PCV valve on the top cover of the engine was stuck and changed it. I got the car and was running perfectly, just some random blueish/white smoke when running over 4,000 rpm, but very very rarely, I thought it was some oil that was still on the engine or tubes when I had the first oil split.

Today I went with my little brother to buy some food and when I was arriving at home saw again a lot of white smoke coming from the engine bay . Shut down, opened the hood to check and .... oil... everywhere again, the oil dipstik was lose and look's like everything came out from there.

Here are some pictures:





Not sure was wrong, maybe it's another stuck PCV valve? Or the OCC is bad installed?

By the way, I cleaned today the OCC, there wasn't too much oil and didn't use the car after reinstalling it, until a few minutes back when I had the problem, so I think it could be the catch. I'll check tomorrow that, remove the OCC, fill the car with oil again and run without the OCC. Does someone had a similar problem?

 

I would say you have an issue with your crank case vent system and you are actually getting boost pressure in the crank case which is causing the dipstick to be pushed out. It's hard to believe that all of that oil was pushed out of the dipstick tube! The oil level is not overfilled is it? Crank case pressure is checked with a manometer at the oil fill cap. The crank case vent valve if working correctly should keep a pretty consistent pressure of aprox. 38 Millibar. In other words there should be a very light vacuum on the oil fill cap with the engine running. If it is very difficult to remove the cap, the crank case vent valve has failed. The vent valve is integrated into the cylinder head cover and can not be replaced separately. I'm not sure if the engine modifications you have made would cause this condition or not, BOV or catch can?

 

No, the oil level was fine, I check it every weekend (specially after reading all the timming chain problems and related to low oil). The dealer already changed the crank case 5 days ago, when I had the first oil leak.

I was wondering if there is another PCV valve in the following circle:



I'll also tomorrow remove where I put the number 1 and blow air through the hole, to check the OCC is ok and the rest of the tube.

 

The part you have circled is not a valve. It is a heater for the crank case vent hose in order to prevent icing at the inlet of the hose. If you disconnect the hoses at the junction you marked as one, and blow air into the hose connected to the valve cover, you should find that you either can not pass any or very little air in that direction as there is a flapper valve that prevents air flow in that direction. You should have full flow when blowing towards the catch can. Your crank case vent valve was only replaced if your entire cylinder head cover was replaced.

 

Yep, the dealer changed the entire cylinder head cover.
I'll blow toward the catch can. After cleaning most of the engine bay I found some oil leak from the top cover of the OCC, maybe something is stuck were I made the circle, that's why I asked but after reading your anwser looks like that's not the problem

 

Well, cleaned everything today. Blow toward the catch can and was fine, uninstalled it, filled the car with oil again and went to the gas station, car needed some gas. I saw a little white smoke there, but was coming from the downpipe heatshield and I couldn't clean it because was very hard unless I removed it and it's a pain.

On the way back home, did a couple of hard accelerations (from 1,500rpm to 6,000 rpm, second and third gear) and when arriving at home, again a lot of white smoke coming from the hood, again the dipstick was loose and oil everywhere

There is any other PCV valve or something I could tell the dealer to check? I really feel that my dealer doesn't know what's going on. When they saw the OCC, called me to ask what is that strange thing

By the way, no check lights or anything. Just saw that yesterday, before the second oil split, the car was saying that all the tires were running low of pressure, strange because I checked and was right. But this days there have been a lot of cold weather during the evening, make some atmospheric change could be related to the tires sensor.

 

If I were you I would quit driving it before it catches fire. I dont mean to scare you, but you are risking it. Have them tow it and see for themselves what is going on. hopefully the OCC does not get blamed. Good luck.

 

Yep, I'm going to tow it tomorrow to the dealer, I'll keep the OCC uninstalled. They first blamed the OCC because didn't know what it does and changed the cylinder head cover. But now that it's uninstalled and the problem still there, not sure what they can blame.

 

Why not remove the occ, and CAREFULLY test it....
A bad occ install CAN cause some odd issues.....
I WOULD keep a fire extinguisher handy if you do test it....

 

P.S.
The alta acessport stage 3 tune did cause some issues for some...might want to uninstall it...a few pistons DID fail running that tune early on around the edges where the rings are....

 

He did

 

... The car runs sooooo nice with stage 3, well maybe downgrade to stage 1 will be ok, but definitely I'll miss it. It's strange because I have been running the car on stage 3 since november (2012) and never had an issue. Only the super knot rarerly but that's because the gas in my country really sucks, but been filling it lately with Shell V-Power and no more problems.

 

I have been pondering your situation. I think the only reasonable explanation is that boost pressure in the intake is not being released when you come off throttle and is overcoming the crank case vent system, causing a rapid build up of pressure in the crankcase thus popping the dipstick and oil out. This is normally the job of the blow off valve. It may be that there is a problem with the BOV or the software controlling it. I noticed you have a modified BOV from Alta and a software tune. Again a manometer would tell you if this is going on. Your dealer should have this tool. Hopefully you have not damaged the new cylinder head cover. I would suggest pulling the tune out of the DME for now as it would at least eliminate that from the equation and it may be preventing a fault to be set that would help your dealer diagnose your condition. Good luck, I hope you find a solution quickly and cheaply!

 

When I did the run today, the valve was working great, with the famous woooossh sound (the Alta BOV is a mechanical valve, no software controlling it). I also thought that, but the PCV valve should block the air coming from the intake right? And only let it vent trought the air filter/box.

Also before the 2nd leak, I ran the car for 4 days (dealer gave me the car on monday, driving it probably for 2-3 hours a day) and didn't have the problem, until the 15 minute ride I took yesterday, and the another 20 minute ride today.

 

Checked out the BOV on Alta's website. Could still be a problem with mechanical BOV, intermittent sticking of valve. Also have you checked the intake vacuum hose to BOV. Could be possible that it is not getting vacuum to activate valve. It might be worth giving Alta tech support a call or email to see what they think.

 

Ok, I'll check that tomorrow during my lunch time.

After what you said, probably the first oil leak was because of a stuck PCV valve, dealer changed it, but now with the first oil leak, dealer didn't cleaned all the oil and the intake vacuum hose has some, making the it not work properly??

 

My guess....
The skirt around the edge of a piston cracked....this is causing excessive blowby into the crankcase, overwelming the pcv system....blowing oil, and your dipstick out.
i really hope i am wrong, but this sound like a case or two back after the altaacessport came out....
Most ended up saying the stock pistons were a bit to weak to run a full stage 3.
Like i said, i am REALLY hoping i am wrong, and i hope i do not cause any added stress, but i would 100% turn car back to stock (like the tune) before letting the dealer plug into the computer and documing the tune......
Good luck, a like i said, it is just a WILD GUESS, but to have such a large amount of excess preasure in the CRANKCASE....and that is the key, CRANKCASE, NOT THE INTAKE SIDE, it is unusual.

 

I also hope you are wrong too ...
I always bring the car to the dealer without the tune, specially because of the problem if they update the car, making my accessport useless. But will tell them you check that, thanks!

 

Well, after a very long days, dealer finally called me, sadly with bad news.

There are some water trace in the cylinder 4 and cylinder 2,3 have a leak. They will take apart the engine and keep me posted with news on wednesday

 

Wow very sorry to hear this. Any chance of the warranty covering it?

 

Nope

 

Wow, really sorry to hear that. I hope all go well and it only turns out to be a head issue.

 

Well, called the dealer today (they are so slow!!!), the chief still have to confirm me, but looks like I'll have to reemplace the pistons. Now after searching online for the price of each one, around $230 - $270, I was wondering if buying some forged ones will be a better idea, because the price is similar, will hold better the stage 3 from Alta and more future proof, maybe later I can get performance Rods, turbo rebuild, etc...

Any recomendations on forged pistons? I could only find this two:

Mahle

Carillo

Mahle, looks like direct fit. With Carillo looks like I need also the Carillo rods, which will be a good idea to upgrade too, but I don't want to spend more money right now. Getting the Mahle will be a good idea? And if in the future I decide to upgrade rods, I could buy the Carillo tapered rods to fit the Mahle pistons.

Any advice? Or better pistons to buy??
Thanks!

 

This is always the best move on a turbo or supercharged engine. The reason why use forged aluminum pistons is because forged pistons are lighter than most cast or hypereutectic pistons, they enable the engine to rev quicker with less stress and ultimately provide an immediate gain in performance. And, as heat retention is minimal, the engine operates at cooler temperatures. The piston also can withstand increased loads, even with higher compression ratios because the denser, forged material is formed into shape under 2,000 tons of pressure.

Here are two other options for you from a very reliable piston companies that have a great following.
http://www.jepistons.com/
http://www.wiseco.com/Automotive/Pistons.aspx

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

I just want to throw out there that almost everything you just said about forged pistons is backwards.