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10 Posts
Hey everyone,
I've been perusing the forum for a while - I love this community. Makes me happy to have chosen the ST. I'm looking for a bit of help. I bought my ST a few months ago to replace my Focus SE which was tired of me driving it so hard. I purchased the ST already modified with most of what you see in my sig (big turbo + forged engine build + dual catchcans + etc). (13,000 miles on the clock right now) It drives great and seems to be tuned well, but recently noticed a pretty significant oil leak (enough to cover the rear motor mount with oil over the 1 tank of gas since I last degreased it.) I can see it dripping from the driver's side of the valve cover (which then covers the rear motor mount and the back of the engine) I'm afraid there may be leaks near the crankcase, too, as there's also some oil dripping from the passenger side as well. (See pictures - oil circled in red)
Last week I took it to the dealer who was nice enough to consider me for warranty work, despite the mods. The dealer blamed the big turbo (tuned to 22psi) and aftermarket PCV system for overpressuring the crankcase. After that I took the whole PCV system apart and verified its function and check valve direction. The dual can crankcase vent system seems to be doing its job correctly. That's when I found the leak is almost certainly coming from the valve cover. The thing is I see in the car's maintenance history that they've already replaced the valve cover gasket once since the engine build due to an oil leak. In the 5000 miles since that service, the leak seems to have come back.
Not sure why the valve cover would leak again, even after a seal replacement. Anyone have any thoughts? Should I be considering a new valve cover entirely instead of just a gasket replacement? And any idea on what to check for the passenger side leak? - the dealer said the crankcase seal was leaking, but I'm skeptical. Maybe the other side of the valve cover?
Thanks for your help, guys!
I've been perusing the forum for a while - I love this community. Makes me happy to have chosen the ST. I'm looking for a bit of help. I bought my ST a few months ago to replace my Focus SE which was tired of me driving it so hard. I purchased the ST already modified with most of what you see in my sig (big turbo + forged engine build + dual catchcans + etc). (13,000 miles on the clock right now) It drives great and seems to be tuned well, but recently noticed a pretty significant oil leak (enough to cover the rear motor mount with oil over the 1 tank of gas since I last degreased it.) I can see it dripping from the driver's side of the valve cover (which then covers the rear motor mount and the back of the engine) I'm afraid there may be leaks near the crankcase, too, as there's also some oil dripping from the passenger side as well. (See pictures - oil circled in red)
Last week I took it to the dealer who was nice enough to consider me for warranty work, despite the mods. The dealer blamed the big turbo (tuned to 22psi) and aftermarket PCV system for overpressuring the crankcase. After that I took the whole PCV system apart and verified its function and check valve direction. The dual can crankcase vent system seems to be doing its job correctly. That's when I found the leak is almost certainly coming from the valve cover. The thing is I see in the car's maintenance history that they've already replaced the valve cover gasket once since the engine build due to an oil leak. In the 5000 miles since that service, the leak seems to have come back.
Not sure why the valve cover would leak again, even after a seal replacement. Anyone have any thoughts? Should I be considering a new valve cover entirely instead of just a gasket replacement? And any idea on what to check for the passenger side leak? - the dealer said the crankcase seal was leaking, but I'm skeptical. Maybe the other side of the valve cover?
Thanks for your help, guys!


