Oil sweat / leak?

[ilib11]

Hi All,

Have a sign of an oil sweat on the right side of the engine - on top of the front cover of timing bent, behind the steering pump and then in the top right side of the engine.
The most oiled part looks like the on top of the front cover of timing bent, other parts are less oily or the oil looks as dried up.
Oil sweat marked as RED on photos.

The steering pump itself is clean and power steering oil level has not changed.

Can you please advise - it that common and where the source of leak could be?
The car is M10 Liberty GT, odometer 150K.

Thank you in advance for your help!

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[BillyCorgi]

Hi there,

This is Peter from the CorgiWerx Technical Help Desk.
You may have a slow leak from the gland arrround the idle-up pressure switch at the rear of the Power Steering Pump.
There KYB pumps are known for oil leaks in this area.

Another weep area is the o-ring at the inlet barb, however this is usually accompanied by whining when cold and also the picture looks pretty clean in this area.

Due to the nature of the power steering fluid, it does not take much fluid to look like a lake.

If the fluid level is not dropping, then worry about it later.
Wipe it off and keep an eye on it.

[bigBADbenny]

It looks very minimal and unlikely to cause issues, but something to keep an eye on maybe.

A possible source is the stock oil pressure switch/sensor under the alternator.

Leaking cam seals will generally pool oil on the lower edge of the timing cover, so inspect that from underneath when convenient.

If the source was the power steering pump, you’d change the oring inside the return on top, and change all the stock clamps to quality screw clamps.

You can source a UV dye kit and torch via eBay, add the dye to the suspected fluid to track the source, after cleaning the affected area.

[ilib11]

BillyCorgi and bigBADbenny, thank you for the prompt reply !

I looked around stock oil pressure switch/sensor under the alternator and it appear to be dry. I would expect if it leaked it would be all in oil.

I'll keep monitoring as you suggested.

[ilib11]

Hi All, the quest continues..... After some monitoring it has been confirmed that:

- it is not stock oil pressure switch/sensor under the alternator - it is dry itself and the area immediately around dry too
- it is not idle-up pressure switch at the rear of the Power Steering Pump - the steering pump oil is red with a smell, the leaked oil is definitely yellow and no such smell, exactly as motor oil.
- it is not from timing belt etc. - opened a time belt cover and looked on the belt and inside, all dry and clean.

Any ideas where a motor oil could come from? There are bolts which holds brackets for steering pump & alternator - are they in a dead holes or could go inside the head where the motor oil is? So the oil sweats through the bolt's thread?

Regards, ilib11

[BillyCorgi]

Like, I told you above (back in January) what it is?

It is not motor oil, it is PS Pump fluid.
The offending area was already identified in your attached picture


Your car is a turbo, so it must be a Gen5. These model PS Pumps in the picture were not used on Gen4 Turbos.
Gen4 Turbo used a different model PS Pump, they used a SHOWA brand pump.

The pressure switch on the rear of the KYB PS Pumps develop a leak.
The KYB pump on this model is known for delevoping a fluid leak from the idle up pressure switch.
I have only rebuilt in excess of 500 of these particular Subaru PS Pumps, so I know where they fail and I know how to repack the seal in the switch at the rear of the pump and fix it.

[ilib11]

Hi BillyCorgi,
Yes, it is Gen5.
But I am confident it is not a PS fluid - I did compared the oil residue with motor oil and the PS fluid - and I am confident it is not PS fluid.

[BillyCorgi]

Hi BillyCorgi,
Yes, it is Gen5.
But I am confident it is not a PS fluid - I did compared the oil residue with motor oil and the PS fluid - and I am confident it is not PS fluid.

Then ask yourself why is there oil on the rear electrical switch of the PS Pump (where this model PS Pump leak from)?

I am equally confident that the oil would not flow uphills from the engine block to the swicth (unless it is somehow magic)

[ilib11]

Thank you, BillyCorgi. I had this question myself - how the motor oil gets there behind the PS pump. I thought there are brackets around and wind flow from a radiator fan get vortexed around brackets and finally deflected upwards and ended up at the end of the pump..... Too naïve maybe.

[BillyCorgi]

Problem solved.
It is the Leidenfrost effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzKgnNG ... &index=114