Oil leak / oil sitting on top of engine

[josh.m99]

Had some really good advice from Unofix and TomsFocus yesterday regarding my engine management light. Hoping someone can shed some light on this other problem I'm having. 

 

oil seems to be leaking from somewhere and sitting on the top of the engine casing. Attached photos. Not a huge amount but enough to make a nasty burning oil smell through the Aircon. 

 

Engine is under warranty from the garage but they are certain it's just from sloppy mechanics work when filling the engine oil. I've moped the oil up for it to reappear and they now say they're booked for 3 weeks and won't even look at it until then. 

 

I know it's hard to see from photos so might try get some better ones later.

[unofix]

Hi Josh,

That oil looks far to clean to be leaking out of the engine (I could of course be wrong). It looks more like oil has been spilt just about every where when filling it. Personally I'd get a couple of cans of brake cleaner and blast the top of the engine with it. Wash every trace of oil away and see if what its like in a day or two. If it is genuinely loosing oil like the amount we see in the photos then it will soon return.

[TomsFocus]

That's the camshaft sensor that they claim to have replaced.  I would guess they've fitted it without the rubber o-ring seal.

It's only one bolt, you can remove it to check.

[josh.m99]

Checked the sensor and the O ring was fitted. Cleaned the oil up and it's back after an hour long drive yesterday evening. It pools on the area highlighted in red on my above image (area with long threaded nut and bolt). Not sure if this is where it's coming from ? 

 

The oil was there before the sensor was changed but this garage seem certain it was just there from a spillage when filling the engine.

 

Any other areas I should check before taking back to garage next week? I have checked tightness of all fixings I can see on top of engine 

[AlanC2]

I noticed a similar pooling of oil on my wife's car (2018 Fiesta) as your 3rd photo above.

The car had an oil/filter change about 2 months ago (I dont like the idea of a 2 year interval for oil changes) and only noticed it after this.  At first I assumed they had been a bit sloppy and spilt some oil so I cleaned it up and checked a few weeks later.  There was more oil present and I also spotted that the oil looked like it had been over-filled (is it just me or does anyone else find it tricky to get a "clear" reading on the dipstick of these engines?), so we took it back to the dealer and asked them to look at it.

Having read some older threads on here about similar leaks I suggested it might be the gasket or sensors.  I was wondering if it was the gasket, it could be as a result of overfilling the oil.

First visit resulted in them telling us we had an oil leak which they have cleaned up and to keep an eye on it! - Eerrr, yeah, thats why we are here!  They also said they had drained some oil out as it was overfilled - Yeah, thats what I also told you!

Second visit they said the cam shaft cover has a split and they are putting together a list of parts and prices before they check with the warranty company (we purchased an extended warranty when we bought the car).

Waiting to from them about the warranty payment.

[josh.m99]

Bit of an update. Spent this morning cleaning the engine spotless and have left it idling checking every 5 mins. 

 

The oil does appear to be leaking from the camshaft sensor at the back of the engine and then pooling in the pit next to it. O ring is fitted and everything looks in order so a bit strange.

 

Also can't see any logical way the oil could make its way down from the back camshaft sensor to the housing of my 3rd photo so convinced there might be more than 1 leak here

[AlanC2]

Ford dealer just told us that our leak (like your 3rd photo) is a result of a cracked cam shaft cover.

Its being replaced under warranty (Around £450).

[TomsFocus]

2 hours ago, AlanC2 said:

Ford dealer just told us that our leak (like your 3rd photo) is a result of a cracked cam shaft cover.

Its being replaced under warranty (Around £450).

Bargain! 😮  I take it most of that is the labour? 

In this case, a new engine was fitted, so if the cam cover is faulty, it should be replaced under warranty.  It's possible that it was tightened out of sequence which caused it to warp and then crack.  For the sake of warranty claim, don't tell them that you've tightened any of the bolts, as they could say you've over-tightened it to get out of the warranty payment.

 

[AlanC2]

26 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

It's possible that it was tightened out of sequence which caused it to warp and then crack.  For the sake of warranty claim, don't tell them that you've tightened any of the bolts, as they could say you've over-tightened it to get out of the warranty payment.

 

They didnt give us a full breakdown of the cost but you are probably correct.

Personally, I think that ours was caused by the dealer over-filling the oil when they changed it a couple of months ago.  This probably caused the gasket to start leaking.  They admitted it was over-filled and removed some.  They probably tried to tighten the bolts to stop the gasket leaking which cracked the cover, which is what they are saying was the cause of the leak in the first place.

Just guess-work on my behalf

[josh.m99]

Yeah sounds like I'll be taking it back to the garage this week. oil seems to be leaking from the area highlighted in red. I've left it running for 15 mins and that's where it is before it overflows into the well Futher up.

 

Out of interest am I supposed to be missing a bolt on the bottom right of the camshaft cover second image?

[josh.m99]

@TomsFocus @unofix

What's the likelihood of the Camshaft Cover being from my original engine and not covered by the warranty? 

The garage is trying to charge me for the work saying it was from my old engine and therefor doesn't fall under warranty.

[TomsFocus]

17 minutes ago, josh.m99 said:

@TomsFocus @unofix

What's the likelihood of the Camshaft Cover being from my original engine and not covered by the warranty? 

The garage is trying to charge me for the work saying it was from my old engine and therefor doesn't fall under warranty.

Brand new 1.0 EcoBoost engines come with a new cam cover.

 

Do we know if yours was actually brand new or whether it was reconditioned though?

[unofix]

19 minutes ago, josh.m99 said:

What's the likelihood of the Camshaft Cover being from my original engine and not covered by the warranty? 

Well that very much depends on where the engine was bought from, and was it supplied as a basic bare unit (which is common). If the engine was supplied by a third party and not direct from Ford there is probability that it was supplied without the camshaft cover.

[josh.m99]

Yeah I'm not 100% sure. It was a brand new engine as I had the option of a recon engine but chose the new on the basis of the 12 month warranty. I paid £2160 ex VAT for the new engine. Not sure if that matches a ford price 

[TomsFocus]

Pumaspeed price is £2500 inc VAT but yours may just have been a bare block as Unofix suggested.

Don't think we'll be able to prove one way or the other sadly.

If they aren't covering it, you could try superglue or something instead of paying out even more to the garage.

[josh.m99]

Thanks for the advice. Yes that's what I was thinking. Looking at getting some plastic weld to see if that does the job

[PHXelias]

Did you solve the problem with the leak? I have the same issue and the camshaft sensor was already replaced but still the same.

[oki.n]

On 3/20/2024 at 7:14 AM, PHXelias said:

Did you solve the problem with the leak? I have the same issue and the camshaft sensor was already replaced but still the same.

I'm driving a 2016 Fiesta in Japan and I've had same problem. oil seemed to be leaking from the seams of the head cover, so I used a chemical to stop the oil from leaking from the outside. It's been about half a year, the leak has stopped.
I used a product called "Q-fix" from WAKO'S, but it doesn't seem to be sold outside of Japan. I think it's probably similar to Permatex's leak repair.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254576054448