Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Oil leak opinions....

Yes both covers had been baffled...the mercruiser one I added...I don't remember why stuff was cut out.

Here is some runner shots...I thought they were clean...????

Ive taken this apart as clean as i could no rubbing or wiping,,its hard to separate oil residue and gasoline goo,,,,

You'll need to run your fingers down in the plenum under the carb and onto the floor of the intake into the intake runners to verify this.

From what I'm reading..pcv valves should be practically closed at idle...high vacume conditions...from my " suck" test..it seemed wide open....??? I see no oil in the valve or line...could it be clean enough to be clear and thin till it finds its way outside..?

The baffling in both valve covers is really not very adequate to prevent oil being sucked into the engine thru the pcv valve. The only other thing that can be possibly be causing this is the valve seals have failed and/or intake guides excessively worn.

??? What kind of baffling is suggested..the one cover is a GM..

I would suggest a better PCV. The stuff that ends up in parts stores is not so good in quality these days. Maybe buy a PCv for a different application, such as a smaller engine like a 153.
Who knows, some calculator guy in the factory may have decided to lump the 292 PCV with Larger V8 PCV units. Allowing it to move too much air.

The baffling in the GM VC is sufficient.

Fwiw the seals in my head leaked horribly. I ran my fingers in the intake ports and got really oily fingers. It was pooling. Look for my "two stroke" posting.

I had some exhaust leaks, but no oil leaks anywhere. I could imagine oil leaking down the manifold but it seems it would have to have vacuum leak too.

Just ran my fingers into the ports.the top and back side of the lump feel like raw alum..not slick and the valve below the head surface also feels dry..the top of the valves seem alittle sooty..I would of thought with fuel they would be clean as a whistle...
Tom..I was going to put the merc. VC back on..should I not..the front hole is oil fill..which I use a breather cap and the second one I added that baffle to the hole..does it need filled or extended...maybe I'll get something else..

I don't remember what I have for valve seals...I can tell the are white in color with a silver metal band...

I think I have a similar issue and, like you, I believe it's oil coming through the PCV. I think I have bad valve guides causing the problem to be worse than normal.

Sometimes I'll get a bit of smoke coming out the valve cover vent. I know I need to get my head rebuilt. I believe the valve cover area is being pressurized because of a leaking valve guide/seal. Using stock seals and I don't think the heads were ever set up to take new, lead-free gas.

It's on my to-do list.

I notice it especially when I run the car hard.

Fingersix,
Not sure what you mean with the Merc VC. Maybe try some pics.

Another thing it could be. Fuel will pool in the intake after engine is off. The lump in the head would impede fuel gravity running into the valves. Maybe it pools at the intake port and boils out from the warm engine leaving behind the dark crud that can leak out past the gasket. Fuel residual sludge.

Tom..I am referring to the mercruiser cover..it is the one above the double baffled GM cover in the pic...I was wanting to reuse that one over the chrome....
Oh man..have you opened a can of worms..I also thought that...I have never been able to keep fuel in the Qjet bowl..In a few days it will be dry and crank crank crank to fill it up before it will fire..I assumed it was evaporating..I keep smelling the oil to see if it's washed past the piston but it can't climb the lump.....I've had the carb gone thru twice by a reputable guy...it has the bottom plugs epoxied...I even tried to accumulate some sludge and light it in fire to see if it was fuel..would it turn that brown leaking thru the gasket and picking up dirt and stuff..? Mmmmm

The Merc covers I have, have decent baffles built into them, same as your pic shows.
I have no worries about that cover.

If it's not oil, then it is fuel. You have certainly seen how carbs can get that dirty look to them. It is from the fuel. Bet it is the same thing for you.