A while back I posted a message asking for advice on replacing the valve cover gaskets on my 1985 GMC S15 (2.8L V6) which had been leaking oil. Well the valve cover change (new Edlebrock covers, Carquest rubber gaskets) has been done and was sucessful, at least as far as I can tell. The problem now is that the VC gaskets apparently were not the only source of the oil leak. Apparently there is another leak on the top of the motor, on the back. This presents a problem for me since I cannot even see this part of the engine - its about 6" from the firewall and is covered with hoses, the distributor, etc. I did manage to look a little with a mirror and also get my hand back there and feel around and as far as I can tell there is a seam that appears to be the source of the oil. My question for the experts is what gasket could this be? I was thinking maybe the junction of the head and the block, could this be a possibility? All I've ever heard about head gasket leaks say that this means a coolant/oil exchange but I'm not showing any signs of this, just the oil leak. I've never seen the motor out of the vehicle so I don't know whats back there. Its not the distributor shaft, I can see that good. Could the manifold gasket failure or head gasket failure cause an oil leak back there? I've had a compression test done and compression is good on all cylinders, although not perfect. Please give me some advice as to where this leak could be, also if anyone has a close-up photo of the top back of this engine or one similar please email it to me so I can see what I'm looking for. The manual photo is not very helpful.
Thanks,
Casey snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com