Vehicle: 1999 Pontiac Sunfire 2200 Auto ~115,000 mi
I have recently been noticing some fresh oil on the valve cover of the car. I'm not noticing a drop in any fluid levels, no change in engine efficiency judging by gas mileage, no smoking, no change in smell, no change in idle. By looking at the engine it looks as if oil leaked out of the PCV onto the front of the valve cover and dripped down over the exhaust side of the engine (based on a darkened pattern on the valve cover). The fresh oil is up on the TOP of the valve cover as well as a bit on the sides, so I think it isn't the valve cover gasket. I replaced the gasket in August 2005 with a new one following the correct protocol. At the moment there is a breather on the PCV, which could be a reason why I haven't noticed any smoking (escaping by the PCV breather filter instead of having oil piped into the engine).
Any suggestions as to how to procede with trouble shooting this problem would be appreciated, as well as any experience that others have had with this kind of problem. Any references to threads covering this problem for my model are also appreciated.Thanks in advance for any assistance.
My understanding is GM eliminated PCV valves on engines like yours and mine...
Back to basics, you probably have a leaking valve cover gasket...
