Oil leak in RSpec - any ideas?

[newman]

Hey folks -

So I have a small oil leak on the top of my engine. It is on the right side near the rear-most spark plug. I detected after smelling oil burning. A small amount of oil is dripping from this area to the right exhaust header directly below.

This began after I changed my oil for the first time (at about 100 miles). I very carefully put in the required amount of oil (7.19 quarts) and confirmed the level with the dip stick. I confirmed that no oil is leaking from the pan.

The oil seams to be absorbed for awhile in the gray foam noise dampener that is located above the spark plug area. Then it drips from that onto the exhaust header. The dripping seams to occur more when I drive in a spirited fashion.

I have an appointment scheduled this week (separate topic I may rant on soon - no loaner cars at any of my local Hyundai dealers). However, curious if anyone else has had this issue or might have ideas on possible root cause.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Newman

PS - other than this I am so completely satisfied with the car. It looks and drives stunning.

 

[Glashub]

Sorry you have to go through that, man.

 

[timc1475]

No issues here yet. Could it be hopefully easy as just tightening the spark plug? None the less maybe best to take to the dealer to do though for documentary purposes as foresight is better than hindsight at times.
Keep us posted.

 

[Dragon64]

Hey folks -

So I have a small oil leak on the top of my engine. It is on the right side near the rear-most spark plug. I detected after smelling oil burning. A small amount of oil is dripping from this area to the right exhaust header directly below.

This began after I changed my oil for the first time (at about 100 miles). I very carefully put in the required amount of oil (7.19 quarts) and confirmed the level with the dip stick. I confirmed that no oil is leaking from the pan.

The oil seams to be absorbed for awhile in the gray foam noise dampener that is located above the spark plug area. Then it drips from that onto the exhaust header. The dripping seams to occur more when I drive in a spirited fashion.

I have an appointment scheduled this week (separate topic I may rant on soon - no loaner cars at any of my local Hyundai dealers). However, curious if anyone else has had this issue or might have ideas on possible root cause.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Newman

PS - other than this I am so completely satisfied with the car. It looks and drives stunning.

Valve cover gasket leak - so soon ?

if that's all it is - it should be an easy fix

there is special sealer that is used around the bolts of the valve cover that keep the oil from seeping through in certain spots

after they replace the gasket - they should apply the sealer - and this should stop it

pretty standard stuff

now if it's a head gasket leaking - that's not good

but it sounds like the valve cover gasket

should only take them an hour tops

 

[newman]

Valve cover gasket leak - so soon ?

if that's all it is - it should be an easy fix

there is special sealer that is used around the bolts of the valve cover that keep the oil from seeping through in certain spots

after they replace the gasket - they should apply the sealer - and this should stop it

pretty standard stuff

now if it's a head gasket leaking - that's not good

but it sounds like the valve cover gasket

should only take them an hour tops

I definitely appreciate all the insight from everyone. I also hope that it turns out to be an easy fix. I should know more tomorrow and will report back to this forum.

As this started after my changing the oil I immediately questioned whether I did something wrong or if the Synthetic oil was to blame. However, after reflecting back on the work there is nothing about me changing the oil that should have caused this. Nor should the type of oil that I used have made any difference as far as leaks go.

Even though I am well within my rights to change my own oil, I won't volunteer this information to the dealer's service department unless specifically asked.

On a side note - I do not intend to ever take my car into the dealership except for major warranty service items. I despise the fact that I cannot get a loaner car. When paying more than 40K+ for a car I expect to get the same or better service than is available with Honda's, Toyota's and most other mainstream makes of cars.

Thanks again folks.

Newman

 

[homeofstone]

find a dealer that has a loaner program, maybe an hour or so away but why care, you will have a loaner.

 

[newman]

OK folks, I have an update. The oil leak is indeed from the valve cover. It is not the head gasket which is a relief. The dealer is ordering the replacement valve cover gasket. Next week some time they will fix it.

On a side note (and I will post as well in the TSB forum) - the dealer performed an ECU upgrade (they did this without asking me first). I cannot find any information online yet about this nor could the service writer tell me. Anyone have any ideas what this might be or where I can find out?:

RECALL THO VI & BH ECU UPDATE P0139. REPROGRAMMED ECM PER TSB 11-01-036.

Cheers,
Newman

 

[newman]

Hi Folks -

To finalize my experience with this issue: as Dragon64 stated this was a valve gasket leak. I spoke with the technician who made the repair and he confirmed that the gasket looked to have been pinched during install. So it seems to be a minor issue. I have had the car for a few days after repair and no issues so far.

At the same time the tech made the repair, he also thought that the o-ring on the fuel pump looked suspicious so he replaced that too. He stated that he was not sure if it was an issue but he was there...

On the issue of the loaner car: after taking the car in for the diagnosis a week before repair I received a dealer survey from Hyundai. I gave them 6-9 on all ratings and a 3 overall due to not being given a loaner. When I took the car in for the actual repair I received a loaner and a request for a better rating...

Finally, the TSB was for an O2 sensor misread issue. I don't have much more information than that.

Cheers!
Newman

 

[R Spect 12]

Hi Folks -

To finalize my experience with this issue: as Dragon64 stated this was a valve gasket leak. I spoke with the technician who made the repair and he confirmed that the gasket looked to have been pinched during install. So it seems to be a minor issue. I have had the car for a few days after repair and no issues so far.

At the same time the tech made the repair, he also thought that the o-ring on the fuel pump looked suspicious so he replaced that too. He stated that he was not sure if it was an issue but he was there...

On the issue of the loaner car: after taking the car in for the diagnosis a week before repair I received a dealer survey from Hyundai. I gave them 6-9 on all ratings and a 3 overall due to not being given a loaner. When I took the car in for the actual repair I received a loaner and a request for a better rating...

Finally, the TSB was for an O2 sensor misread issue. I don't have much more information than that.

Cheers!
Newman

How much labor was the valve cover gasket ?