Need some help tracking down my oil leak. I have oil all over the passenger side tin on the top, doesn't appear to be coming from breathers or oil fill tank, it's a complete mess with oil even on the firewall. I have ran it after cleaning and can't track down any leak, however after driving a short distance the tin is covered with oil even tracing the rear glass. So where in the heck could it be coming from? Oil cooler doesn't seem to be wet. Any help would be great

Push rod seals?

Oil pressure sending unit? Assume this is a 4 with FI.

If a 2.0 check head vent hose.

Year, engine size, and fuel delivery system might make a big difference on this diagnosis. Please provide more info when asking these kind of questions. Now if it's a pre 75 look to the drivers side of the oil filler for a small round metal canister with tubes for 3 hoses to connect to. Two of the hoses go to a vent tube on each head. The third goes to a port on the air cleaner. If one of those hoses has came off it will dump a lot of oil.

Sorry, it's a 75 2.0 with dual carbs, the oil doesn't appear to be coming from the front Of the engine, it tends to pool at the rear of the tin, may just be that the tin has a low spot but it is coincidentally near the breather on the head. Hoses on the breather are not cracked however I did smell rubber burning while driving. The Hoses are heater hoses if that makes any difference. Also noticed there is no PCV it just recirculates into the filler neck. Thanks

My apoligies for the spelling errors, my autocorrect is a little crazy today

Just got back from a short 1/2 mile drive and the only thing I see even slightly wet is the valve cover or the pushrod tube.....and it's very slight. I'm scratching my head here

And now after 1 mile 40mph or less, seems to happen when I let the engine hold the car back

A picture is worth a thousand words. Only need three in this case. Valve cover gasket.
The top of the gasket sags down and oil blows out the top of the cover onto the head and then behind the tin under the intake and onto the tin. Doesn't sound likely but ive seen it before.

I will pull the cover next then...it did seen odd that there was a significant amount of oil under the intake...had me wondering how it wa getting there. Thanks for the tip and I'll update as soon as I pull it tonight

Ok you have likely already checked it but in the picture there appears to be a section of tubing that would got to a oil pressure gauge. It is whithe with some oil in it. I would trace it down and check for leaks.

I'd like to see a better (more comprehensive) picture of the hoses at the breather and the flame arrestor nearby. Is there something vented to the atmosphere? If not, there should be. Internal pressure will force oil out wherever it's easiest.

The Cap'n

Cap'n no there is nothing vented to the atmosphere, it just flows back to the filler neck and there is no PCV like you would see on others. Does the cap vent sine there is no pcv?

That's an oil filler from a 1.8 I think. It has no place for a pcv valve. The 75 did not have vents in the heads. Are you positive it's a 2.0? Or has the engine been changed? I think the cap'n is pointing out your lack of crankcase ventilation.

I've ran the numbers on the engine to verify and yes it's a 2.0 with breathers in the heads, not sure what the previous owners have changed though. Btw just pulled the valve cover and here is my gasket.....definitely a problem

Here are a couple more pictures, I'm very new to 914's so If I'm missing something please feel free to fill me in, I've been into type 1 VW's since I was a kid but this is different from anything I am familiar with. Thanks

That gasket is exactly what I described. Absolutely a leak.

The heads were not vented in 75. Nor was there an anti flashback valve. The engine may have been changed, the heads could have been changed, or the vents and valve added. Who knows. You still have no crankcase ventilation. The top connection on the flash back valve should go to the air filter housing but you don't have a place on the dual carb air filter for that. Empi makes a set up just for that. The heads vent to a catch can then gravity flow back to the crankcase.

That explains a lot. I have been searching for a similar setup and couldn't find a 75 like mine. I was lookin at the empi setup and I'm going to order one next week, for now I rigged an inline breather filter with a T to get some ventilation And thanks for the tip on the valve cover gasket, as soon as I popped the cover I knew you were right, not a drop out of that cover now

It happened to me.

Great work.

Btw, don't use heater hose. It can collapse from vacuum. Use the proper braided cover hose (12mm) from bus depot, or Bughaus, or your favorite place.

This is off topic from your oil leak, but are you missing your cooling flaps in the tins?