MTFCA Forum

After a 2 hour drive in a friends 15 touring, I noticed oil coming from right under the front left head bolt
I didn't get a chance to see if the bolt could be retightened, however there didn't appear to be oil burn in the exhaust when running. The engine appears to be running smooth.
Any suggestions please? I've been wondering about possible broken rings?
Wilf

Could it be rust colored coolant instead of oil? Coolant would be a head gasket leak.

Could be a head gasket leak. I think I would retighten all the head bolts. Start from the center and work your way out. That might take care of it. I would at least try it.

I concur, there really is no oil there TO leak.
Water turns black and nasty in a cast iron head bolt hole. Possibly head gasket, maybe a small crack between the hole and the water outlet.
I agree with a retorque first, maybe pulling the bolt and blow out the hole and put some thread tape on the bolt.

Good luck !

Pulling and reinstalling a head on a T is an easy and almost enjoyable job. Try the retorque mentioned above and, if that doesn't fix it, pull off the head.

However, if it was my car and I'd never had the head off of it before, my first course of action would be to pull the head to get an idea of what was going on under there. It would also give me a chance to get some carbon off the pistons and see if the valves needing lapping.

It was common for cars of this era to get this done as a service periodically.

I agree that it might be coolant. It could also be oil if your engine is worn, some oil could be getting through the rings and when the piston comes up on compression it would blow some of the oil out of a leaky head gasket. This is the same way that sometimes oil gets into the coolant if it should happen to be leaking into the water jacket. First re-torque all the bolts to between 45 and 50 ft lbs. starting in the center and working out. If that doesn't fix the problem pull the head. Check the flat surfaces on top of the block and the bottom of the head with a straight edge. If it is warped or if it is corroded in that area, you might need to resurface things to get it to stop leaking. Sometimes with a small leak right at the edge of the block, you can use some heat resistant sealer just in that area to stop a leak.
Norm

Want to do something REALLY smart? Re-torque by all means BUT if you're going to pull the head take a dry and wet compression test first. It'll tell you all you need to know about your rings and valves with no guessing.

Could be oil.

If you are burning a little oil and there is a leak from the cylinder to the head bolt hole in the head, and there is a little leak at the head of the bolt, then a little oil will show up at the head of the bolt over time. If the oil is black then it is coming from the combustion chamber.

Follow the excellent advice of the other people who have responded.

That happened to me, it was a stripped thread in the block, could not get the head bolt tight enough.
However, the head gasket didn't blow and i didn't lose compression. It ran just fine until the next valve grind where i put a home made helicoil thing in the hole and it survives just fine.

Don't sweat over it yet.