Oil Leak From Top - AOS? Oil Cooler?

Hello all. About six months ago I finished up a 3.4 to 3.8 complete rebuild with Nickies, JE Pistons, Carillos rods, IMS Solution, Hoffman reworked heads. Also I put in a new Porsche AOS (prior to the Ultimate AOS release), all new gaskets, upgraded LN oil pump hex drive, etc. etc. BR40 break-in oil has almost 500 miles. What are common sources for oil leaks originating from the top of the engine? So much that I lost over 2 quarts and it's been slung everywhere. I noticed last night after dark. I removed the oil sump plate and there is nothing of importance to report. The magnetic oil drain plug attracted minor amounts fine ferrous material, which I think is common for a newly broken-in motor. The majority of the oil appears to be from bank 1 (drivers side, cylinders 1-3). This morning I took a different vehicle to retrace where the PCar was driven and found pools of oil. (Businesses probably hate me by now.) I'm contemplating next steps. Fill it up with more BR 40, start it up and look for leak? Or remove the engine, diagnose, and install UOAS? Some pics: Location 3. Car backed into spot. Heavy oil loss. Location 3 alternative perspective. Location 3 alternate perspective. Location 2. Heavy oil loss. Location 2. Car backed into spot. Leaving location 2. Location 1. Location 1.

looks like coming out under some pressure - spin on adapter tight? IMS Solution oil feed fittings?

Spin on adapter was tight, as well as the filter screwed onto the adapter. Although, the braided oil line to the IMS Solution feed fitting was a bit loose. Not so much that I thought that much oil would be lost. Perhaps oil heat cycles over time loosened the threads (even though I used the white colored thread locker). Appreciate the feedback.

That much oil, I would be also looking at cam plugs missing.

Cam plugs all dry. Bank 1 Cam Plugs Bank 2 Top Cam Plug Bank 2 Bottom Cam Plug

Can you post more pictures of the area that is wet with oil / where the oil is coming from?

I wiped most of it up last night. This is a photo from a few hours ago. It's still quite wet up near the AOS. If the IMS Solution oil feed line were slightly loose, I suppose the oil mist could have been blown upwards while traveling down the road. A few days ago, I drove some highway miles as well, but never noticed any oil on the garage floor. The spin on oil filter adapter's outlet does point near bank 1. EDIT: near bank 2. I'm starting to doubt the oil cooler that is situated above bank 2 (cylinders 4=6) Prior to motor installation into car: bank 2 (4-6 cylinders) spin on oil filter adapter feeding IMS Solution oil cooler & AOS view

wow, that's quite a lot of oil. I'd get it up in the air and fish about with a flashlight and mirror. AOS seal tight? Disptick seal? oil level sensor?

That's not a casual leak, with that much oil it has to be coming from a main line pressure source. I would look at the oil cooler O-rings very hard first. If not there I would go to the top center of each valve cover where the oil pressure passes from the head into the cover, suppose to be a tube in there that is only sealed with silicone and is exposed to high pressure. Not many places where the main line pressure runs close to the external surface.

I poked around the top of the motor with an endscope. No leaks from oil cooler. Oil pressure sensor is also dry. Nothing notable around the AOS either. Porschetech3 I don't recall the tube you mentioned. Is it identifiable from a diagram below? This was an original 3.4L. Car is currently on the lift. I'm leaning towards rotating crank by hand, just to reassure there's nothing rattling around. Reinstalling the spin-on adapter, re-assembling the IMS Solution oil line, then re-filling the oil (another round of BR40 break-in), starting up and looking for the culprit. The risk in this is if timing jumped due to unpressurized chain tensioners, it could be a disaster. courtesy AutoAtlanta courtesy AutoAtlanta

I dont think u will jump timing as there is still a pretty stiff spring in the tensioner. U can alway pull the cam plugs a verify when spinning by hand. With that much oil u should be able to find it while its running on the lift.

Not visible in the pic, but the alignment tube #6 is also used to align the cover to the head There are 16 of these used in the 3.4 engine and a pair are used right near the oil pressure sender (or plug) for each head and are only sealed with silicone. IF the tube is left out and the silicone seal fails, the pressurized oil will stream out between the cover and the head.

Here is the area i was talking about that you need to check..

Thanks for the pic showing the exact location. I found a photo (below) that suggests the 'tube' was present during re-assembly. However, I don't recall during Jake's class that these needed to be siliconed, so I just dropped it in. Damn, devil is in the details... In your pic, it seems the tube may be spot TIG welded?

Quotes source post: 17295937

No, they just push in with a very light press fit, the silicone seal that seals the cover to the head is all that seals this, no sealer is used to install the tubes, they just push in.. With that much oil coming out that fast, it should not be difficult at all to locate the source...

Quick update. I added a shim to the spin-on oil filter adapter so that the proper 18.5 ft. lbs. torque could be applied (using the nifty spanner tool, thanks LN for loaning!). This allowed a perfect 'exit' of the AN fitting angle. From there, I cleaned up the AN threads, added thread locker (white stuff), and tightened everything back up. I also decided to add the sump guard plate that I had yet to install. I've only started the car on the lift, and at idle and constant 3000 RPM runs, I see no leaks. I'll drive it next week under load and watch carefully. I may fasten a GoPro camera to the shiny crossbar underneath the car as well. Running another round of BR40 oil, for what will be around 200 miles to reach a total of 650 mile break-in. LN Engineering sump guard. LN Engineering sump guard.