Potential Issue

I was checking my oil and air filter and noticed a decent amount of liquid around the motor. I'm assuming it's a leak. I can tell that it's been doing this for some time now due to the rust underneath shown in the pictures. I've owned the truck for a couple months now no problems. Any advice or info is appreciated.

 

Either your valve cover gasket is leaking or whoever has been changing the oil has missed the fill hole a few times.

 

x2

 

Valve cover gasket

 

Looks like it's definitely the valve cover(s). The back cam seals are probably leaking as well. You can access the cam seals when doing the valve cover gaskets.

 

Usually the valve cover bolts like to loosen up over time, I would try tightening them a little to see if that helps. The torque spec is very low, like 54 in-lbs IIRC, so be gentle.

 

Isn't that what the alternator is there for?

 

If this is the 3.4L it is a pain to change out the valve cover gaskets. Just finished it on mine. Intake plenum has to be completely removed. If you do this be sure to clean up the throttle body and intake plenum good before reinstalling. And as a previous poster said the torque on those valve covers is minimal, about 53 inch lbs which is only like 4.5 ft lbs. Absolutely remove and reseal the half moon plugs and replace the round rear cam plugs when you do the job. That is the most often overlooked part of the valve cover gasket repair but often where many of the leaks are. Ask me how I know....
Also I recommend cleaning valve cover bolts thoroughly as well as clean the holes good with some carb cleaner before reinstalling them, then use some blue threadlocker on them. If you don't get rid of all the oil residue first before reinstalling, those bolts will be very likely to loosen back out especially at only 4.5 ft lbs of torque. Great video doing this on the 3.4L here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5fAXAuGozI

 

I think this /\ valve cover gasket replacement is in my future - in the spring when it's warmer.

 

I also decided to remove my fuel injectors while I had everything out of the way and clean them as well. Glad I did, I found two that were partially stopped up. Found a great video as well on how to clean injectors if anyone is interested. Thing runs like new now. Not bad for 270,000

 

Is that a hole in the exhaust manifold in the second pic, right below the bolt,,,, or is it a chunk of dirty grease fell off the valve cover down on top of the manifold? I can't see worth a crap anymore, so who knows.

 

Mine had the same issue and it was the valve cover bolts had loosened up. I had it in the shop to be fixed and the mechanic called like and hour later and said it was ready all he did was re-torque all of the bolts. That was probably 5-6 years ago when I had that done.

 

Pulldo it looks like a shadow to me. If he had a hole in that baby it would be loud as hades!

 

01green you got lucky. These 3.4L are known for valve cover leaks. I tried the re-torque to no avail. My rear cam plugs were leaking also but those are on the back of the motor so it wasn't visible at the time, so I ended up replacing the valve cover gaskets twice!! When I put the new timing belt on last year I replaced the cam seals on the front and that stopped a little leakage also.

 

as others have said definitely make sure they're tight before you commit to replacing the whole gasket. Mine were loose and saved me a lot of time by just tightening the bolts.

 

Well that is certainly less trouble for sure! But unfortunately on the 3.4L you can't even get to all the V cover bolts without removing the intake plenum and throttle body! I love the motor but that funky style intake plenum is a beast to work around. I would say if your motor has a lot of miles on it like mine you might as well change out the gaskets while you got everything else off and out of the way. Also check for any leaks with a telescopic mirror on the back of the motor and make sure it isn't also your circular cam plugs or half moons also leaking. Those are easy to change when you do the V cover gaskets.

 

Tightening bolts usually only delays the inevitable