Inside crankshaft pulley oil deposits --> front seal leak?

Since I did major tinkering with my now seldom driven 2006 V6 several years ago (DIY head gasket job), the truck has been driving fine but losing profuse amounts of oil, talking about losing 4 quarts over 1000 mi or more. I would just keep adding.

There are lots of reasons that could be but I am assigning low probability to bungling the head gasket placement because the coolant is crystal clear, no oil admixture (I also did a chemical test). The spark plugs also do not indicate oil burning, nor does the exhaust. However, I was, until yesterday, unable to locate a possible leak.

I am now doing a different fix (VVT phaser) and need to remove the TC cover. When I took out all the accessories in front of if and got to where only the crankshaft pulley was left on the drivebelt train, I noticed oil deposits around the bottom of the cover spread around the pulley getting thicker closer to the pulley and petering out as you go farther. Also, I stuck a finger inside the pulley, while it was still on, meaning the area around the bolt facing the fan/rad, and there were thick deposits of oil. I am thinking why the hell should oil make it there if it's not coming straight through the (poorly installed) seal. I mean, if I bungled the TC cover gasket maker caulking and left a gap for oil to leak through, how the hell would so much of it make it inside the pulley that's facing the other way? I'm thinking not likely.

Do you think this unusual find is an indication of oil coming through the front crankshaft seal? I am really hoping this is the cause and not something like uneven block/head or valve leakage, which I made darn sure I did right (and would be waaay more difficult to fix)?

 

If your losing that much oil I would expect the whole underside of the truck to be coated if it was leaking not just some residue.
How many miles are on the engine?
If it's not obviously leaking bad but its using 4qts/1k miles it may be time for a different engine instead of attempting to repair your current one.

 

There is quite as bit, bottom 1/3 of the TC cover and some on the block in that area. But if it gets out of the crankshaft socket, that means it leaks only when the engine is running and since the part where it's coming out is in constant motion, that means it gets sprayed around.

160K

I'm more likely to get a new truck. Again, the truck runs fine with constantly adding oil

 

I mean to lose that much oil it should literally be dripping on the ground while the engine is running if it's a leak.

 

But think about the fan being directly against the suspected leak and spraying it around. Dude, the spark plugs do not have oil deposits and the coolant is crystal clear -- what else could it be? Why would oil ever get inside the pulley if it's not coming from the socket inside of it? It's facing away from the rest of the engine and it's not somehow being blown that way by the fan because the fan is clean.

 

I'm not so sure about it. If it was dripping, I think it would lose muck more, like that much over 100 mi or less.

 

I've seen many GM 5.3 trucks with the notorious rear main seal plate leak, the underside of the truck is usually coated in oil but they only take a few quarts between changes. They don't generally leave a huge puddle unless they get really bad but if you let them sit and idle for awhile they will drip good size puddle on the floor.

 

If the fan was spraying oil around then oil would be everywhere.. under the hood, on the inner fenders, soaking the belt, etc. The frame below the engine would be soaked, it would be getting on the exhaust and you'd smell it burning

It's probably going out the exhaust, no matter what the plugs look like