What's an oil exhaust ducting?

So I found some oil leaks coming from this area (see picture), the parts manual says that it is "oil exhaust ducting" does anyone know what this is? So looks like the o-rings might be bad, have anyone else had this issue before? It sits right above the exhaust manifold.

TIA
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Oil drain tube. Probably not leaking there. More probably a bad valve cover gasket letting oil run there.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I thought it was the valve cover too, but it is actually leaking from the bottom part of the "L" tube... weird.

 

Brian,

how much work is it to replace a bad valve cover gasket ?? Is it very $ ??
I believe I have one too which is leaking a little. Need to get it fixed soon.....
Thanks.

 

Wait until you need a clutch or major service. It is a PIA.

 

Here is a pic
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Oil does not flow uphill. Your leak is above it.

 

Occasionally it does. I've had instances on my cars where an oil drip was getting blown upwards by engine bay airflow. Makes it more exciting to find the problem.

But that does look like the leak is coming from above the tube. It builds up on the tube, and then drips off. With oil constantly pooled against the VC gasket, it will come out very slowly even if the gasket looks fine.

 

Not sure if you guys can see from the picture, the area above the tube is clean and clear. So I think it may be leaking from the top o-ring of the tube.

Also this is the only tube that's dirty out of all 4.

Thanks

 

It did last time he rolled his car

Oh, I guess it was down then too.

 

Really hard to tell from the pic where it might be coming from. It could still be an area above, if it's dripping of a downward pointing edge instead of flowing down the side of the head.

 

Looking at the pic it could very likely be the lower o ring is bad, allowing the crankcase pressure to blow oil up the outside of the tube. The oil/dirt pattern reminds me of the crud accumulated from a draft tube.

 

Now I buy that answer!

Thanks

 

Crankcase pressure? Nope, not on one of those. They have crankcase vacuum.

 

I don't think that's the case here. I'd think there's little to no air pressure there, and it would hamper oil drainage.

 

If you run an engine with the oil cap off, you can feel the crankcase air pulses as the pistons move up and down. There's no real flow, but the air moves back and forth rapidly. Any oil mist in suspension with the air then has the opportunity to make a mess anywhere it contacts.

 

I think the valve cover is ok...

Here are more pictures
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Have you ever studied the crankcase breathing characteristics of a drysump motor? The oil pump suctions out twice as much as it pumps in causing a vacuum in the crankcase. That plus the various vacuum lines attached to the intake pretty much assure an absence of crankcase pressure. If there is no air there is no energy wasted in the pistons pushing it up and down.

 

Brian,

I took few pictures of my small oil leak over the weekend. I circled with red were the oil
drips from. It drips below that nut and then down into the belly pan. What cover is that ??
Bad seal under that cover ??? Thanks.
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End cover gasket leaks are very common on 360. The oil pools behind it. Very easy fix.

 

Thanks Brian.

 

Cause of the oil leak found. One side of the connecting tube is missing a rubber o-ring gasket completely. Maybe my engine was built on a Monday after a long holiday...
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Robin,
All this work to replace one missing gasket? Damn...

 

Yeah, can you believe it! Many thanks to the factory Ferrari technician who hand built this motor. I wonder what else he forgot....

 

I suppose the good news is you found the problem and took care of it.