Cylinder Head

To me its a hole in the engine block...some drilled to much there to replace a bolt ?

Guido

 

I agree with Guido. Perhaps the stud of the camcover broke of in the past and they retapped it to deep. However I would not use epoxy for this myself, but something on locktight basis, which also prevents oil from seeping out.

If it is the cam cover stud it should not leak anyway... the cam cover seal should not let the oil go to the stud unless the cam cover seal is broken. They often leak.

Dropping the engine is way drastic for this IMHO. Take off the cam cover first and see what you will find.

 

I had the aluminum timing cover from my Lotus Twin Cam engine welded due to a crack and it turned out great, but that was just a cover, not the head.

I would consult with a very good aluminum welder and see if he can repair it without transferring too much heat to the head. Hopefully it could be done without dropping the engine.

Also, Ferrari says they use special "secret" alloys for the heads/engine, not sure how that would influence the decision or the need to find someone who knows how to weld "secret" alloys.

Where on the head is it located? Hard to tell from the pic.

I was told that it is a good idea to disconnect anything electronic before welding around the engine too.

More knowledgeable folks will chime in for sure too.
Alden

Edit: I see you are planning to drop the engine anyway so that would make it easier.

 

I suspect someone drilled through it trying to redrill the oil drain holes. Either that or it was a valve cover stud repair gone wrong.

Fix will be very simple. No need to make an government aerospace job out of it. If someone tries to do that you are at the wrong place.

 

Correct!
They even weld cracks on cylinder heads between 2 valve openings.
No big deal for the right guy.

 

How much oil did you say was dripping? It apparently is not under much pressure. There is a jerry rig solution. Simply clean the hell out of the area and do a proper JB Weld patch. Several layers over time with larger and larger base diameter. This seems to be a simple leak. I would be reluctant to get in there with a welding rig melting and vaporizing good material unless a patch does not work. And if it is simply dripping so what?

I had a bad oil cooler leak on my 1986 3.2 and would add a quart every 500 miles till I rounded up one for less then the $2000 price for a new one. I have had cars that USED more then that! [1974 Vega station wagon fully autocross prepped but after 80,000 miles I would wait for the oil light to come on in a hard right turn and add three quarts. Worked every time!

Most of my oil leaks seem to be under control now. I know it does some leaking, but after many thousands of miles driving vigorously the oil stick still shows full. After an especially hot run, many of which I have been doing lately in preparation for the 1/2 mile drag race I plan to attend, I do get a pleasant oil smell. Smells like RACING!

 

Do you see a crack? It's difficult to see in the picture as it looks fine from the outside.

 

A badly done weld could introduce a very serious problem. With something this small I would do chewing gum before unleashing 90(?) amp metal vaporizor on the thing. This is not what I would call [in my daily driver world] an actual problem at all.