I would drain the oil into a very clean container, I'll bet there is coolant mixed and I'll bet it's from a crank in the block behind the pushrods. When I was building engines professionally it was a common area to find cracks.

 

if he has coolant in the oil it will only require the removal of the oil fill cap. that will reveal the coolant ..

PCV will also suck the coolant water vapors so a sludge color of the coolant.

 

Not necessarily true, he hasn't said if he's ran the engine after discovering the leak or if he has for how long. If it were me I'd be doing an oil change anyway after opening up the engine and discovering where he "thinks" he found a leak.

 

in the cold north east this time of year my method will reveal that coolant in oil .. water does build up under the oil fill cap in the cold north perhaps not CA... if the water vapor is coolant color then I would do pressure test see if air pressure blows out the fill cap .. place a plastic wrap over the hole see if it lifts up...simple ..

 

One thought here, as the LT1 has no water in the intake, you can still pressure test this deal with the intake off.

I thoughts on doing it are because I still would like to see it actually come out of the hole

 

What 95Wagon says ... do the following.


Get some dawn detergent ... just a couple of drops. Take a QTip and coat the inside of the threaded hole you think is leaking. Try and create a film all the way across the hole near the top. If you shine a flashlight down the hole, you want to see bubbles ready to go. Pressurize the cooling system with a pump (15 lbs is fine). Stick you finger in the valley and plug up the bottom side of that hole. If you get bubbles forming out the top side ... damn.


When done, the dawn won't hurt the engine, but clean it out so the bolt will hold properly anyway.


P.S. You are no where near the water jacket at that location. Sure feels like a leak spraying up from somewhere else, working down the bolt hole, not up, but you are seeing what you are seeing. Keep at it.

 

Got everything back together tonight, topped off the system with a Gallon of coolant and gallon of distilled. Threw in a new Tstat and gasket while it was apart. Pressureized the system with a very nice Snap On kit I borrowed and pumped it up to 15psi and it held pressure well and no leaks. Yea!!

Started it up and let it idle for 15 min or so shut it down for a bit and bleed off what I could. Repeated that and took it on a 15 minute drive and all looks good. Oil is still clean but I'm going to do a oil and filter replace tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed that it holds up.

Still seems odd where it appeared to leak from but trust me, it was not leaking from any other area I could see. It was actually seeping out the intake bolt.

Edit - 1 annoying issue is the Low Coolant Sensor is stuck and has caused issues in the past. Just going to swap out the coolant reservoir with a spare. For the time being ill just unplug the connector and keep an eye on the coolant level.