My new engine has 700 miles on it and I noticed one of the intake manifold bolts has oil buildup around the bolt. I also noticed the starter is covered in oil also. The engine is a GM crate 350 -w-190hp What should I look for. I used leak detector dye and all the oil is coming from internally. Thanks Nick

The four intake manifold bolts located at the corners of the manifold do not require any type of sealant on the bolt threads, however, all other intake manifold attachment bolts do infact need some type of sealant on the threads......I use basic rtv sealant........gets the job done.


These intake manifold bolts require sealant on the threads because the bolts pass thru the cylinder heads and enter the area of the lifter valley (exposed to crank case pressures and oil splashing around........oil splashes on the threads and the crank case pressure eventually pushes the oil up the threads and out onto the top of the intake manifold............seems like the employee who installed the manifold may have been sleepy and forgot the sealant.

As for the starter being covered in oil.......

I would first seal the the leaking manifold bolt threads......and then de-grease the engine ("Purple Power" detergent works great on fresh oil, no scrubbing.....just soak the oil with the PP.....wait a few minutes and hose it of.....) Then drive the vehicle as normal. If the starter again becomes covered with oil, I would look at the seal where the distributor mounts on the intake manifold. If that area looks free of oil, I would next suspect the passenger side valve cover gasket. If the valve cover gasket looks like it is doing it'* job, I would next suspect the oil pan gasket was not torqued correctly and is allowing oil to leak past it and onto the starter. If the oil pan gasket is doing what it is supposed to be doing properly, I would next suspect the rear main seal.....This would be "worse-case-scenario".

Thanks so much. I did purple stuff the engine then put the dye in the oil. Blacklight shows green from up around valve cover area but its dried up. Oil on starter wet and green color. Only the inside manifold bolts have the oil build up, wet and green. Are you saying to back the manifold bolt all the way out and seal threads or back out enough to just seal the bolt head? Yes the clown that replaced my engine took short cuts I am slowly finding out and having to redo myself.Thanks for your help. B Nick

Totally remove them, clean them off, then apply the sealant, then torque them back down to specs.
I am pretty sure I used the following when I did mine.

Permatex 59214 High Temperature Thread Sealant

Yes, remove them completely, clean the threads to make sure they are free of any oil resudue and then apply sealant to the threads.

No need to apply sealant to the threads near the head of the bolt......just seal the lower half of the threads (which screws into the hole). And tighten them to spec.....

I think the bolts should be 25 ft lbs of torque......don't quote me on that though.

All this sounds like plenty for me to do. I want to thank yall for taking time to send the information. It may take a week or so before I get time to try these things. I will post what I run into when I get done. Any more info is appreciated. Thanks B Nick

Cool, let us know how it goes!
Hoping it goes well!