I may have found my loss of power (WITH PICS)

[cleatus12r]

Bob, I can send you the bolt (I have a ton of extras) but being that I have removed quite a few of those, I can say with near absolute certainty that the sealant that holds those plenums on is nearly bulletproof and a leak there would be REALLY wet with oil....not just a bit damp and dirty like yours is. In addition, the bolt hole is a "blind" hole which means that it doesn't go through the casting into a place where it will leak through the bolt hole.

[Robert6401]

Cody, what if I was to tell you that even though there isn't much oil right there, I do have quite a bit of oil in the valley and all over the backside of the engine, and it's new, since the last couple of weeks.

I was actually trying to figure out where that was coming from, too, but haven't had any luck yet.

Iisnt it possible that all these things are connected? Increased noise, loss of power under load, everything sprayed with oil, and now this missing bolt????

[cleatus12r]

I suppose it's possible....as is anything. I am a bit concerned about just sticking a bolt in it and hoping that the silicone actually seals it up again. Once the cured silicone is ripped apart, it's no good. You can try it though!


I'll send you a bolt (you may have to send me your address again ) but I can ship it Monday.

On edit:

The oil that I'm noticing in the pictures is pretty common of loose clamps on the orange hoses from the "y" into the plenum. I've fixed a couple "rear main seal leaks" just by tightening those clamps.

[Robert6401]

Thanks for all the help Cody. Really, if you can just tell me the particulars of the bolt then I will just go to the autoparts store and get one. They should have it, right?

I will recheck the clamp on the orange boots tomorrow.

Thanks again.

[907DAVE]

The bolt is a 8mmX 1.25 and is 5/8 long.

The bolt that was suppose to be in there looks like this.





IIRC it was for the ground wire that went to your AIH.

On edit it looks like the ground wire is still there but it doesn't look like it is hooked up.....or is it?

Sorry but I am with Cody on this one.

[Robert6401]

The AIH was removed when we installed my gauges. I didn't actually do it, but my friend did. That may be when the bolt was loosened or something. My boost gauge plugs into an AIH delete plug.

[Jeremy]

On your oil leak....

Since you have an 03, check the two high pressure oil hose fittings that connect to the left side of the HPOP. The O-ring on those fitting can fail(especially on 02's and 03's), and can cause a valley/rearmain appearence oil leak. It can be tough to see, but it will appear to have a washed down look to it, just under each of the two fittings. You can't quite see the HPOP in your pictures....

On your bolt, I'll bet its in the Valley still, look around and fish around with a magnet. You'll probably find it.