I've got a slightly unwell zetec, it's loosing oil but for the life of me I can't work out where from. She seems to leak only when running, as I'm only getting a small amount in the drip tray, I'm guessing from the lost oil collecting and dripping.
The leak does seem to be on the inlet side and there's oil on the block well above the sump join. However the oil sender shows no sign of a leak. So I'm thinking it must be a camshaft oil seal, but I don't really want to start pulling the engine out just to check.

So my real question: are there any cleaver steps I can follow that will allow me to, positively, identify where the leak is coming from?
I was thinking of attaching paper sheets to the engine and going for a drive (fire extinguisher at the ready!)...

Cheers and TIA
Chris

Clean, degrease, dry and then talcum powder all over. Then run the engine. Any leaks should be very apparent as dark traces.

HTH

Mike

Another vote for talc or chalk dust.

This is with regards to a Silvertop, Blacktops are dfferent. Some years ago I used a pattern cam cover seal, never again. It fitted OK with no oil leak but after a few weeks I spotted a small leak but before I got the chance to investigate and fix it the car would not start. Normal checks to begin with, plugs out, bingo, the centre gallery was full of oil which had contaminated the plugs and leads. Took off cam cover and the seal had stretched and left the grove in cam cover in several places, the worst was in the middle inlet side. The rotating cam had eaten bits of the seal which were nowhere to be seen. It was a right sod to get all the oil out of the plug area but eventually did it. The plugs were wrecked but the leads were OK after cleaning.

In 10 years of Zetecs I have always used genuine seals etc except on this one occation. I probably saved about 50p but it cost me a set of plugs at about £20, luckily it failed to start at home in the garage. Think its fair to say the pattern part was made of a very poor material that reacted to oil and heat, not a desirable feature in an engine part.

I found the bits of seal in the sump a couple of years later, never caused a problem.

Ditto on the silvertop. Mine blew out one of the semi-circular bits of the cam cover seal at the back of the engine on the motorway. Stopped at the next services and managed to get it sorted but there was oil everywhere. Needed a litre of oil to top up.

Cheers for the advice guys!!!
Really like the idea of talc chalk dust, I think I was heading in that direction with the paper route, but clearly that's not very workable. Also nice to know of common (yes it is a silver top) issues.

Thanks very much :-)

Quick update:
Cam cover gasket on order, managed to find 20 mins to get out to the garage to try and locate the source of the leak and came across this bit, and wondered a: what it is and b: could it be the source of the leak?


Description

could that be the oil pressure switch as on my mrs little corsa hers went and it was blowing through the plug connector 5 quid later and with the help from a friendly tyre bay to fit it as we were miles away from home

Looks like the cam position sensor to me.
It could leak, but will be obvious.

Tis indeed the cam position sensor. Not normally required on an aftermarket install, thats why there is no plug on it but its normally easier to leave it in place instead of reinventing the wheel and making a cover to do the job. If you remove it there should be an "O" ring in it, if its present its doubtful it is leaking, mine never has.