oil leak: 1986 dodge ram 50

Previous thread: "I have a horrendous oil leak and it has killed the starter.While i have the starter out I also plan on getting the leak under control.The valve cover poses no problem.Where I sense trouble is the cover on the side of the motor under the manifold.What does this cover and can oil leak from it.It is round on the front and about 3 inches wide.I can't quite see the back.What is the easiest way to go about getting to it?

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i also have an oil leak similar to this on my 2.0L 1986 Dodge Ram 50... oil is all over the intake side and underside of the engine. my starter is on its last breath now because it is coated in oil. i want to replace the starter but need to fix the leak first!

anyone experienced in determening where oil leaks originate?
thanks.

Well the most common source is the valve cover gasket, and that is probably your problem. Since you have what I believe should be a g63b 2.0, you don't have the plate under the intake manifold that the guy you quoted had.

i also need to replace the valve cover gasket... where can you order it from?

the whole side is pretty covered from right below the intake manifold to the oil pan... it doesn't seem to be coming up from as high up as the valve cover. could it be the head gasket? or would i notice other problems before that went out...

No, if it was your head gasket your engine would be running very crappy if it was leaking anything from it. Valve cover gaskets can leak a lot more oil then you would expect, especially if its never been replaced. Could also be coming from the fuel pump gasket, it is right there under/between the intake manifold.

oh really the fuel pump unit could leak oil? hmm... i will definitely start by replacing the valve cover gasket, that's so easy.

well this may be totally unrelated but: my truck has trouble starting in the mornings unless i help it with some gas (friends say, Choke), then for the first 5 minutes it idles really rough (kind of sputters) and in general the truck hesitates when you step on it. yes i know its a tiny motor but it feels extra slow. my feeling is that i should replace the whole mess of Mikuni with a Weber conversion kit. it would feel good to know that the carb is new even if it doesn't solve all my problems.

thanks for your advice, Josh, this is my first carb motor so i am learning lots!

yea, if your on the original stock carb its probably done for or going out. A weber is a nice upgrade as long as you dont have to worry about smog.

would the weber pass the sniffer but not the visual? because there are some shops in my area that don't perform the visual test. they just need the numbers.

also i've been seeing a lot of info saying you need to upgrade our 2.0L g63 Mechanical fuel pumps to an electric with a kill switch and all this madness... is this necessary or will the stock one pump enough for the 32/36? if you have any good resources for this info please pass it this way!

I had a similar problem on my 2.4 I was leaking oil like crazy.Yes I know it's a diff engine but same concept .I thought the oil was coming from below the valve cover.But ounce I took some stuff off the the top of the valve cover and looked closer it was the valve cover gasket.I picked up a gasket from napa swapped it out and it no longer had oil coating the engine and frame.