94 Wagon with 170k KM

[oldschool]

Well, I was snooping around the engine today and noticed sludge behind the engine block, and engine oil (newer from recent oil change) sitting on top of the block under the spark plug area on the passenger side.

Is the head gasket leaking? There is no oil dripping to the ground, however.

When I drive, there are slight rattling sound, either from the engine itself, or something sounds loose, like a heatshield rattle.

Thoughts? Should I replace the head gasket? What other seals should I replace? Or just leave it until the engine dies?

[loganmossmusic]

My car gets sludge back there simply because its dirty and gets wet. I havent gotten around to cleaning my engine bay yet. I would check your coolant first of all, if it smells like its got oil in it or its milky and bubbly, its very possible you blew a headgasket. Clean off the engine as best as you can with some SimpleGreen and a hose, and see if the oil comes back.

[99' legacy l]

It dosnt sound like you have a blown headgasket to me, if your leaking oil externaly near your headgaskets its probibly more likely your valve cover gasket.

[Wiscon_Mark]

A headgasket leak would cause oil to be in the coolant, most likely. I would say you probably have a rear main seal leak, which is common, and not really a big deal unless you start leaking copious amounts of oil. Headgasket issues are very uncommon on the EJ22

As for the rattle, it is most likely a heatshield.