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Diffuser, that’s the word I was looking for

Looks like the little light distribution thingy for the keyhole ring.

BEST way to clean-out a gas tank is to haul it to a radiator shop, and let them "boil it out" in their radiator-cleaning tank. DO NOT blort a bunch of RTV under the flange of the oil pump drive. RTV that doesn't get squeezed between two clamped parts does nothing for sealing. Get a distributor gasket, cut a split in it, coat the gasket with sealer, (Permatex "hardening" sealer works for me) work the gasket into place. This will likely reduce the leak by 90+ percent, the only leakage would be at the split in the gasket. Even with the split, you might get lucky and have zero leakage. If you take the entire drive plug out, install a new O-ring...and the gasket for added protection. This thing exists because otherwise there'd be nothing to drive the oil pump; or it wouldn't be removable. this is all that remains of the distributor that the engine family was designed to have. Once the engine went to distributorless ignition, only the oil pump drive was needed. The only reason this thing is a pain in the ass is because you have to take the head off to remove it. If you could pull it out easily, a new O-ring every ten years would be no big deal.

Its part of the oil pump, Schurkey has a nice pic of the drive shaft completely removed but would yell at me for posting it again. That shaft rotates a hex connection rod that spins the oil pump on the bottom of the engine. I dont know why the engine designers left a weak point for that drive shaft to leak on the top of the engine, it doesnt make sense to me why it would be there.

This is new territory for me so I'm learning! Whatever I learn here will be applied to the STE as well. I thought it might be the oil pump but wasn't 100% sure. Yes, I've heard the stories. That sounds like a good plan. Might give it a shot. Just want to make sure it's not leaking.

Honestly surprised you dont know as much as your into these cars. Thats the infamous oil pump drive shaft that in order to change the oring seal on the LQ1 requires the head to be pulled to remove. It loves to leak oil. If its leaking you might be able to lift it slightly and pick the old seal out. Then as you rotate the shaft squeeze some RTV under the lip all the way around. Looks like that was done before at some point. IIRC one member ground the head down to get the shaft out without removing the head.

I've been talking to NCTyphoonKid and I think I'm just going to flush it with clean fresh gas. The tank is beautiful inside as I don't see any rust thru the pump opening. Hey, since your available here right now, I've been looking thru some threads. Do you know what this is? It has silicone around it and was wondering if I need to do any preventative maintenance on it. I don't want oil leaks. I'm replacing the intake gaskets right now.

Glad to have found this thread. I'm in the process of replacing the intake gaskets on my LQ1. Is this the O-ring gasket that you guys are referring too? If so, does this go under the Oil Distribution Cover? I'm also wondering about oil coming from this area in the 1st pic. There is silicone around the base of it and looks like a failure point.