Joe wrote:

Have a Norfolk Island Pine that is about 10ft high with a trunk of
1.75" here in Bay Area of Northern California.
The tree seems to be healthy with lots of new growth.
So, the issue is that there is a fair amount of sap that oozes from
the side if the trunk that gets the greatest amount of sun exposure.

You probably have either a borer and the sap is coming out of a hole
created by a borer or you have bark split.

There is no single reason for bark splitting on trees. Excessively late
growth in the fall stimulated by warm temperatures, high humidity, and
high nitrogen levels can increase susceptibility of trees to bark split.

Fluctuating growth conditions may also cause splitting of bark. Dry
weather (which slows growth) followed by wet or ideal growth conditions
may cause an excessive or vigorous amount of growth leading to splits in
the bark.

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