High oil pressure, leaking on timing side, wet timing belt

[Lambiablo]

Hey Guys,

I have a 6 bolt I recently built (approximately 1200 miles or so on the new build). The engine is bored 20 over (wiesco pistons on eagle rods), new front cover, eliminated balance shafts etc. I began seeing some oil on the ribbed side of the timing belt and cam gears as soon as I began getting into a little boost, which was around 500 miles of break in driving.

I know that eliminating the balance shafts increases base oil pressure, and I feel that the oil pressure is to blame for my leaking issue. I have already ported my oil filter housing, which did help. Prior to porting, I easily would reach an excess of 100 psi when getting into the throttle, this was not even close to red-line either. Now it generally stops around 90 psi, and maybe creeps up to 95 when I approach red-line.

I know the balance shafts have been eliminated on these cars thousands of times now, and I was hoping someone could possibly give me some insight on this issue since I am definitely not the first to encounter it. I have not yet been able to pinpoint where oil is leaking on the timing side, perhaps the high oil pressure pushed out the cam seals slightly and oil is now slowly seeping by? Other than the seals, I'm not sure what else where the oil could be coming from.

The only other possibility I have considered is that I am getting a bit of crankcase pressure. Has anyone seen a wet timing belt as I have described from a leaking valve cover or oil pan?

Thanks for any help, I have been trying to sort this out for some time now.

 

[007jimmy]

it could be leaking from multiple places on that side of the motor. the valve cover, oil pump housing, crank seal, oil filter housing and front main gasket to name a few. i would pull your timing covers and clean everything real good and then look for the highest point it starts to run down.

 

[Lambiablo]

Well I did remove the entire timing cover about a month ago and have driven it a few times like that, I have sprayed engine degreaser on that side of the engine, and blew it dry with an air hose. I have tried to keep a close eye on where the oil is coming from, I even have dye in the oil and I have used a black light. It is tough to determine because it seems to end up getting slung everywhere almost immediately after driving a bit. It's not a lot of oil that's leaking, but just enough to accumulate and drip occasionally from the lowest point of the front case.

I am getting close to finishing a catch can setup that I hope to eliminate the possibilities of valve cover and crankcase pressure in general. I have another (better condition) valve cover that I have fitted with 2 -10AN fittings to run to catch cans and ultimately to the turbo inlet pipe. I've been crossing my fingers that this will magically fix the problem, but I'm obviously skeptical, time will tell.

 

[007jimmy]

just a quick thought on this but when you did your balance shaft elimination what kit did you use? I only ask because im in the process of building an evo 9 motor and the guys at extremepsi told me to make sure i JB welded the one plug in because it may leak but that, the oil pump shaft seal and the front mail are the only ones that are on the bottom end of the motor to where it would be hitting the belt and getting flung.. it could be coming from the oil pan or oil filter housing and traveling backwards as well if its on the smooth side of the belt. if the ribs of the belt are wet with out then its definitly one of the first 3..

 

[LOLVTEC]

Well since there's some oil by your cams, your valve cover might be leaking. If you have oil at the bottom it could be crank seal.

 

[Lambiablo]

Thanks for the ideas/thoughts guys. 007jimmy, if I remember right I got the kit from extremepsi. Also, I did put a bead of jbweld around the delete plug as you mentioned, I had not even read to do that anywhere before but figured it would be a good idea.

I hope to have my new valve cover and catch can setup on the car in a few weeks, I do know I'm getting a bit of crankcase pressure. The dipstick is slightly pushed out after a little boost. I do know for sure that my valve cover is leaking a bit in a couple different places, I just cannot tell exactly where if it is leaking on the timing side. I also believe my pan leaks, I have plans for a new pan with a welded AN fitting for the return line (2 birds w/ one stone).

So I'm really crossing my fingers that these two things make a difference.