Alright, I have had an oil leak at the timing belt cover and front case. I'm just assuming that its the front main seal because its a Top Line seal, and everything else is new. I pulled the top cover off to look at the belt and looks like it has oil on it, not a lot but enough so that when you rub your finger on it you feel it. The question is, will oil on the belt mess it up? I want to replace the front main anyway, and when I do ill put a new T/B on it then. But I want to know if I should do it soon before the belt breaks. The belt/engine have about 10k miles on them so the belt is pretty new.

Any help will be app.
Vic

Red 2g GSX said:

Alright, I have had an oil leak at the timing belt cover and front case. I'm just assuming that its the front main seal because its a Top Line seal, and everything else is new. I pulled the top cover off to look at the belt and looks like it has oil on it, not a lot but enough so that when you rub your finger on it you feel it. The question is, will oil on the belt mess it up? I want to replace the front main anyway, and when I do ill put a new T/B on it then. But I want to know if I should do it soon before the belt breaks. The belt/engine have about 10k miles on them so the belt is pretty new.

Any help will be app.
Vic

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I wouldnt say so much as break. It could possibly skip a few teeth if enough oil gets on the belt. It would be better for you if you went ahead and changed the belt. I cant really tell you how far you will be able to go on the one that is on there, but your head and valves are at risk as long as that belt is getting oil on it.
Mike

Depends on where the oil is. Is it on the side's or the top of the timing belt? Or can you feel it on the teeth. If it is just on the side's or top you would be alright until you get around to changing it. I had an oil leak on my 2g that leaked oil onto the top and side's of the belt bit by bit but it never got on the teeth so it never prevented a problem. I just wouldn't wait overly long to do it.

You'll be okay for now, just no racing. Don't rev the engine too high. That will cause more stress to the belt. The oil won't make it break, it will weaken it and it will likely stretch before it breaks. This could cause it to skip teeth if it stretches too far.
Don't just assume that it's the front seal. Small leaks can come from the oil pump pulley seal, B/S pulley seal, and other areas. If you've done a B/S Eliminator recently, it's likely the bolt that used to hold the tensioner. I had a real problem with that area. I eventually put a washer and some slicone under the washer to keep it from leaking. Also check the freeze plug and the gasket on the oil filter housing for leaks. Just get a bottom end gasket set from any auto store or even the dealer and it will have everything that you need to fix any of the problem areas.

iamtall77 said:

The oil won't make it break, it will weaken it and it will likely stretch before it breaks. This could cause it to skip teeth if it stretches too far.

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Cam belts will not stretch. Oil will lead to delamination, and weakening of the teeth and their bond to the backing.

Welcome to my world I've tracked my leak to the oil pump seal behind the gear. I threw in some oil dye and got out my old black light to find it. I removed the 20 mile old belt and cleaned everything with brake cleaner. replaced the seal only to find it leaking again after the belt was reinstalled. Tomorrow im gonna attempt it again.

Damn Defiant beat me to it. I searched for like 30 minutes for picture's of belt that got delaminated.

Thanks for the responces, I think I'm gonna put the new belt on this weekend. But I want to fix the oil leak before I put the new belt on. Can anyone tell me if they have had problmes with oil leaks on the front case? If so where were they. Im gonna replace the front main seal with a new mitsu one, just because I dont think topline seals are too good anyway. But if there is a common place for them to leak ill look into that too.

Thanks,
Vic

The seals topline uses are probably not even made by topline, usually they are just metric seals. I would get it apart and find out exaclty what the cause is.