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Need to find Oil Leak ASAP (with pictures) PLEASE HELP!!

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TeclipseFTW

10+ Year Contributor
193
1
Jan 12, 2009
Lees Summit, Missouri
I have a pretty bad oil leak that needs to be fixed. I am trying to determine the origin of the leak. The area under the main seal looks too clean for oil to be coming from there.. I have outline the part where I think the origin of the leak is from in green. I think it is behind that plate, there is a big oil spot on the underside of the waterpump (as seen in the picture). Is it possible that oil is coming out from the top of the plate outlined in green, and shooting onto the water pump? what is behind that plate exactly?

Other symptoms. I feel like my oil pressure sensor is going out.. I start the car and the oil pressure reads normal for about 10 seconds, after that though it shoots through the roof! way to HIGH! now to me it seems like that means there is a blockage, or the sensor is going out.

Are the problems related perhaps? Please tell me your input. surprisingly the timing belt is free of oil.. but the three accessory belts are coated in oil.

Also, I have included a picture with a red circle and a question mark. Is that the oil pressure sensor?

PLEASE HELP! thanks

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Easiest way to find a oil leak is to clean everything really good and put the belts back on with out the timing cover on start it up and watch it for a little while with a flash light.If it is leaking pretty steady you should be able to find the leak.The oil pressure could be high because the balance shafts are removed.And yes that is the oil pressure sending unit.
 
It looks like you got some oil coming from the t belt tensioner. You need to use a thread sealer on those bolts. The stuff around the water pump looks like it might be axle grease. Check if you have a hole or tear in your boot.
 
I just had my front case Off. Basically everything behind that case is pressurized with oil. A few of the case bolts go through the case into an oil port so it could possibly be coming out of them. Honestly if your timing belt and everything down there is oil soaked your gonna have to replace it so while your there you mine as well take off the front case and replace the seals and gaskets. Mine was leaking in the back because a bolt worked its way out and thank god didnt shred my timing belt and grenade the motor.
 
Well that is the odd part, my timing belt is clean! But my accessory belts are soaked. What bolts need to be sealed? The auto tensioner is brand new. How long could I run the engine with just the timing belt and the waterpump belt!? Also, the oil pressure spikes out of view on the gauge, like the sensor is bad or there is blockage. From the picture does it look like the leak is from the front case?
 
How bad is the leak? Is it making large puddles, are you having to top off oil every other day? I would also suggest cleaning everything. Id personally take a pressure washer to it, let it dry then drive around and check on it to see if you can tell where the leak is coming from.
 
You need to put thread sealer like permetex #2 on the 2 bolts that hold the hydraulic tensioner . You want to run it untill you see the leak and getting a real oil pressure gauge might b a good idea. Also the leak might b a pin hole on the plug for the balance shaft.
 
As someone else mentioned earlier you may have a bad cam seal, you don't see them because they are hidden behind the cam gears, rather a PIA to change. Oil leaking from one of them will drip down the head and onto lower placed components (water pump, tensioner etc.). I hope that matter around the freeze plug where the balance shaft used to be is a sealant that you used as a way of sealing it, it looks like oil emulsion from the pictures.
 
Its jb weld on the balance shaft plug. The oil on the water pump is on the underside on the pump housing. Like I mentioned before, the timing belt itself is clean. no oil. So I really doubt that it is coming from the cam seals.
I only mention the oil pressure because this is a recent development. The OEM gauge has worked fine for 250,000 miles so I am wondering now why it is spiking while idling. Its going through a quart of oil every week or so. I just figured that with such a big oil spot on the UNDERSIDE of the water pump would be a sure tell sign that there is where the leak is
 
With the odd oil pressure situation you're reporting, I'm putting my money on an oil pump problem...especially if you're using an aftermarket pump. Perhaps the pressure relief valve is stuck closed and the oil is pushing past the seal behind the oil pump gear.
 
The oil pump behind the front case has less than 15,000 miles on it, and it is oem as far as I know.. although the oil leak has been occurring for 3 months now, the oil pressure problem is only within the last 2 weeks. Maybe the leak led to another problem? I am debating wether or not to take off the front case and look at the pump, replace the gaskets/seals and hope for the best, OR putting the waterpump belt and the timing belt back on after cleaning up that side with some brake cleaner and watching to see where the leak is coming from.. What should I do?
 
Ok so here are some updated pictures. The first is a picture of the main seal that I took, It looks there is a slight sliver of oil on the bottom half..

Also, the second picture. I circled in red 2 spots where oil has built up into a drip 3 weeks after the car has been shut off.. What exactly is this part called? It has never been replaced.. could the problem be originating from this part? Again, those oil drips formed after I wiped them off initially and the engine has not been running for weeks now.

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i dont remember offhand what bolts have pressure behinf them but the more i think about it the more it looks like it could be your oil filter housing seal. i personally RTV''d both sides of the front case gasket and the oil filter housing gasket. even one of the bolts on the engine mount bracket go into an oil passage. any bolt that comes out with oil on the threads and tip then you know they are the ones that had oil flowing near them. either way i would do it all.. no sence in doing as little as needed only to find out you didnt fix the problem. my old belt had been soaked in oil, had a front case bolt backed out and rubbing on it and the intake cam had jumper a tooth from it being oil soaked and that was just from my valve cover gasket leaking.

before..
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after...
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sorry i just like showing it off.. i did all this in 2 days over labor day holiday..
 
I saw that seal picture and did you replace this front main seal? (I go with Justin that you got a pump problem and it's blowing past the front seal with all of that excess pressure you're reading)

Thing I worry about with seals is that: When they start to leak, get them changed out pronto due to the teflon has all but hardened up and can get hard enough to score what ever metal that is rotating within the center of the seal.

And this score can be bad enough were no replacement seal can cure any leak .. and main seals are the most vernable to cause damage to the rotating metal due to the extreme heat they're exposed to.
 
So if the leak started before high pressure reading, do you still believe that it is a problem with the oil pump?

It is impossible for anyone on here to tell you where it is leaking with just that picture. You need to clean it up real well and start it and watch it to see.
 
Well Columbia is only about an hour away, you could drive over and help a fellow dsm friend out! :) at this point I am Waiting to get paid so I can buy parts. Then I will clean it up and run it to see where the leak is. I will repost When I have done that.
I really appreciate all of your help and input guys. Great website, great people
 
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