Oil leak and oil on timing belt

[kiwidog]

I've searched all over for this problem I'm having and haven't gotten a definite answer or even an odea of what to check for for what's going on with my car.

So pretty much I got home one night from work and then took off in wife's car a little later and when I came back I noticed a wet spot underneath my car. So I checked it out and it was fresh oil leaking out from somewhere, haven't been able to tell exactly where yet-most likely the timing cover, and there was a hugh amount of it in just the couple hours that it sat after getting home from work.

The next day I pulled off the top timing cover and the belt was covered in oil, more so on the engine side then on the side facing the shock tower, and it wasn't so much as it was dripping or anything but there was a noticable sheen of oil on the belt.

One last thing I checked was the spark plugs. Now I can't remember which way the cylinder numebrs go but the 2 plugs on the passenger side looked pretty good, there was a little bit of white on the tip but nothing too bad. The other 2 on the driver side where not so good, mainly it's the plug closest to the timing belt that has me worried. When I took it out it was pretty black and sooty (sp?) looking and smelled of oil and gas really bad, the plug next to it was black and stuff as well but only smelled like oil a little but not gas.

I know my valve stem seals are shot as the car has been smoking (blue) after it's been idling for awhile and sometimes a little wisp under hard acceleration. This probably explains some of the oil smell and stuff but not the distinct smell of gas on my one plug. And as far as the oil leak I've heard it could be the cam seals, which I checked and it doesn't look like those, or it could be the oil pump or some other seal in the crankcase area.

Pretty much I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas of what could be causing the leaking and the gas smell on the spark plug. Just give me some kind of an idea on what to check and look for, I've been without the car for 4 weeks now and it sucks. I have a second car but it's down as well due to needing a few new parts and not having the money to get them so I'm without a frickin car right now and I'm going crazy. Any help or direction would be appreciate.

Thanks, Jeff

 

[viprez586]

Pull off the lower timing belt cover for further inspection.
Cylinders go 4-3-2-1 from left to right if your standing in front of the car looking at it. #1 is right next to the cams just to clarify. Pop in some standard 7131 NGK BPR6ES plugs and gap them to .028" might as well get some new wires if they haven't been replaced recently. If it still runs bad or has the same spark plug condition, varify your injectors are working correctly and your timing is correct.

 

[kiwidog]

Well the plugs and wires are only about 4 months old and I had checked the plugs about a month prior to this happening and they looked great, they didn't look bad or have the gas and oil smell until this oil leak started. I'll have to check out the injectors to see if they are working ok and the timing when
I get the chance. I'm thinking I need to get it on a lift to check the bottom cover area and see if I can find anything. Thanks for some suggesitons on what to look for.

 

[dSmgs-T]

sounds like it could possibly be your cam seals...

 

[kiwidog]

Would the cam seals leaking really be enough to cause a pool of oil underneath the car and everything under and around the bottom of the timing cover to get soaked in oil?

 

[dSmgs-T]

cam seals will cause oil to sit in the bottom of your timing cover and around the belt, im not positive about it dripping all the way down but that would make sense. how many miles are on the head and cams?

 

[kiwidog]

I have no idea how many miles are on it. I bought the car off my friend when he blew a hole in the block in the old engine. He ended up having a freind of his, who owns a shop and works on alot of DSM's, put a newer engine in it and pretty much put it back to stock. I eneded buying it from him and fixed some stuff and it ran good and now this came up. I know the valve stem seals are bad but like I said I have no idea how many miles are on the engine.

 

[RoasT BeeF]

Would the cam seals leaking really be enough to cause a pool of oil underneath the car and everything under and around the bottom of the timing cover to get soaked in oil?

Yes. It could also be the front main seal, oil pump sprocket seal, balance shaft sprocket seal, or even the front over gasket. You wont know until you take off the lower timing belt cover and inspect.

 

[kiwidog]

Yes. It could also be the front main seal, oil pump sprocket seal, balance shaft sprocket seal, or even the front over gasket. You wont know until you take off the lower timing belt cover and inspect.

That's kinda what I figured it would come down to. I changed my insurance to storage the other day so I only have to pay like $8 a month for that and it looks like I'll be starting a tear apart and rebuild earlier than I expected. I'm just have to wait until my roommate is done with building his evo so I can get the garage to work on my car.

Thanks for the help guys, I was hoping it might be a quick and easy fix as I miss driving my car but I wasn't holding my breath.

 

[Defiant]

My bet's on the front main crank seal.

 

[GettinPaper]

My bet's on the front main crank seal.

Actually i just went through this and had oil pouring out of my car
and it was coming from the valve cover area and getting all over
the cams/timing belt, it ended up being the camshaft seals..
(I got the head "fully assembled" from the machine shop)
Actually there were no camshaft seals i just put them in.. ( I don't know how the machine shop forgot to put them back in)
but i'd take a look and see if your's are okay to knock
it out of the ballpark..


Just remove the timing belt, cams, and the 2 closest cam caps to the cams
and replace the camshaft seals.. theres no need to remove the camshafts.









And i didn't look at the post date.
Damnit