Oil Leak Near Timing Belt near top of motor

[Clinical]

Hey guys ever since I got my talon it has had a slight oil leak here.

It doesn't get on my belt, it just runs down the block.
This video i made pretty much shows/explains it.

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[BIRDCLAWTSi]

either the cam seals are leaking or the valve cover gasket is leaking into the timing cover. maybe even headgasket...

 

[Hitmachine101]

mine leaks in the same place,, what do you guys think? i thought i was just the valve cover gasket???????

 

[FactoryChrome]

I'd be likely to believe the cam seal is bad... but there is also the chance it is the vc gasket. I would doubt it's the hg. VC gasket can be screwed up easily if you don't thoroughly clean the mating surfaces and put little dabs of silicone in the corners of where the end cam caps meet the head. Hope that helps you out. I used neon UV dye to find my leak, and I recommend it to anyone else looking to find a leak. The easiest thing to do is to use some brake cleaner to clean off the area where the leak is suspected to be at... then run the car and look for the fresh leak w/ the UV dye.

 

[LiquidX]

Try to clean the surrounding area thuroly with some sort of degreaser. Once it's all clean start the car and look for a leak at idle. If nothing shows, try bliping the throttle at the TB. Oil pressure rises with RPM and may show your leak that way. If that doesn't work, take it for a quick spin hitting boost and look again. If you still cannot locate the leak use FactoryChromes idea and use a UV dye in the oil to track where any leaks are coming from.

 

[tunethis]

Have you removed the upper timing belt cover and looked behind there? Does this happen at idle or after driving and boosting? Like others have suggested, it could be cam seals or valve cover gasket. If there are no leaks behind the upper timing cover, the oil may be coming from an exhaust manifold stud hole.

 

[Clinical]

Have you removed the upper timing belt cover and looked behind there? Does this happen at idle or after driving and boosting? Like others have suggested, it could be cam seals or valve cover gasket. If there are no leaks behind the upper timing cover, the oil may be coming from an exhaust manifold stud hole.

I've removed the top cover but haven't seen anything.

I actually drove without ever hitting boost really for about a week and didn't notice my oil ever go down.

I think it may just happen in boost, because it's good enough I could notice it after a night of a couple hours of fun.

 

[FactoryChrome]

Like I said, clean off the area that is dirty from the leaked oil, go drive the car, then go look again and it should be obvious where the oil is leaking from.

 

[tunethis]

I've removed the top cover but haven't seen anything.

I actually drove without ever hitting boost really for about a week and didn't notice my oil ever go down.

I think it may just happen in boost, because it's good enough I could notice it after a night of a couple hours of fun.

Mine leaked under the same circumstances. It only leaked during boost. Not at idle or while cruising out of boost. However mine leaked pretty heavy and leaked all over my timing belt. I replaced my cam seals. They were hardened and cracked. I haven't been able to test the car yet since I'm wainting on a part to come in.

This is what the 19 year old cam seals looked like...

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[Never Satisfied]

I had a similar leak that I chased for 6 months. Replaced every gasket I thought could be bad. Turned out to be the cam seals. They weren't damaged, it was even worse. For whatever reason, Clearwater didn't put the seals in when they remanufactured the head. I never even thought that to be a possibility. Just glad I wasn't the one that shelled out the cash for the head.