Problem #5 - The Oil Leak

[knochgoon24]

It's now June '08. 209k miles.

I started leaving oil spots under my car every time I parked. Big spots. 8" diameter spots in about 5 hours. All I knew was that the oil was coming from behind the lower timing belt cover. I couldn't afford the downtime to fix it though. I was working 5 days a week 15 miles from my house. It had to wait until the end of August, when I planned to pull the engine and do a "refresher".

It's now August '08. 212k miles. I finally got the guts and the money to make pulling the engine worth while. I figured that while it was out, I'd do a little work.

Parts List:

• Timing Belt Kit
• All Coolant Hoses
• All Vacuum Hoses
• FMIC & Hard Piping
• All Gaskets
• Painted Engine
• Painted Valve Cover
• Accessory Belts
• 3" Turbo Back Exhaust
• Balance Shaft Elimination

It took me about a week to get everything apart and back together. It's a good thing the weather cooperated, since I had no garage to do this in. I'll let the pics tell the rest.

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Turns out, my suspicions were true. The front main seal had started to leak.

I cleaned up the engine, and put it all back in.

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But I didn't put the spark plugs back on correctly. I actually got the car to run on two cylinders before realizing my mistake. I thought that the sound was just the open downpipe. I put the exhaust all on, posted this video on youtube, then 20 min later, noticed my mistake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP5eQUFS6XE

After I got the plug wires swapped back, the car ran perfect. Not bad for my first engine pull.

 

[sarge281]

Ahhh.....yes, the famous rear main seal (timing seal). Let me tell you, I've owned two DSM's (a '94 1.8L Laser, and my current '95 TSI AWD), and they both had to have the timing belt/seal replaced. Twice on the Talon- it popped a timing belt at around 75K mi., and around 120K mi. the seal dried up and began leaking. It may be too late to bring this up, but when replacing the oil pressure (dummy light) switch and the oil pressure sensor, be really careful when ya thread them in, don't over-tighten them. The threads in that housing will crack, and then your out $75.+ for a new one. But, you sound like you know what your doing, good luck!