Slight oil leak pooling at bottom of lower timing cover

[bsbllfit7]

as the title states i have a slight oil leak that is pooling at the bottom of the lower timing cover. If i clean the area with the engine off it wont leak anymore. If its still clean and i just start the car up to see where its leaking from it wont leak. When i go on longer drives or probably get into boost it begins to leak. There is no traces of oil on the timing belt whatsoever and its literally pooling and dripping off of the lower timing cover. I tried searching for people with similar problems but it didnt seem like any had the same issues i had. Im probably going to have to pull the lower cover but want to know in advance if anyone has had any experience with this. The weird thing is that the timing belt isnt getting oil on it whatsoever. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Sprnt76]

Are you getting small drips on the ground, with an oil trail on the driverside wheel?

 

[evo1rice]

Could be so many things... front case not sealing? cam seals? valve cover gasket?

I would remove all 3 timing belt covers and try to find where the leak comes from w/ a bright light. You'll likely see a trail from the leakage point.

 

[bsbllfit7]

Yes there are small drips from the cover but no spray on the inner wheel. Anyone have a link to a post for removal of the timing covers. And also valve cover and cam seals are in perfect condition no leakage up top.

Sent from my HTC EVO 4G

 

[evo1rice]

Don't remember exactly but to remove the lower you need to remove all the pulleys.

Then its just a matter of removing the small bolts evrywhere.

As for upper and middle you just need to remove the bolts around it.

Be careful with the middle one: its fragile in the center section.

 

[bsbllfit7]

Ok so just a pulley puller do get that big guy off I take it.

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[evo1rice]

I removed mine without a puller, I say leave the tbelt on if you can so as not to mess timing.

Just remove the ps belt, ac belt, and waterpump belt iirc, remove the pulleys and your free to unbolt the lower cover.

 

[Sprnt76]

I had a similar issue and after changing all gaskets, I found it was a o-ring in the oil pump. You might want to check there as well.

 

[bsbllfit7]

im thinking its going to be either a small gasket or the old BS pulley bolt (or was it the tensioner?). I know this can leak oil if you dont put rtv or thread locker on it and i honestly dont remember having that done.

 

[evo1rice]

Couldn't tell you about those. Can you recall when it started happening? Any new work done? That could be a good starting point ie: newly done tbelt & bs belt.

 

[bsbllfit7]

Haha I put a new engine in the car so could be anything

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[evo1rice]

Haha, that narrows it down. Good luck.

 

[Boomdeeze]

That bolt for the BS tensioner could verylikely be the culprit. I put thread locker on the threads and some blue high temp RTV on the flat part that comes in contact with the frontcase. No leaks what so ever and def wont come out. Could also be a leaky OFH gasket, I would take off the lower timing cover and I bet you find the culprit there.

 

[98blackeclipse]

Im having the same problem with my car. Im putting a quart of oil every week. Everything on the driver side of the engine is all full of oil.

 

[mosul210]

I had oil that would collect at the bottom near the oil filter housing and oil pressure sending unit. It turned out to be the power steering high pressure hose. It would leak on the power steering pump and all the way down. I'm not saying this is your issue, but something to think about if you dont see any oil after removing the timing cover.

 

[98blackeclipse]

I forgot to mention im also leaking power steering fluid, but its not that bad. Refilling it about once every 2 month.

 

[brian92tsiawd]

Im having the same problem with my car. Im putting a quart of oil every week. Everything on the driver side of the engine is all full of oil.

Thats not bad. A guy I know in town went through 1 1/2 gallons the other day. He had oil all over the driver side and come to find out it was an oil cooler line.

 

[bsbllfit7]

Power steering fluid seems fine and ill be tearing into it on Thursday which is my day off.

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[bsbllfit7]

took the cover off today and re tightened everything down there. Once i got it all tightened and cleaned up i put the crank pulley back on and left the cover off. I started her up and took her for a ride to get the oil hot and more thin. I then parked it and lifted it up and found the leak. It seems that its coming from the oil pan seal right at the front case. Those 3 bolts are tight but not stripped and has silicone under neath it but it still leaks. It only leaks as the oil gets more thin and hot. Any options for fixing this without having to drop the entire pan?? Can i lower it a little bit and then razor blade away the bad silicone and put some new silicone in there??? Or will i have to drop the entire pan and fix it that way.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Do it right pull the pan and then reseal it, easiest way and to be sure.

 

[bsbllfit7]

yup pans gonna get pulled and re do the whole thing, might do helicoil inserts on all 3 of the aluminum bolt holes as well. I have one in there now and its way better than the normal aluminum

 

[Dyenamic]

When you get the pan off check the gasket surfaces for gouges. Those pans can be tough to remove sometimes, so I wouldn't be surprised if someone just jammed a prybar in there and marred the surface.