Timing Belt Oil Leak

[Dsmturbo]

Hey guys I'm trying to track down the dreaded timing belt oil leak. A little background, it's a built 6 bolt into a 2g with only about 2500 miles on the motor. Originally I was slightly concerned about high oil pressure but I'm not sure if high oil pressure would be the culprit behind this leak or if it's just from a poor install?

I've researched a bit and I know some of the common oil leaks are from the cam shaft seals and crankshaft area. However those don't seem to be my problem as the oil leak seems to originate somewhere around the tensioner pulley and pours down, but I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly where it's coming from.

I've pulled off the timing covers to check for the leak and then cleaned everything up and used some UV dye to narrow down the issue as you can see in the pictures below.

I'm going to obviously be replacing the timing belt, tensioner/idler pulleys, auto tensioner, and water pump but I want to make sure the leak is fixed so all that work and money isn't for nothing. Could it be the tensioner pulley itself? Does the tensioner arm bolt intersect an oil gallery? Is there anything behind that that can be leaking? Any ideas on where/what is leaking please let me know! Thanks! Hopefully the pictures below help.

Cam seals/Head looks clean, no leaks

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Oil pooling/leaking around tensioner pulley area

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[ThunderChild]

I tried to find a pic just like the one chrysler kid put up, but failed. That's exactly the area I'd be looking at

 

[Dsmturbo]

Thanks Chrysler Kid and Tametalon, I really appreciate the help!

When removing the front case what else needs to be removed besides the usual timing belt parts? Do I need to remove the oil pan?

Also while doing this is there anything else that could be a potential leak inside the front case other than the front case gasket itself? Would you recommend replacing/checking anything else while I'm in there? Thanks again!

 

[spiritturbo]

Thanks Chrysler Kid and Tametalon, I really appreciate the help!

When removing the front case what else needs to be removed besides the usual timing belt parts? Do I need to remove the oil pan?

Also while doing this is there anything else that could be a potential leak inside the front case other than the front case gasket itself? Would you recommend replacing/checking anything else while I'm in there? Thanks again!

Sorry for your trouble, man. Keep us posted.

 

[chrysler kid]

I believe you are correct, the oil pan needs to be removed to acess the oil pick up tube to remove the oil pump/front case

You will need to remove the crank seal as well, typically if you order the front case gasket it comes with a kit for the oil pump gasket including the oil pump seal, the crank seal, the balance shaft seal, etc. I would also check the plug next to the oil pump shaft on the outer case.

To be honest I would rather keep the balance shafts in the car if you are daily driving it, but now would be the time to delete the balance shafts of you wanted. To be clear this is probably the most difficult thing you can do on these cars while keeping the motor in the car. If you have the ability I would pull the motor to do everything over again and take your time ans do it right

 

[Dsmturbo]

@spiritturbo thanks man, it's gonna be a long project I think.

@chrysler kid Yep you're right you have to remove the oil pan which of course includes he exhaust, transfer case, and axle.

It's funny you mentioned removing the motor because I was thinking about this last night. It's my fault but I bought this motor that was fully built (balance shafts are deleted) and took someone's word that it was put together properly and it really isn't. It's already leaked from the pan, oil pump sprocket, and now the front case. Oil pressure is high, I've ported the ofh a ton. At the end of the day this engine will probably continue to be a nightmare (only has 3k miles ok it!) so I'm thinking of pulling it and taking it to RRE and have them look it over/rebuild it :/

 

[chrysler kid]

If the balance shafts were removed high oil pressure is normal. I wouldn't trust any car with a new engine especially a dsm. If it's not knocking though it's probably fine for now. To reduce your oil leaks switch to Rotella 15w40 non synthetic. Even a motor in good condition seems to ooze out 5w30 synthetic in mass amounts

Wouldn't know about any of that other stuff, I only needed to remove the downpipe.

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