I parked my Q in the garage last night....something I have not done in a while. Back it out and left this morning. Parked it outside and just now went to the garage and found a big oil spot the size of both of my palms put side by side.

Now, I just changed my water pump about 3 weeks ago and this oil leak didnt exist, because I was under the car checking everything at that time. I have not noticed any oil spots in my driveway, so this could have just started last night or yesterday.

I look up under the car and the oil pan has a lot of fresh oil all over it. Up around where the oil pan meets the block, there is fresh oil. BUT the most concentrated spot is right at the front of the oil pan in the middle, behind the tensioner pulley. There is no oil on the belts, and all the oil is from the pan and below.

If i look from the top of the engine, down at the crank pulley, there is a small wet spot to the left of the pulley...behind the belts. So this leak could be coming from the crank seal and coming straight down behind the tensioner and onto the oil pan....I dont know.

I sprayed everything down with brake cleaner, hoping that I can see where the leak is coming from. Any ideas?

Can you shine a light on the oil pan while it is idles? If it has a major oil seal failure it will most likely drip while running or immediately afterwards you stop the engine. There should be a drip behind the crank pulley in that case.

It is dark out now, I just went to the store and back. I will check with a light right now and see whats going on. I will also check while the car is idling.

I figure if it is the front main seal, I might as well take care of those damn chain guides while I am at it since the crank pulley has to come off anyways.

Here's a picture of the front main seal below.

Also, someone was selling a guide kit in the following link. Check to see if still available.

q45-timing-chain-guide-kit-complete-t548228.html

Sent him a PM....if he doesnt get back to me, I will just source the parts to do the job. I am pretty sure it is the damn front main that is leaking....and even if not, the chain guides need done anyways. And the pan may need dropped anyways after that, so hey killing a few birds with one big a** stone.

I think the first thing you should do is get some sort of cleaner (brake parts cleaner works great) and clean the offending areas, that should help pinpoint the leak. Have you had to top off the engine oil?

Also, you might as well do the guides because if you don't any repair you do will probably be in haste anyway.

Yea, I sprayed it all down with some brake cleaner and going to check it all out...was getting dark out and I wanted to to do it during the day so I could see better.

On a different note, does anyone have a picture of the new chain guides? All the threads I go into that have pictures, the pictures never load for some reason.

Yes I do.. Below..







This guide (above) is already metal backed. The guide mounts on the head and I from what I can tell is only used if a tensioner fails so it will catch excessive slack.











With new guides installed..

I take it the first and fourth picture is the old and new one side by side? Also, that is the drivers side, correct?

I will be ordering new guides and an oil pump chain....one question I have is regarding the crank pulley removal.

I have a strap wrench and breaker bar...does the crank pulley need to be in a certain position to be removed? Because I have read previously that the starter could be hit and loosen the crank bolt...if that is true, then it seems the crank position doesnt matter for doing the chain guides?

I am not doing the timing chains...only the oil pump chain and the chain guides. I dont want the crank to be in the wrong position, if that matters. ALSO, when reinstalling the crank pulley, is there only one way the pulley can go on? I dont want to put it on wrong and have the timing marks misaligned.

1) All the guide pictures are old vs. new. The old guides are the brown bakelite looking material. Not not sure which side was driver vs. passenger in the side-by-side pictures. I guess it doesn't matter as the parts guys will know. There were some posts from a member named Subtle_driver where he shows the bagged part numbers. I will try to find the link for ya.

2) I took a breaker bar and socket for the crankshaft pulley then tapped the started with the fuel pump fuse removed. I had to leave a couple of inches of travel for the started to move the crankshaft or having the bar rest on a concrete floor won't be moved by the started. It is kind of dangerous for a first timer...

3) The crank doesn't matter for removal. Just be sure the crank pulley puller doesn't hook on to something you don't want to pull when you start pulling..

4) While it doesn't matter is is a good reference point to find Top Dead Center with the silver and gold link lineup like I have in the picture before you start working with guides. Just in case the chain should slip you can reposition it without too much hassle. Just take some white touch-up paint and touch the chain and the positions to have as a perfectly timed reference point before you start.

5) I'll post a picture of re torquing the crank pulley bolt and how I used a chain wrench to tighten it. Posted below..



Here's a link to a post with other links (including Q45.org) about guide jobs.

timing-chain-guide-t384145.html?hilit=guide#p4210698

Let me see if I have this straight

-24 inch breaker bar with 30mm socket on the crank bolt
-Place the bar on the ground, to the right (drivers side)
-Bump the starter for a second...
-Motor spins clockwise, breaker bar doesnt move since it is on the ground...
-Go back and loosen the crank bolt
-Use puller to remove pulley

Is that right? Or should the breaker bar be put to the left (passengers side)?

ALSO, from this point forward, I can just remove the crank pulley, I dont have to worry about the crank being at TDC?

j.hardstyle wrote:Let me see if I have this straight

-24 inch breaker bar with 30mm socket on the crank bolt
-Place the bar on the ground, to the right (drivers side)
-Bump the starter for a second...
-Motor spins clockwise, breaker bar doesnt move since it is on the ground...
-Go back and loosen the crank bolt
-Use puller to remove pulley

Is that right? Or should the breaker bar be put to the left (passengers side)?

ALSO, from this point forward, I can just remove the crank pulley, I dont have to worry about the crank being at TDC?

Correct. The crank turns clockwise which means the bolt will be turned counterclockwise when it makes contact.. Correct.

About to tackle this job - front seal and oil pan... and a whole slew of other stuff while it's apart:

phase 2 injectors and 94-96 fuel rail

NGK iridiums

Trans mount - covered in rust, no other rust on the car, looks out of place and old!

under plenum hoses were done recently, but going to check them

Mazworx engine mounts

I have 90k on the beast, not that that matters much - when in doubt change it out!