Hello All,
My 1998 with 235k miles on it now has its first (dripping) oil leak that was diagnosed to be near the front main seal. There's also some oil down the rear valve cover but it's not too heavy there yet. I usually get a few drops of oil near under the right control arm after the car sits overnight. There's also a lot of oil/grime near the bottom of the timing cover and along the cord to the oil pressure switch. I'm positive the leak isn't right at the oil pressure switch nor the lower oil pan, and most likely not the upper oil pan since oil doesn't seem to be beading near it. I just had a few questions. Thanks for your time.
1) Is there anyway to know whether the leak is due to a failed timing cover gasket/O-ring, OR a failed front main seal?
2) If it is the front main seal, can I remove the crank pulley bolt simply by using a breaker bar and pipe, along with a screwdriver in place at the flywheel ring gear (I don't own a impact, but do want to be able to take the bolt off and not strip it).
3) To remove the crank pulley, can I just use a prybar/screwdrivers, or is a pulley puller required?
Oil Leak
Re: Oil Leak
If I recall correctly, on my automatic 2000 max, I put a pry bar on the pully bolt and then rested it on the concrete and blipped the engine without starting. On a manual, all you have to do is hold the brake and clutch in.
Re: Oil Leak
After further investigation with UV dye, looks like my main oil leak is not due to the front crank seal. The dye is showing a lot of oil all over the back side (side towards the back of the car) of the power steering pump. Figure it is either the rear valve cover or the inner timing cover O-rings, or anything else?
Is the timing cover O-rings area reachable from above by hand? I reached down about 6 inches from above behind the left side of the intake manifold to feel plenty of fresh oil back there around the timing cover/rear valve cover area. I'm assuming that if the answer to my question is no, then a new rear valve cover gasket will solve my problem (unless of course it's leaking in both areas). I actually felt a little gasket-like piece sticking out somewhere back there also, weird
thanks
Is the timing cover O-rings area reachable from above by hand? I reached down about 6 inches from above behind the left side of the intake manifold to feel plenty of fresh oil back there around the timing cover/rear valve cover area. I'm assuming that if the answer to my question is no, then a new rear valve cover gasket will solve my problem (unless of course it's leaking in both areas). I actually felt a little gasket-like piece sticking out somewhere back there also, weird
thanks
Re: Oil Leak
Could it be your valve cover gasket seal? Those are known to go bad.