I am still chasing oil leaks on my 2000 AE. New valve cover gaskets and a new oil sending unit helped quite a bit -- no more smell of burning oil on the exhaust. I see some oil on the front of the engine that appears to be a timing cover leak. I also seem to accumulate oil on the oil pan. Is it possible that the timing cover leak is working back onto the oil pan or is it more likely that the oil pan has a leak? Is an oil pan leak somewhat common on the Y33 (mine is at 123,000 miles)?
I searched and saw some posts on the Gen 1 cars and the oil pan looks like a serious project to get at to reseal. Is the Y33 a major surgery also?
Y33 Oil Pan Leak?
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Q451990
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Re: Y33 Oil Pan Leak?
It's certainly possible for the oil to be running down. The best way to diagnose is probably to degrease everything, then look for leaks when they're fresh...
Re: Y33 Oil Pan Leak?
I did a good degrease a few days ago and have already seen a first drip on a clean piece of cardboard I put under the car. On the passenger side, the lowest bolt that holds on the timing cover has fresh oil on it. I don't see any fresh oil coming from above that bolt. The drip from that location lands on the power steering pump and runs down to a final low drip point on the bolt which is used to release tension on the power steering belt. I also saw oil on the oil pan bolt that is closest to the power steering pump. I don't see any oil coming from the oil pan gasket above that bolt. I am not totally sure if the bolt threads are leaking or if that bolt is catching some spray from the timing cover leak. The spinning of the power steering pulley might be flinging oil around the area.
The passenger side timing cover looks like it might be accessible after removal of the fan, one pulley, and the pulley bracket that attaches to the front of that timing cover. Is that wishful thinking? Or is the job much more major than that to reseal that passenger timing cover gasket, which looks like factory grey RTV to me?
The passenger side timing cover looks like it might be accessible after removal of the fan, one pulley, and the pulley bracket that attaches to the front of that timing cover. Is that wishful thinking? Or is the job much more major than that to reseal that passenger timing cover gasket, which looks like factory grey RTV to me?