Oil leak location: Ideas?

[TaffyJoe]

The 3.2 in my daily driver is leaking enough oil to leave a quarter sized spot after short drives under the #1 cylinder area (rear most on driver side). I put her on stands, wiped off some of the grime and ran the engine for about 15 minutes to see if I could find the source. I can't tell what exactly is leaking here. Based on these pictures, any ideas on possible locations or tests to identify the source?









Not sure why I didn't take pictures of the oil return tubes :-/ However, they were dry after this test.

Thanks!

[sergeshishik]

Dude I'm in the same boat check out my thread can't determine oil leak
My oil leak seem to be limited to the valve cover location though. Is your 1st picture where the pool is the timing cover? if so I think thats your source. for what its worth I am truley no expert at this. I just like to take wrenches and go to town.

[MotoSook]

There is an o-ring and a gasket that seals the head (at the #1 and #4 cyl) to the chain box. The back of the chain box also has a few places where the factory put an epoxy sealer at the base of the studs which are pressed into the chain box. These locations can sometimes leak, but it is rare.

I would clean the area very well so that when you run a test, you can be sure that the leak is from the area, or not. Repairing the leak from those locations require the chain box be removed.

Make sure all the fittings and nuts/screws that are leak/seal critical have been properly torqued.

Good luck.

[TaffyJoe]

Thanks you two.

Souk, would you happen to know if the o-ring in question is part 999-701-468-40 ? There is also a gasket and cover involved in that bit. After I took the pictures, I had a hard time identifying the parts that sealed the chain cover to the head. Your post made led me to look in a couple of other areas of my PET catalog.

I'll take your advice and come Spring, I'll clean that area completely and test again. If the oil is leaking from between the chain housing and the head, my first course of action will be to make sure the nuts/bolts that hold the back of the chain housing against the head are torqued correctly. If that doesn't help, I guess there's a bit more major work involved!

Thanks again.

[yelcab1]

That is the right part.
Forget the "correct torque on the end plate" inspection. Once you have spent all that time getting to that spot, the correct action is to remove it, replace it, reseal it, and then torque it right.