Oil Leak

[JGoatley]

Pardon me if I am calling parts by the wrong name. I have found an oil leak on the front bottom of the camshaft box (cover). The picture seems to show that it is coming from the gasket of the camshaft cover. After cleaning away all the oil and rerunning the motor, it is actually leaking between the timing belt pulley and the camshaft cover. My timing belt was replaced probably less than 3k miles ago so I really should not need to do an extensive overhaul. Can I replace the seals / o rings that sit between that pulley and the camshaft cover without pulling the camshaft cover. Looks like a real bear to get that out of there.

[DougM]

Yes, there are some o-rings and seals in there that can be removed without removing cam tower. You can remove each cam sprocket and the seals/o-rings behind them. Also, line everything up on their timing marks and mark the belt and cam pulleys with some white out. You can loosen the tensioner and slide the belt off the pulleys to do the work. When finished, slide the belt back on so the marks on the belt line up with the marks on the pulleys. I did it on mine and it saves the time of removing all the lower stuff on the front of the engine. Having all the timing marks lined up first allows you to make sure everything is correct when finished. If they don't line up, you missed a tooth.

[JGoatley]

Thank you Doug. Just wanted to make sure before I get into a real hornets nest.

[19psi]

Very easy job that only looks difficult, just did mine about a month ago. As Doug mentioned, just pull the belt off. Hardest part was getting at one allen bolt on the passenger side for part of a cover. It's buried in the most idiot spot. I used a flexible shaft nut runner with the correct size allen bit. It's one of those cheesy tools you get as a gift and never think you'll use...that day it was worth its weight in gold.

My cam seals were actually fine and bone dry. The leak was behind the housing where there is a large thick O-ring and a very small/thick bushing type O-ring. I ordered all the seals but chose not to disturb the cam seals since they weren't leaking. If they do leak in the future, it's no big deal to pull things apart again.

Mine leaked just enough to coat the exhaust manifold and I'd get a burning oil smell when coming to a stop with the heater on. Once the oil burned off after a few miles the smell would clear up. Next day it would start over again. I only had a chance to drive mine twice after changing the seals (parked once salt hit the streets) and I didn't get any smells so hopefully that was it.
I also ordered cam tower seals at the same time and I'm REALLY hoping I don't ever have to change them.

You'll also want to do both sides since you'll be taking both cam covers off to align the cam sprocket marks when putting things back together. When you pull the one sprocket off, don't assume the other side will stay put. There is spring tension on the cam and it WILL move a few degrees.
Since you're there just spend a little extra time and pop new seals in there too. Drivers side will take a few minutes more due to having to remove the distributor.