Hey Guys. I need your help with a problem I'm having w/ my 1.8L. Apparently, I have a bad oil leak and I can't seem to find where it's coming from. It's practically pouring out when the engine is idling. At first, I thought that it might be the pressure switch. When I had the car up on a ramp, I got a better view of where the leak was coming from. I noticed that it was coming out of the timing belt cover on the passenger side of the engine. After pulling everything apart to get a better look, I still can't find exactly where it's coming from. It looks as if it's leaking from the idler pulley right above the area where the oil filter is located. I haven't pulled the timing belt as of yet because I wanted to have the car running to see where the oil was coming from. Has anyone else ran into this problem in that particular area? This is really driving me nuts. I plan on doing a swap but that won't be happening anytime soon. Until then, I still want to keep my car running. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Mahalo,
Shawn
Mahalo,
Shawn
Registered User
crank seal, that may be the culprit and the rotation of the belts is driving it towards the passenger side have you checked that yet>??? im no expert but i know of a few cars that have had that problem..
I thought that might have been it but when I opened everything up and took the crank pulley off, it was completely dry. I figured with a leak that bad, there would be oil all over the timing belt and everything else behind the cover. That wasn't the case though. When I had it idling with the cover off, the oil just oozed out as if it was leaking from a cracked gasket. I'm a mechanic by trade but this is the very first Suby that I've ever worked on.
I'll probably end up changing all the seals since I have everything open. Mahalo for your input.
I'll probably end up changing all the seals since I have everything open. Mahalo for your input. 
Registered User
Two typical locations are the:
1) crank seal (which you've already checked)
2) oil pump seal
It is likely that the leak *seemed* worse before because oil had been collecting in the timing belt cover and was being thrown around by the belt action as was mentioned before. But when you have the covers off, you're only seeing what is coming out at the time.
1) crank seal (which you've already checked)
2) oil pump seal
It is likely that the leak *seemed* worse before because oil had been collecting in the timing belt cover and was being thrown around by the belt action as was mentioned before. But when you have the covers off, you're only seeing what is coming out at the time.
Registered User
I had an oil leak on my front main seal and at first we werent really sure where it was from so we replaced everyseal cam and crank. its a good thing to do and not too difficult if you pay attention to what you are doing. no more oil leaks though =]