ah oh. Oil on the floor.
 

My baby with only '63K miles has sprung a leak. I get small puddle on the garage floor and there is oil spray underneath. It seems the source is somewhere inside of the timing belt cover. :((

ANY advise would be helpful.

I may have overfilled the oil :rolleyes: a while back. Can that blow out seals? I don't drive real hard, mostly highway miles.

Should I take the cover off (how hard is it?) and investigate or should I just drive into the dealer?

I also have a nasty burning rubber smell at the end of my long commutes, but I haven't been able to track it down to anything in particular. Belts look fine. My plan here was to remove the belts and spin the pullies to see which one might be tight and about to die.

Any help is muchly appreaciated. I don't remember much discussion about front seal leaks or anything like that so I'm not sure what's going on.

- Jeff

I'm sure Beav can give you some better insights. It sounds like a cam seal, but, who knows. The rubber smell could be the oil from the leak getting onto the belts causing some slippage. Again, just conjecture on my part. Beav?

Slippage
 

Ya,
I asked that in another place. Can the water pump slip? I realize that cam pullies are toothed, but what about the water pump. Looking VERY carefully I see no outward signs of leaks around the cam seals. The pass side one has a slight 'stain' along it's outer edge. The driver's side looks clean. Any oil leak would show up easy. It must be under the cover.

I've got drips from the bolt 'protrutions' at the bottom of the timing belt cover. Then spray from there back. The oil pan looks clean up near it's seal. I was hoping for a simple bolt tightning.

If I take the cover off are there bolts that I can tighten, or am I just wasting my time?

I'm not sure I'm experienced enough to up to try to re-seal a cover. I KNOW I'm not for removing the timing belt.

I suppose at 63K I could just bite the bullet and have a new belt put on, water pump, and fix the leak.

Jezz... it seems awfully early for such things to be happening.

It could be anything but if you see some oil at the bottom of the cover it's doubtful that you'll find anything to repair without removing the t-belt.

A small puddle means different things to different people. Small = silver dollar? Trash can lid? A dime? The smell may be the oil blowing back and burning on the hot exhaust, not necessarily from a belt. Doesn't hurt to check both out. If I had to guess I'd say it's probably time for a t-belt, cam and crank seals. It's better to let someone that knows look though.

Beav

Thanks Beav
 

Thanks. That's what I figger'd, but I just like to see if there is some bolt I can simply tighten. T-belt's I don't mess with.

I DO have oil spray on the exhaust system thanks to this new leak, but I didn't think it would smell like burning rubber.

I'm gonna have to wait till after the holidays before I can arrange to have it brought in.

This is gonna cost huh? Dang! I just blew my $400 'Suby Dollars' on a roof top carrier for the Forester. We needed that as well, I was just hoping to use the credits for a repair. :(

oh. the puddle. Well in about two weeks I have about a tablespoon on the floor, covering about 12X4 inches.

Any reason for the seal failure now. I'm I driving too hard, was it the possible oil overfill? Stupid I know, but it was on the ramps and I wasn't paying attention. Probably only 1/2 qt over.

- Jeff

Just a "chime in" to relate something that may or may not apply to your situation. About 6-7K ago my "do-it-all" mechanic noticed some oil seepage. About 4K later, on the Snowshoe II trip, whilst straining up them West Virginny hills, I smelled oil & saw smoke rising from beneath the front exhaust area. So, two weeks ago we added a dye to an oil change (Mobile 1 10w30). I too have about a 4 inch wide stain on the garage floor. So, today we put'er on the lift. Report says some valve cover, & front cam seal leakage with "possible" other areas seeping. However, in the 3-4K change interval I'm losing a quarter quart, if that. My only concern is the belts. So far no sign of belt goo, but I haven't pulled any covers off to really inspect either. I'll probably ignore this problem until I start losing a quart a day.
I do still smell burning oil, so I just pretend it's napalm, & we all know that's a beautiful odor in the morning. The car, a '92, has 94K on the clock. I'll no doubt drag this out until I do my 100K renewal project next spring.
Ron.

And we wait
 

Thanks for the chiming in. That's more of what we need. I'm still waiting myself for a 'more approriate' time financially to get this taken care of. Maybe the leak will fix itself. Hey, we can all dream.

Meanwhile I'll keep cleaning underneath every weekend, so as not to get too much oil on those hot pipes. I'll probably go for the t-belt change in a little bit.

jcorse.....
 

it is either cam shaft seals or crankshaft seals. mine was both.

i had a small oil leak and decided to wait a couple of weeks to fix it. by the time i get to oil was all over the undercarriage of the car. i still have not gotten it all cleaned up.

parts are not the problem, they are relatively cheap. the labor costs are what is going to kill you.

:(
 

Ya, that's what I figger'd. Besides I'm going ahead with the t-belt change as well.....

it always happens......
 

when you least want it to. damn svx......love/hate relationships are no fun sometimes. ;)

Bright side
 

Ya, but think of the bright side. I could be poring that money into a 1986 Buick Century Wagon (my previous car).

The SVX is more than worth it. All cars have to be maintained. If I'm gonna drive and maintain a car (and have a job) the SVX is the obvious choice.

If it wasn't for the t-belt tangling things up I'd go at it myself. I just don't want to blow it up.

Re: it always happens......
 

I beg to differ. Love/Hate relationships are the ultimate. If everything went flawlessly 100% of the time, we'd begin to take our cars, our wives, our children, etc for granted. Through thick and thin, for better or worse, we've got to stick by 'em and simply pray that the "betters" outweigh the "worses(?)".

...or should I????
 

Is the t-belt all that nasty to do? Does it require any special tools? Is it as simple as it seems?

I suspect that the leak could be pretty 'challenging' to take care of as well.

I'm flip-flopping here. I just don't want to spend the money, but I know that each time I get into one of 'these' projects I'm wishing I paid a professional.

??
??

Re: ...or should I????
 

Maybe I'm just a wuss, but, I've tackeled some jobs with my limited toolage, and my nominal mechanical skills -- this is one I'd leave to the pros. It's not so much the T-belt as it would be the cam seals. The suby dealer has (or should have) a special alignment tool that helps to put the seal in correctly. I'd be nervous about this one --- but then, that's me.

Thanks
 

That's the just the kind of advise I need. I'm just as much a wuss. Special tooling scares me. The valve cover on my 2.5L straight four in the Buick was cake. This seems a 'bit' more challenging.

Hey, at least the service guy actually suggested that I leave the water pump alone. "I don't do those unless they leak now. Should be fine." 'course where's his risk? If it fails a month later he get's paid to repair that as well.