heavy oil leak

[Buzo]

A week ago my car started to drip oil in my driveway. Its a huge quantity below the front crankshaft sealing.
Bought the sealing (and the timing belt), since I was going to open that area of the motor.

After removing the pulley and the plastic cover of the timing belt I noticed that almost everything there was wet with engine oil.
Proceeded to change the sealing and the timing belt. Put everything together and... the leak is still there.

Is it possible the oil pump is leaking? Or what can it be another source of oil? I checked the oil pan but everything around is wet with oil, so there is no visual indication of where the leak might be. Any thoughts?

[running strong]

I have never tried it but I have heard good things about ultra violet leak dye. You dump it in the crankcase then run the car. Afterwards you look with an ultraviolet light and see where it's coming from. Like I said i have never tried it so i don't have any personal experience with it.

[Dr_Snooz]

It's a good idea to replace every seal behind the timing cover when you open it up: crankshaft, camshaft and oil pump (both oil pump seals). If you have oil all over everything, then it's a good chance the leak was high. I'd be looking at the camshaft or valve cover gaskets.

[Buzo]

Lifted the car with two ramps and watched closely. The leak is not from the main sealing, but from somewhere in the back of the engine.
Checking the service manual it looks like there is a relief valve into the oil filter base. Chances are it is the cause.
I guess I am going to remove the inlet manifold so i can work more comfortable while checking all the gaskets in that area.

[niles]

Sounds like the oil filter bracket gasket. When I replaced mine it was very brittle, and hard to get at with the intake manifold in place. Mainly because of the oil pressure sensor mounted on it - which might also be the source of the leak. Good thing is that with the intake manifold off, you should be able to see clearly where the leak is coming from.

[2ndGenGuy]

The oil filter base is one of the most common places for that engine to leak. I would definitely get a new gasket for that. They are still available, luckily.

[Buzo]

I found the source of the leak. The oil filter itself was 1 turn loose.
Can't believe almost a couple of weeks leaving my mark on the floor wherever I went, and almost 1Lt of oil as level reposition.
In the other hand, I'm glad I thought of touching the filter to notice it was loose before I disassembled things further.
Hope somebody else learn from this dumb experience.
At least I have a new timing belt!

[2ndGenGuy]

Don't feel bad. It's totally something I would do. In fact. I've done the opposite, sort of, and left the old oil filter gasket on the engine, and puked oil all over the place. It's one of those things, like leaving your socket wrench on your crank pulley when you start the engine.

[Dr_Snooz]

It's one of those things, like leaving your socket wrench on your crank pulley when you start the engine.

Glad to know I'm not the only one. The car made the strangest sound when I started it. Thank God the ratchet was set to spin the right direction or there would have been a real big mess.

[running strong]

That's funny, it's also the kind of thing that shouldn't happen. However,I would totally do it myself, in fact i think that there is a bolt or two that the car ate.

[niles]

The good 'ol ratchet on the crank pulley, oh yeah, I've been there at least twice lol

[Buzo]

That's funny, it's also the kind of thing that shouldn't happen. However,I would totally do it myself, in fact i think that there is a bolt or two that the car ate.

I decided to keep looking for more oil leaks, and found one in the hose that goes from the oil catcher up to the PCB. The hose was made from rigid plastic and it was broken from the parting line. So removed the intake manifold and guess what, I found right there between the oil filter base and the water pipes:

1) one rubber cap I removed from the firewall when i passed all the wires for the megasquirt. I recall when I lost it how I searched for it like 2 days in a row.
2) one of the clamps that holds the air filter cover. I searched thoroughly for that thing also and I recall I blamed my neighbor because he had and accord as well and I suspected he stolen it from me. Never told him anything, fortunately.

Finally I had to remove the oil pump because there still was a little oil stain in the floor in the crackshaft pulley area. So removed the oil pump, didn't find the gaskets in my area so used the original ones with some RVT and it is working OK so far. I'm glad all the oil around the oil pan is getting dryer every day.

Actually i quoted your msg because I was going to say that I also found 3-10mm screws. The mistery of the eaten stuff, uh?