Hey everyone, I'm working on this eve and I am trying to diagnose this super slow drip leak. It appears to be coming from the top of the plug (pictured). Or potentially above the plug?

Any help is appreciated!

 

Time to pull them timing covers off and have a better look. If you're feeling lucky but don't feel like doing all that, remove serpentine belt tensioner and oil filter housing.

 

Thanks for the input!

I did open the upper timing cover and did not see any signs of oil on the belt, cam gears, or engine wall at all. So I am hopeful its that plug in the housing.

Can you explain more about why I might only remove the serpentine belt and OFH? The gakset between the OFH and the block is completely dry by the way, if that says anything!

 

You're sure it isn't leaking from the front main seal, rear balance shaft seal, or oil pump seal behind the gear? I had oil dripping in similar location and it turned out the shaft seal behind the oil pump gear was leaking.

 

Thanks for the reply!

Not sure honestly. Just had a freshly
built 2.4l swapped in at a shop in florida. Shop is happy to pull it apart and fix it, but that means about $1500-$2000 in transport because it was out of state.

so I need to decide if ill tackle it myself or just send it and eat the costs.

how difficult are those seals to replace for a light duty mechanically inclined person? Ive done timing belt jobs before, but I'm no expert.

 

maybe you need to tighten that thermostat/plug or replace the crush washer. it doesnt look new

 

Just take off the lower timing cover (black plastic shield behind crank pulley) and see if you see any oil around the balance shaft/crank/oil pump gears. The rear balance shaft gear is left of the crank and is attached to the crank by a small belt. The oil pump gear is driven by the main crank belt and is to the right of the crank. If you know what a crank main seal looks like, thats the type of seal they are just different sizes. Use a pick or screwdriver to pry out the old seal and press in the new seal , its pretty straight forward once you can look at it with the gears off out of the way.

 

Oil filter bracket gasket, if the gasket itself is fine look to see if the oil filter bypass valve is leaking. It's on the other side of the bracket.

 

thanks for the info! Can you explain a little more about the bypass valve? Is it supposed to leak under high pressure?

 

nvm I think I understand it now. I’ll take a look. Thanks!

 

It is definitely not supposed to leak lol. Looking at your picture it is a bit hard to tell where the leak is coming from but I would guess it is coming from somewhere on the oil filter bracket. The bracket has a gasket between the block and the bracket itself so that is where I would check first but other folks have complained of bypass valve leaks so that is probably the second place worth checking.