oil leak

[BoSox]

I have an oil leak that is coating my alternator in oil. When the car sits there is oil spots on the ground on the inside rear of the passenger front tire. Where could the leak be coming from? I replace the oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket and the valve seal.

[skimsucka]

valve cover gasket head gasket ... valve cover is easy and cheap to replace they dont last long in cold/ changing temps

[JohnGunn]

The first thing you should try to do is identify what type of fluid is leaking. In the area you describe there aren't any coolant hoses that might be leaking, so it could be either brake fluid or oil or both.

Finding the source of a leak is not as easy as one might think because when you are driving the air flowing through the engine compartment will take what otherwise would form a drip and fall to the ground and turn it into a mist which will be blown toward the rear of the car. When you stop driving the fluid then drips from wherever it has accumulated along the path of that mist.

The best thing to do is get a large piece of cardboard and put it in the back of you car. Buy some brake clean spray and using the cardboard sheet and a flash light look under the side of the engine that is leaking and wipe and spray and wipe again until everything is clean and dry. Then when you drive around, as time and place allow get your cardboard out and look under the car to see if you can spot the first sign of dampness, before it has had much time to be blown back away from the source.

I think most people would say that an oil leak in that part of the engine would most likely be sign of a leaking front engine crankshaft seal. The easiest way to confirm that is to feel with your fingers between the crankshaft pulley and the oil pan. If you run your finger along the space between the pulley and the oil pan from below the engine and it does not get wet with oil, then that is probably not the source of the leak.

Behind the timing belt cover there is a water pump that I guess could be leaking and a seal for the camshaft which also has the potential to leak. But I think your time now would be best spent trying to identify the place or places where the leak seems to be first revealing itself.

John Gunn
Coronado, CA

[1988redfordfestiva]

sounds like broken terminal vacuum swithes there 2 one can be leaking