Oil leak........from where?

[BCSpokerider]

Just bought a 94 festy....... has a nasty oil leak from somewhere. Engine is coated, seems to have most oil on the front of the engine and the belt side of engine, and of course, the bottom pan. The alt belt is picking it up and flinging it onto the inside of the hood. Going to pressure wash today.

Wondering, do festies have a *common* problem area that leaks oil?
I`m thinking valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, front crank seal.....hope not that one, or the dist. O ring to address first. Have I missed any likely spots?


Also, the alt is coated in oil. Last owner says there was a charging issue with it, but on the drive home, no dash warning light indicating a charging problem came on. Still, I`d like to clean the oil from the alt. Any suggestions? Degreaser? Brake cleaner? Can it be power washed?

Thanks.

[freshtiva]

Valve cover at least probably. Where are you located ? Australia ?

WELCOME TO THE FORUM !!

[Biff]

Camshaft lip seal? Crankseal, VC gsk.

[Biff]

Just bought a 94 festy....... has a nasty oil leak from somewhere. Engine is coated, seems to have most oil on the front of the engine and the belt side of engine, and of course, the bottom pan. The alt belt is picking it up and flinging it onto the inside of the hood. Going to pressure wash today.

Wondering, do festies have a *common* problem area that leaks oil?
I`m thinking valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, front crank seal.....hope not that one, or the dist. O ring to address first. Have I missed any likely spots?


Also, the alt is coated in oil. Last owner says there was a charging issue with it, but on the drive home, no dash warning light indicating a charging problem came on. Still, I`d like to clean the oil from the alt. Any suggestions? Degreaser? Brake cleaner? Can it be power washed?

Thanks.

Pressure wash and squirt in a good dose of brake clean, it will act as a water dispersant.

[bravekozak]

I just go to the rear booth at a car wash with an aerosol can of Gunk engine degreaser. Cover the distributor and away you you go.

[200KGPGTP]

Or be like me and not cover the distributor and have a hell of a time getting home!!! LOLOL

[ericsmith32]

Just bought a 94 festy....... has a nasty oil leak from somewhere. Engine is coated, seems to have most oil on the front of the engine and the belt side of engine, and of course, the bottom pan. The alt belt is picking it up and flinging it onto the inside of the hood. Going to pressure wash today.

Wondering, do festies have a *common* problem area that leaks oil?
I`m thinking valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, front crank seal.....hope not that one, or the dist. O ring to address first. Have I missed any likely spots?


Also, the alt is coated in oil. Last owner says there was a charging issue with it, but on the drive home, no dash warning light indicating a charging problem came on. Still, I`d like to clean the oil from the alt. Any suggestions? Degreaser? Brake cleaner? Can it be power washed?

Thanks.

The 97 I just got is doing the same thing. It's not flinging it on the hood probably to much crapola in the way. I'm under the impression there's a CPS (crankshaft position sensor) somewhere in that region, above the alt. I haven't looked myself yet temps took a dive after I got the exhaust on. Hoping to look at it on Wed/Thurs.

[TominMO]

Just bought a 94 festy....... has a nasty oil leak from somewhere. Engine is coated, seems to have most oil on the front of the engine and the belt side of engine, and of course, the bottom pan. The alt belt is picking it up and flinging it onto the inside of the hood. Going to pressure wash today.

Wondering, do festies have a *common* problem area that leaks oil?
I`m thinking valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, front crank seal.....hope not that one, or the dist. O ring to address first. Have I missed any likely spots?


Also, the alt is coated in oil. Last owner says there was a charging issue with it, but on the drive home, no dash warning light indicating a charging problem came on. Still, I`d like to clean the oil from the alt. Any suggestions? Degreaser? Brake cleaner? Can it be power washed?

Thanks.

It's probably the valve cover gasket. Pretty easy replacement. Get a Haynes manual if you don't have one.

I have pressure-washed engines, after spraying degreaser everywhere and without covering the alternator, with no ill effects. But some say it's best to cover it to protect the bearings, so now I do. I do cover the distributor tho.

If there is a charging issue, it could just as easily be a loose alt belt, not the alt itself.

[BCSpokerider]

Thanks for the tips.
There was an obvious oil leak at the valve cover gasket......all along the head. Easily noted once the engine was pressure washed.

Changed the gasket......lots of stuff needs to be taken off just to get the valve cover off. lol.

Also got the timing belt changed. The crankshaft bolt was a challenge to remove. Tried the strap wrench to hold the pully still while yarding on the 13-16ths wrench on the crank bolt, to no avail. Strap kept slipping, along with the fact that there is hardly any room to work in along the frame rail.
Was going to remove the starter to jam a large screwdriver in the flex plate to secure the crank, but, that seemed like a TON of wrenching just to pull the starter.......

Finally, I discovered a way to remove the crank bolt. I put the wrench on the bolt, with a pipe over the wrench end to effectively lengthen the wrench. It was oriented toward the front of the car, nested against the inside of the body, and tight. Then I cranked the engine with the starter. Voila! The bolt was loose. Easy as pie.
Oh yeah, I had the injection system completely off the car, so it could not start. Something to keep in mind before trying this trick.

[freshtiva]

If you undo the upper motor mount you can drop the motor enough to get an impact on the crank bolt. Its a shame they didnt design in an access notch to get at the bolt at the factory.

[denguy]

I used the "crank the starter" method on mine. Worked great.

[BCSpokerider]

If you undo the upper motor mount you can drop the motor enough to get an impact on the crank bolt. Its a shame they didnt design in an access notch to get at the bolt at the factory.

Great tip! Thanks.
I still have to tighten the crank bolt up, I may borrow your idea for that.

[sedat]

I'm going through the same thing. My car is slinging oil everywhere. It managed to kill the alt. I'll be replacing seals this week so we'll get to the bottom of it somehow!

[BCSpokerider]

Tightening the crank bolt is an adventure too......how to stop the crank from turning when tightening?

Well, mine being a auto trans has an inspection cover over the flex plate. I was able to remove the bolts holding it on, and just pry it up a tad, enough to allow a screwdriver to be wedged into the flex plate to stop the crank from turning. Never did take the inspection cover right off........as it didn`t seem to want to come off easliy withjout a struggle anyway.
If you have an auto trans, hopefully this tip works for you too.

[sedat]

Found the source of my oil leak. headgasket is leaking. Excessive exhaust gasses in the crankcase pushing oil from the crank seal. Checked the oil this morning and it was a milkshake. Time for a BP swap!