My Festiva is leaking oil big time...

[ajbremer]

My 1990 Ford Festiva is leaking oil and I can see it all over the top left side of my engine and on the underside of my hood in that area.

The car has very high milage, 342,000 miles. The engine has about 60,000 miles less milage on it.

I've looked around the valve cover gasket and I can't see any oil leaking out of it while my engine is running. I also don't see any oil dripping on the ground while engine is running and parked. BUT, I fill the oil up and drive to work and back and then it's time to add oil, I can just about hear my valves clicking. Right after I drive it home from work (about 37 miles), I'll look under it and I can see oil dripping on the ground from different areas under the engine.

I also want to mention that I notice the plastic timing belt cover gasket is coming out from being worn and soft. Is oil being squirted into that area, inside the timing belt cover?

Bottom line is, I don't know where to start. Should I start by putting in a new valve cover gasket? Take off my timing belt cover and get a new gasket for it? Do a compression check to see if the engine has had its day? One last note. The car still does seem to have plenty of power, I can get it up to 75 + mph pretty fast. BUT on certain days it does loose power going up hills, it'll slow down to 55 mph with me giving it all I got. Other days it'll go up the same hill at 65mph.

Any comments or help would be greatly appreciated. I don't feel right about putting all that oil into it every time I go out with it plus I think it may be a fire hazard if all kinds of oil is coming out.

Here's a picture of the top left side of my engine:

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m489/ajbremer/engine-oil_zpsab14987b.jpg

[Grey Vw]

Clean everything really good then drive for a couple minutes. You'll be able to tell where it is coming from.

[TominMO]

The two obvious candidates are the camshaft seal and the crankshaft seal. Until you can get to the repair(s), I'd try both thicker oil, like 10W40, and a seal conditioner that you add to the oil. These together or separately might slow down the leaking.

While you're at it, change the timing belt and valve cover gasket too. Total parts cost will be about $70. The two seals will be just a few dollars apiece.

If you have the time and inclination, change the water pump too, but this is of course optional.

You can toss the upper timing belt cover, or just cut it down a bit so it doesn't rub against the water pump pulley....

[jjk1224]

My Festiva is leaking oil big time...

You can buy uv reactive dye kit at an auto parts store. Just put the dye in the engine, let it warm up and use a uv light (usually supplied in the kit) to find the source of the leak. But with that many miles I would probably just replace all the common seals anyway. They are cheap and could prevent future maintenance and cleaning.

[Powerstiva]

Check around the oil pressure sensor, i had a similar problem on my old engine, wast this bad though.

[WmWatt]

Wipe off as much as you can then start engine and let idle. If it's up on stands with the hood up and wheels removed you should get a better view of where the oil is coming from.

PS Check to make sure the dip stick isn't missing.

[ckiesman]

hate to post this so late but definatly look into the cam and crank seals. Mine just did this and looked about like that. The crank and cam seals were like a hard plastic and were dripping oil. With the timing belt spinning it around it does make a big mess.

[denguy]

If it has the original valve cover gasket I would do a new one. They harden and don't seal too good.
Pretty easy job compared to some. Relatively cheap too.

[ajbremer]

Thanks for the advise everyone.

Hey ckiesman, how hard is it to change those crank and cam seals? Is it very time consuming and expensive...or should I just get another engine?

[jjk1224]

My Festiva is leaking oil big time...

Depending how mechanically inclined you are and your ability to time an engine, you can do the front two in 1-2hrs. All you need to do is take off the timing covers, timing belt and gears/pulleys to access the seals. Then, gently without scratching the crank or cam, use a small flathead screwdriver to work your way into the seal and pry it out. Once they are out use a wooden dowel or large socket to gently and evenly tap the new seals in place.
There are many informational videos on YouTube if you have any trouble, but these two tiny $3 seals are not worth replacing a whole engine over!