Oil Leak 95-MTX

[turbolarry]

I have an oil leak running down the front of the engine.When I stop at red lights it drips on to the front convertor and you can sometimes smell oil burning or see a puff of smoke. I just did timing belt , both valve cover gaskets and front crank seal. I removed the alternator , battery tray and top timing cover.No sign of cam seal leaks at all. And the oil trail is higher than the crank seal. I removed the alt. belt tensioner pulley bracket and noticed the long bolt(the very bottom one) for the bracket was pretty oily , from the head of the bolt all the way to the threads. And I didnt tighten it very well when I did the timing belt. It was just barely snug. My question is : does that bolt go into a blind hole or is there oil behind it ? Does it keep any gaskets tight ? I guess I'll know this week if I got the leak. I'll let you know.

By the way ... this site is AWESOME !

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

sounds like a valve cover leak, if it is that high. Did you use RTV in the proper locations when reinstalling the covers and seals?

 

[turbolarry]

Yes , I did RTV ... and I can see the heads . They're dry.

 

[Ishodu]

Cam seals?

 

[turbolarry]

No , like I said ... i had the top timing cover off and the cam area was totally dry.
I drove it to work today , and so far so good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I got a 10 drive Friday and 10 hours back home , Sunday.

 

[turbolarry]

Update

Just got back from Canada ... 10 hours each way. It was that bottom bolt for the Alt. belt tensioner bracket. No more leaks ! Thanks ... for the moral support :corn: