Oil leak

[mclark]

Hey guys wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday . Had the 94 3.2 Sho auto on lift today to try and find out why it was leaving a smoke trail, once on the lift noticed oil dripping from the bottom of the timing cover . Rev the engine to 3000 rpm and you could see the oil dripping from bottom of the timing cover , mechanic stated that the timing cover need to be replaced but I wanted a second expert(s) opinion , what repair should be done . Thanks

 

[rubydist]

Well, the timing cover on that engine is not sealed, since it is just a cosmetic cover. So somewhere behind the timing cover something is leaking. This might be cam seals or crank seal - one of those is most likely, but of course it might be something more serious like a head gasket issue but those are relatively rare in this series of engines.

The next step is to remove the timing covers and then operate the engine to see what is really leaking.

 

[luigisho]

The only other common place to leak not mentioned above is valve covers that run/drip down. SO cam seal, crank/front main seal, valve cover seal most common.

 

[BaySHO Performance]

The mechanic thinks that there's a timing chain in there which would be immersed in oil like the Gen 3s. So he thinks it's the cover itself that is leaking.

Most likely the front crank seal from where the oil is dripping. No need to run the engine once the front is stripped down. You will see the oil and be able to trace it back to the source. Whichever seal it is, you might as well replace all three while in there:

Front Crank Seal (National) 710220 $20 O'Reilly
Intake Cam seal (2 National) 1213N $17 O'Reilly