Well it seems that I have a leak. It looks like it may be coming from the bell housing but after 200,000 miles of crud it's hard to tell. The starter also has oil on it so it's possible that it may be coming from somewhere else. I checked the valve cover of the front cylinder bank ( v6 ) but it doesn't look like it's coming from there. So, how likely would it be that I have a rear main seal failure? Should I be looking somewhere else? It's a 2000 GTZ and only leaves one to two drops when parked. Thanks.
Clean around the oil pan where it seals to the engine block first, drive it for a day or two and check to see if there is oil coming from that area. It may be just an oil pan seal that is failing on the rear portion. Generally if it is a rear main seal leaking you will have a lot of oil build up on the bottom of the bell housing, and residue build up from the bell housing area around to the rear of the subframe from wind pushing the fluid backwards as you drive the vehicle.
it could possibly be a leak from the input shaft seal. pop open the rubber inspection cap on the transmission an take a look inside.
Brandon - 2001 Galant GST 5speed
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If it was an input shaft leak there would be a noticeable amount of trans fluid leaking (would easily recognize with the red fluid color), and you would also see the same "splash back" effect from the bottom of the bell housing to the rear of the transmission and under the vehicle from the point of origin.
This, and be sure to pay attention to it's color.Originally Posted by SPD_FRK
Hanks everyone. I have been poking around and definatly not the rear main or the input shaft. As was said I would have a bigger mess under the car. I did find a leak on the back of the head of the front bank so it's either the valve cover gasket or the cam thust cap o-ring. Both are within an inch of where the oil is acumilating. Oh by the way, the oil made it's way to the bellhousing via the wire harness. There's a ground wire that is bolted to the head where the oil is accumulating and it simply followed it the the harness that powered the starter ( it was full of oil) and then to the bottom of the bellhousig.
Well I decided to sit and watch with the engin idling and slowly I showed its self. I saw a small line of oil develop where the cam thrust cover meets the back of the head.
Last edited by ni2; 01-20-2012 at 07:41 PM
I finally got a chance to update this with how the fix went and it was messy. What needs to be removes to be able to remove the plate is as follows,
1. Air box
2. Battery and tray
3. Distributed ( it has an O ring also so you should replace I also)
4. Coolant crossover tube. Don't know what its actually called but both upper and lower radiated hoses connect to it.
You will need
1.the O ring for the cam thrust plate. ( and the one for the distributer )
2. The gaskets for the coolan crossover tube. ( rubberized stainless steal )
3. O rings for the coolant tubes that connect to the crossover tube .
4. A 12mm "crows foot" wrench to remove the distributer. The nuts are behind the distributer and this is the only way you can "safely" access one of them.
5. Universal joint. Some bolts cant be easily accesses in a strait shot with a rachet. Need to go at them from a slight angle.
Things to watch out for:
1: orientation of the crossover tube caskets. There is a small tab on each gasket and if it points the wrong way the crossover tube wont seat against heads.
2. Lots of coolant collect in the crossover tube that doesn't drain when you drain the radiator. You will make a mess.
Good luck.
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