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Bad feeling about oil leak . . . anything I'm missing ?? Posted by Mark in Marine [Email] (#1837) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Mark in Marine) on Mon, 30 Dec 2019 15:57:45 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
BACKGROUND: Today I installed a new tensioner, idler pulley, and belt on my younger daughter's 2006 SC with about 143K miles. It has been running well, but she noticed a noise on startup that seemed to go away as the car warmed up - sure enough, a dry idler pulley bearing. Probably not too surprising, since I put that one in about 50K miles and 4.5 years ago.
PROBLEM: There's a 'new' oil leak (beside the usual TC/Head seepage). And I don't like where I THINK I see it coming from. Since oil doesn't normally flow up hill, I kept looking up. The oil that has me worried is on the left hand side of the engine - against the transmission. There is no oil on the transmission bell housing, it's all on the block. It is not coming from the front or end of the of the valve cover, and it's not draining out of the cam valley. There is oil up to the junction of the head and block, so it SEEMS to be leaking at the head gasket (not the rear main seal). Anyone ever had oil from the right hand side of the engine or the back side 'wick' all the way around to the other side of the head?
I plan to check the compression. The engine was sludge free when I got it (I dropped the pan), and it's gotten 5K oil changed with Mobil 1 0W40 and Mann filters. The rate of oil leakage is not yet severe, and coolant is not disappearing. It may be drivable like this for a little while. It's just a concern that I may need to be thinking of a head gasket in the near future. I don't want to panic, but I would like to help my daughter get 2 or 3 more years of service. The car is otherwise quite sound.
Please share thoughts on experiences. I will post back with compression data.
Thanks in advance,
Mark in Marine
->Posting last edited on Mon, 30 Dec 2019 17:28:48.
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