The Monty is puking...

[Worshington]

Hey everybody,

I bought a '02 Limited last spring with 137,000 miles on it. It has, for the most part, provided 20,000 miles of fun for my wife and myself over the past year.

I was changing the oil on it yesterday afternoon and noticed that the poor thing is puking...I mean puking. The front diff is covered, there's oil on the catalytic converter, it's on all the wires, all over the crossmember, and all over the oil pan. It looks pretty bad. The rear cam seal has been leaking for a while, but not to this extent. This is something new.

I was wondering if there are any other seals that have been known to leak profusely on the Montero. I'm trying to narrow the list of suspects, I was under there for quite a bit of time yesterday and there is so much oil it seems like it could be coming from anywhere.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jay Ayala]

Valve cover seals leak a lot. That may be the source.


1989 Dodge Raider 3.0L

 

[nckwltn]

could be a rear cam seal (you can do a quick fix with gasket maker), might also be front crank seal, or front cam seal.

 

[Worshington]

Thanks for the recommendations. I'm somewhat of a novice mechanic, what would be the best way to identify the leaks? Is it ok to use engine degreaser on the outside of the motor, could I clean it up using that, and then get a fresher look at it?

 

[montypower]

You need to clean everything and watch it for a couple weeks. Or we could all keep guessing...

Changing the oil filter will get oil all over the crossmember and possibly on the diff. All seals are possible to leak. You should plan to do the valve covers, plugs, rear cam seals... all the basic maintenance about 100k. At 130k+ you are seeing the results of delayed maintenance. I replaced every seal in my truck at about 90k miles. Well with the exception of the rear main seal. And guess what is leaking? Yup, and it drops right on the cat for some nice oil burning odor. My mistake was switching to synthetic without changing the rear main seal. I'll probably get that done then keep runny synthetic.

 

[earljuic3]

Clean it and find the leak, if its your rear cam seal which is likely you need to address it before it ruins your alternator.

 

[Worshington]

I recieved the rear cam seals from the dealer in the mail yesterday and will be replacing them this afternoon. Does anyone have a good trick for cleaning up the engine compartment?

 

[TheMole]

I had quite a mess from leaky valve covers when I first bought my Monty. I used a lot of paper towels and some spray degreaser and got a good mess off the back of the engine to the undercarriage and especially the cat converter. There are some tight areas behind the engine that I still couldn't reach, but I'm satisfied for now. You might be able to use a degreaser/simple green and a some running water, but becareful of the electrical bits and galleys where water can build up. Maybe a good steamer would prove useful in this situation.

 

[montypower]

This stuff is the best: http://www.amazon.com/Gunk-FEB1-Foamy-Engine-Degreaser/dp/B000ABGA6W

FYI. If it is like the 3.8L there is only one cam seal to replace (rear passenger head). Driver head has the cam sensor with o ring and it is sealed.

You will likely have oil in your plug holes if the valve covers are leaking. Pull a plug and check it. Probably best to plan to do everything rather than partial job and continue chasing the problem.

 

[Worshington]

Well, I changed the passenger side cam seal, not too bad of a job. I'm pretty sure that the passenger side valve cover gasket is one of the culprits, as may be the driver side. So far, I have no evidence that there is a head gasket leak, nothing in the oil or coolant no suction when removing the radiator cap. I'm hoping that the drip onto the cat is from the profuse leakage of the cam and valve covers and not the rear main seal...keeping fingers crossed.

I'm taking it in next week to have the timing belt and water pump changed. I'm trying to identify all the leaks now to save some diagnostic labor costs.

 

[jhill15]

Well, I changed the passenger side cam seal, not too bad of a job. I'm pretty sure that the passenger side valve cover gasket is one of the culprits, as may be the driver side. So far, I have no evidence that there is a head gasket leak, nothing in the oil or coolant no suction when removing the radiator cap. I'm hoping that the drip onto the cat is from the profuse leakage of the cam and valve covers and not the rear main seal...keeping fingers crossed.

I'm taking it in next week to have the timing belt and water pump changed. I'm trying to identify all the leaks now to save some diagnostic labor costs.

I would definitely look into having them go ahead and do your valve cover gaskets, plugs, and the other cam seal.

I paid around $1500 for timing belt, water pump, tensioner, timing sprocket, valve cover gaskets, rear cam seals, plugs and to have it aligned. Not too bad coming from the dealer.

 

[Jay Ayala]

I would definitely look into having them go ahead and do your valve cover gaskets, plugs, and the other cam seal.

I paid around $1500 for timing belt, water pump, tensioner, timing sprocket, valve cover gaskets, rear cam seals, plugs and to have it aligned. Not too bad coming from the dealer.

$1,500.00?

Ouch! Not to criticize here but I've worked on my Raider over the past 12 years and when I read that price tag, my knee jerk reaction was pretty dramatic. I'll spare you the details. That's about my typical budget for an entire overhaul including dropping off my block at a machinist, bearings, new seals, pulleys, belts, parts and fluids.

Of course I do all the labor myself over the course of several weeks.


1989 Dodge Raider 3.0L

 

[earljuic3]

Jay, careful with that knee under desks and tables...

Jhill, 1500 is not a bad price to have done what you had done especially if you were paying dealer labor rates. No you didn't get greasy but your work is warrantied and in the grand scheme of the used Montero game 1500 is a drop in the bucket especially on the GEN 3


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[Worshington]

$1,200 to $1,500 is about what we're expecting to pay, I made an appointment with a reputable local shop for monday. Going to do a timing belt, water pump, a valve cover gasket, and whatever else is leaking...just praying it's not that main seal.