Oil Leak Nightmare ( could use some suggestions )

[KarmannMarco]

Last month I gathered all parts for a full timing belt / wp / plugs and wires job on my 96 SR.
Keep in mind prior to this I have no oil leaks ( at last nothing noticeble )
I gave all the parts to my mechanic and he did the job.
Two days later truck is running but I notice its dripping oil at a fast rate around the front of the oil pan.
So my mechanic figured he had screwed up on the crank seal somewhere. So over a weekend he tore the truck down again and replaced the crank
seal with a new one. He mentioned that he did not see any traces of oil anywhere around the crank seal or the cam seals.
Once all back together we start the truck and second later the oil drip persisted.
So I put it up on the lift and I notice it was dripping off of the oil pressure sender right next to the oil filter.
With a little digging around I noticed one of the oil cooler hoses was leaking pretty around the collar. Since it is right above the oil pressure sender
I replaced it and the sender ( for good measure ).
This was yesterday.
New hose in. Ran the truck at idle for 10-15 minutes. Not a drip. Test drove it for another 15 minutes.
Looked under , and one single drip fell in the course of 60 seconds. Didn't think much of it.
Drove home from work and all seemed fine.
This morning I drove the truck to work and once I got here I could smell the oil burning smell.
So I leave the truck running and look underneath and I've got oil dripping at a fast rate again.
This time its dripping from the front of the oil pain right under the harmonic balancer....
At this point i'm confused and very frusterated by all this.
Is this the crank seal that all of a sudden goes bad a week later ? Is this running off somewhere else and dripping onto the harmonic balancer making it look
like it the crank seal ? Any suggestions are appreciated.
This really sucks not only because of the obvious frusteration but also because I've got a buyer lined up for tomorrow for my 97 LS ( my other truck )
and I'd be stuck trying to figure out this oil leak mess with only one vehicle for my family of 4.

 

[plh]

Not sure I know the hose configuration on the SR, but does it use banjo bolts to hole the oil cooler lines on? and if it does, were the copper washers replaced with new ones?

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Not sure I know the hose configuration on the SR, but does it use banjo bolts to hole the oil cooler lines on? and if it does, were the copper washers replaced with new ones?

Very good point, sometimes people will try to reuse the old one or completely leave it out if they aren't familiar with banjo bolts.

 

[KarmannMarco]

It does use a banjo bolt. I ordered the hose from the dealer as well as washer seal. Both ends of the hose I replaced are clean and dry.
It's just so strange that this leak took a week to develop and it happened right after I fixed a different leak.
Someone on 4x4 wire suggested to check the bolts that hold the hydraulic tensioner as they go through the oil pump and into the block.
Guess I just need to tear it apart again and inspect it further.
Thanks for the suggestion guys.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

It does use a banjo bolt. I ordered the hose from the dealer as well as washer seal. Both ends of the hose I replaced are clean and dry.
It's just so strange that this leak took a week to develop and it happened right after I fixed a different leak.
Someone on 4x4 wire suggested to check the bolts that hold the hydraulic tensioner as they go through the oil pump and into the block.
Guess I just need to tear it apart again and inspect it further.
Thanks for the suggestion guys.

It's a mostly pressurized system, when you replace one leak then it will find the next weakest spot to leak from.

 

[ultrakill]

I just noticed a similar problem on my 3.0. I just had the timing belt, water pump, crankshaft sprocket, AC tensioner, PS tentioner and pulleys replaced at the shop. I change the oil myself the next day (Saturday). It drives fine for 3 days, and then as I park in garage Tuesday night, I see a pretty decent size puddle of oil forming under my car.

After inspecting it, the oil looks to be coming from the near the front camshaft (right where the timing belt sprocket would be) and drips down on top of the oil filter, then down onto the skid plate, and down from there. I'm not 100% sure on the crankshaft being the source of the leak.

I am 100% sure that the oil is somehow dripping onto the oil filter, because that was just changed a few days ago, and it was completely soaked. Any other ideas besides passenger side camshaft (it looked damp on the camshaft/timing belt cover, where the other side was not)?

The other thing is I drove it this morning to work, and saw 0 oil leaking from anywhere and no drips underneath car. So this is really confusing? Could it be an oil over-fill issue? Since I possibly overfilled oil by 1/4-1/2 quart?

 

[plh]

After inspecting it, the oil looks to be coming from the near the front camshaft (right where the timing belt sprocket would be) and drips down on top of the oil filter, then down onto the skid plate, and down from there. I'm not 100% sure on the crankshaft being the source of the leak.

I am 100% sure that the oil is somehow dripping onto the oil filter, because that was just changed a few days ago, and it was completely soaked. Any other ideas besides passenger side camshaft (it looked damp on the camshaft/timing belt cover, where the other side was not)?

Can you see it coming out from under the plastic timing belt cover? If so, sounds like a cam seal. If this is the case, make sure to slap in another new timing belt if its wet from oil. Oil is not so good for them.

 

[ultrakill]

Can you see it coming out from under the plastic timing belt cover? If so, sounds like a cam seal. If this is the case, make sure to slap in another new timing belt if its wet from oil. Oil is not so good for them.

I didn't see where it was coming from, I just guessed that it was coming from there since the outside was damp and I don't see any higher position the oil could be coming from. It's really strange that I only saw it once and driving it this morning didn't produce any leaking at all under hood.

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep my eye on it and if it leaks again I will definitely be looking closer.

 

[ultrakill]

Just wanted to update you and yeah, it was coming from the timing belt cover. The shop where I normally go is taking care of it as part of their "warranty" on work, which is great, cause I didn't want to fork out major dough again. They even said if the belt has oil on it they will be replacing that also, which is awesome.

They still have to figure exactly if it's passenger cam seal which I suspect it is, or crank seal but either way they replaced all of that stuff just last week so whatever it is, they are taking care of it. I was scared that my oil found a new "weak spot" to escape from since this is my first oil leak since owning the car.