Blasted oil leak!!

[nuszmd]

Need a little help with an oil leak that is pretty bad and keeping me from driving this car. I have an '02 9-5 Aero 5spd Manual that we just installed a new (used) engine into. It is running pretty good, but I have an oil leak at the back passenger side corner of the engine. Oil is getting onto the axle and of course it gets all over everything - making it tough to diagnose. I had already dropped the sump to clean it, so I do not believe that this is the culprit.

My first shot was a replacement of the front crank seal and o-ring. It was definitely needed, so not a waste of time, but it did not stop the flow of oil. It seems to only leak when under load. When I have it up on jacks and running, I can't find new oil coming out. Also, I already changed the valve cover gasket, but can't say that it is a solid install. I had trouble with the install and went through two gaskets. I don't believe that the valve cover is leaking though.

My ideas right now are 1. something to do with PCV6, maybe the new engine has the old oil trap box or something?? 2. Need to do a head bolt replacement / retorque 3. I screwed up the sump seal when I dropped it and need to redo it.

Is there an oil pressure or temp sensor back there that I need to be concerned with? This is a pretty major leak, so I am not driving the car right now. Any assistance would be appreciated!

[TankTak]

check for pvc6 update, and also check and make sure the oil presure switch isnt leaking as thats a common place that leaks. jack the car up and at the backside of the engine look up above the alternator and you will see it

[Saaber95er]

Wash the engine; try and pinpoint the leak. How low or high up does it look like it's leaking? If it's the sensor it would leak more on the CAT than the passenger side; check above starter on the block for oil. The VC gasket could be crimped; worst case a damaged timing cover.

[photousa]

Typical Oil Leak points:

Head bolts loosen on passenger end of head, around timing chain, ( a head bolt re-torque ) is needed.

Oil pressure sensor on back side of engine, ( typically gets replaced )

You pinched the valve cover gasket when installing it and part of the pinched gasket is inside, under the valve cover, ( solution: use the dental floss method of installing the valve cover gasket ).

[priapism]

Clean everything off as well as you can then throw some baby powder in the area, it'll help you find the leak.

[bornfromjets03]

Yeah I'm pretty sure I have this same problem. Original engine. pcv6 done as soon as it came out. 106k.

I'm honestly thinking crank seal, but currently it's not bad enough to do anything about

[nuszmd]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. My leak is not resulting in oil on the exhaust, so maybe it isn't the sensor. I already changed the crank seals, so this isn't it. I really thought this was the issue, but it did not help. Oil is coming from above the crank somewhere. Then it gets down to the crank and gets slung back to the axle, which again slings it all around. I am going to check the VC gasket area again. If I have to remove it again, I am going to order a gasket. I used the Reintz gasket last time, and it is of the lousiest quality imaginable. I did use the dental floss technique, but because of the crappy gasket I still had problems.

On the PCV issue - I replaced the '02 engine with an '01. I used the PCV6 hoses from my '02 engine, but I left the oil fill tube and the oil trap box alone. I am thinking that this could be causing oil to get pushed out of one of the hose connections at the oil trap box. Just an idea, but it does seem like there is some oil back there.

I'll keep you all posted.

[Saaber95er]

This time go with the elring VC gasket; use anaerobic sealer if you have it, if not use dabs of Vaseline on the VC to hold the gasket in place. Also check the side cover for damage sometimes a bad pulley can damage the cover; while you have the VC gasket off check the head bolts as well some could be loose.

Originally Posted by nuszmd

Thanks for all the great suggestions. My leak is not resulting in oil on the exhaust, so maybe it isn't the sensor. I already changed the crank seals, so this isn't it. I really thought this was the issue, but it did not help. Oil is coming from above the crank somewhere. Then it gets down to the crank and gets slung back to the axle, which again slings it all around. I am going to check the VC gasket area again. If I have to remove it again, I am going to order a gasket. I used the Reintz gasket last time, and it is of the lousiest quality imaginable. I did use the dental floss technique, but because of the crappy gasket I still had problems.

On the PCV issue - I replaced the '02 engine with an '01. I used the PCV6 hoses from my '02 engine, but I left the oil fill tube and the oil trap box alone. I am thinking that this could be causing oil to get pushed out of one of the hose connections at the oil trap box. Just an idea, but it does seem like there is some oil back there.

I'll keep you all posted.

[nuszmd]

If I retorque the head bolts, do I need to put in new head bolts of just tighten down the existing bolts?

I will order up an elring gasket - thanks. I read that, but opted for the locally available Reintz gasket - which I will never do again for any car.

[Saaber95er]

No need to change the bolts; just follow this procedure,

http://www.thesaabsite.com/95/Coolantheadgasket.pdf

Originally Posted by nuszmd

If I retorque the head bolts, do I need to put in new head bolts of just tighten down the existing bolts?

I will order up an elring gasket - thanks. I read that, but opted for the locally available Reintz gasket - which I will never do again for any car.

[2.3LiterCivicBeater]

if the oil is coming from the top dont over look the timing chain tensioner seal.

those will weep oil all the way down the back

[chopin1012]

I don't know if the dipstick tube and trap alone could cause the problems. I know on my '02 Aero, I had an oil leak that would drip onto my driveway overnight. I installed new head bolts and a new valve cover gasket. None of that stopped the oil leak. I installed a complete PCV6 upgrade and the leak was gone the next morning.

[captainbeaky]

I had a similar oil leak - found the small PVC hose had a split.
It's easy to miss. Have a good dig around.

[slbenz]

I had a similar leak and found that when I did the complete PVC 6 upgrade, all my oil leaks stopped. Make sure to tighten the VC down tight but not too tight or you will start an oil leak because your cracked the VC by overtightening the bolts. Also check the oil pressure switch. Mine went bad and leaked quite a bit of oil as well.

[nuszmd]

Hi all - checking back with my report. I finally received my new gasket and went in and tightened / torqued the head bolts - still no help. My major leak is still happening from the back passenger corner of the motor. It really looks like its coming from behind the crank pulley, but I already changed the crank seal and the o-ring. I am about to do a whole pvc6 change-out to see if it helps.

Motor is dry all around the starter, so I don't think the oil pressure sensor is leaking. Also, it looks like the motor is dry above the crank pulley, but its hard to tell.

[chopin1012]

Do your PCV6 upgrade and let us know what happens.

[Paul in NM]

Man i went thru this for over a year. Same place. Same year car. Replaced all on that side (crank seal, oil pump seal, new hoses for oil trap, oil pressure switch, new o-rings for oil lines, new timing chan adjuster seal). It was...my timing cover leaking. Resealed it and zero leaks 2 months later. Might want to check behind you top motor mount, right behind your timing chain adjuster. In my case you could see a slight weep there.

[nuszmd]

I did drop the sump, clean it out, and reseal. Would it be possible for a sump to leak this bad? I got to thinking that maybe the sump is leaking, then the oil gets back to the axle by driving, then the axle slings the oil back up on to the crank pulley. I don't want to have to drop the sump and waste perfectly good brand new synthetic oil, but maybe this should be one of my next attempts?

[T-town]

Originally Posted by Paul in NM

Man i went thru this for over a year. Same place. Same year car. Replaced all on that side (crank seal, oil pump seal, new hoses for oil trap, oil pressure switch, new o-rings for oil lines, new timing chan adjuster seal). It was...my timing cover leaking. Resealed it and zero leaks 2 months later. Might want to check behind you top motor mount, right behind your timing chain adjuster. In my case you could see a slight weep there.

....have the same oil weep going on.. and I replaced the seal/o-ring on the tensioner. But have not got things back together yet.
I'm curious, did you pu;; the timing cover off?? then resealed it?
I'm not sure yet if the tensioner seals will have stoped mine but thinking while I'm in there with lots of brackets off ( long story about breaking the alt bracket with the top motor mount removal) maybe go for the reseal also.

I've read in the threads about that spot being prone to leaks.... when I first brought this vehicle home I pulled the VC to take a look... and did a re-tourqe on the head bolts ( since I knew about the leak then). But I did not touch the bolts that drop down into the timing chain cover.

I too put in a new crank seal and pump o-ring, but the weep persisted. Added some dye and tracked it to that spot where the tensioner goes into the head(?).

Doing all this with the engine in the vehicle... not sure how involved pulling the TC cover off to reseal it would be..

Thanks for any insight..

[Paul in NM]

Originally Posted by T-town

....have the same oil weep going on.. and I replaced the seal/o-ring on the tensioner. But have not got things back together yet.
I'm curious, did you pu;; the timing cover off?? then resealed it?
I'm not sure yet if the tensioner seals will have stoped mine but thinking while I'm in there with lots of brackets off ( long story about breaking the alt bracket with the top motor mount removal) maybe go for the reseal also.

I've read in the threads about that spot being prone to leaks.... when I first brought this vehicle home I pulled the VC to take a look... and did a re-tourqe on the head bolts ( since I knew about the leak then). But I did not touch the bolts that drop down into the timing chain cover.

I too put in a new crank seal and pump o-ring, but the weep persisted. Added some dye and tracked it to that spot where the tensioner goes into the head(?).

Doing all this with the engine in the vehicle... not sure how involved pulling the TC cover off to reseal it would be..

Thanks for any insight..

Yes. I had to pull the engine to remove the TC and then reseal it. Not an easy task to say the least. Saved me about $1200+ (the estimate I got from a local indie to reseal the TC).