Need opinions on a leak (1 Viewer)

[baltistyle]

Hi everyone,

Purchased a “well maintained” truck that I am moving through baselining. It has amazing bones but boy, far from where it will be soon. The amount of oil and coolant residue EVERYWHERE were a sign the previous mechanic was a mess.

It is an lx and is a 2006 and I got it cause it’s very rust free. It was not supposed to need any work. It will have needed, one wheel bearing, speedometer calibration, four tpms, one headlight housing, extreme cleaning detailing and degreasing, one rear shock, and now likely front engine sealing. This took it from satisfactory deal to more expensive than comparable.

Upon purchase I noticed extreme wetness down the entire front of the engine. I thoroughly degreased and waited for it to reappear. I’m afraid it’s from the cam seals. This was supposed have had a recent tb, including these seals.

Attached are some pics and I’d love your thoughts if you have specifically seen this exact issue.

There are a few angles. Showing the wet bolt on bottom left if ps timing cover, bottom of that cover, moisture near the cover.

I have replaced pcv.

Thanks in advance.

 

[AlpineAccess]

TPMS aside, those are some weird issues to have. Speedometer needed to be calibrated?

The cam seals could be leaking - pop off one of the timing belt covers and get a flashlight in there.

You might want to take a few pictures just a little further back too for orientation on the motor of where the leak is. Cam seals don't leak often on these unless someone replaces them as preventative and botches it (or uses an aftermarket seal).

It's possible the leak is from something else. Good call on degreasing and watching it.

The front bolts on the valve cover often leak, so wipe around the edge of the valve cover gasket lip with a dry paper towel and see what comes off.

 

[baltistyle]

Thanks for the reply.

Yes the speedometer was ten percent off because the truck had non stock size tires which I did not know about, therefore I had to purchase a calibration device.

I will take off the cover this weekend and see what I can see. I only mention the cam deals because it says they were possibly replaced when the last tab was done and because of the condition of other repairs, assume they did not do it right. I’m hoping I’m wrong.

The leak does come from right near the front valve cover bolts, I will have to get a little closer to really see.

Per the pics. Only from this close up was the leak visible to show. I will get more as I disassemble.

Thanks again for the insight. I’m glad your answer was not “yes definitely the cam seals”

Given my older rustier 100 is still bone dry, this moisture threw me for a loop.

You may ask why it was purchased with the issues. It was an out of state rust free private party purchase with a seller willing to work in that condition. Most sellers do not want to deal even when offering to pay. I buy lots of used items and the ability of sellers to be honest or hold a deal with deposit is at an all time low.

 

[baltistyle]

Btw, the po referred to “cam plugs” being resealed. Is that the same as the cam seal I am asking about, using different terminology?

Or am I looking for a different cam seal.

Thanks again. I’m a very competent amateur mechanic and as long as I can lift the weight, I can fix just about anything with time and instruction.

 

[ton504]

Cam plugs aka half moon plugs/seals are usually resealed with doing valve cover gaskets. They are in the rear of the heads towards the firewall. They may have botched the install or just never cleaned the remnants of the leak.

Its unlikey they replaced the cam seals on that 06 as part of a tb job. Its been a while but I think its quite a task. No one really touches them unless they are leaking.

 

[AlpineAccess]

Got it on the speedometer. My speedometer is a little off as well due to oversize tires, didn't realize people correct that but it makes sense.

 

[baltistyle]

Thank you for that clarification.

I have degreased quite few times over the past month so I think the leak is active.

That’s actually good need if the cam seals were not touched. I have read it’s quite the job as you mentioned.

The amount of oil was crazy

 

[baltistyle]

Got it on the speedometer. My speedometer is a little off as well due to oversize tires, didn't realize people correct that but it makes sense.

I guess I think about it for odometer correctness. The correct number of miles on the odo is an important feature for most buyers. Fortunately there are devices to correct this but adds additional cost if even only 100 dollars. Had I not realized and been pulled over, I would have been really mad and likely sued the PO and returned the vehicle. In Virginia, a hole I drove through for five hours after purchase, those few mph are the difference between jail and freedom in that dump of a state.

Really it’s just nice to know when a vehicle is represented fairly and there’s not a hidden cost. Being able to afford the cost is not a valid point.

 

[saucebox]

Had I not realized and been pulled over, I would have been really mad and likely sued the PO and returned the vehicle. In Virginia, a hole I drove through for five hours after purchase, those few mph are the difference between jail and freedom in that dump of a state.

Are you serious?

 

[MountaineerLC]

I'm curious what size tires are on your 100 to make such a dramatic difference in the speedo? Going from stock to the very popular 285/75/16 (33") is a 5% difference and only a few MPH at highway speeds.

 

[hickuptruck]

Dude, you're kidding about suing the PO right? Also you've got a 15 year old truck at this point, They're going to need work even if they're 100%, let alone one that was private sale.

It's not like you're going from 31s to 37s where your speedo is way off. Going from 31 to 33 is so small for me that it really doesn't warrant correcting anything for adding additional widgets to correct it. It just causes more points of complication and failure.

Besides, my phone tells me real time speed. No cars are going to have an exact speedo reading. Going 75mph on gps reads 73mph on my speedo. Do you really think your next buyer is going to care that the odometer is 2% off real travelled miles?

Per your post, it really sounds that your expectations might be a bit misaligned.

 

[baltistyle]

edited due to the potential sensitivity of others and so you don’t have to read a long drawn out reason why the poster above should just not comment.

I hope everyone helpful understands the need to call out this poster and any others that do not contribute to the question asked.

Back to the leak! I will be working on her today and can’t wait to hopefully uncover the issue. Thanks for those that did offer help.

Gary

 

[AlpineAccess]

Hey Bro Dude, do you actually have anything constructive to say or just off you meds? Please address the thread question or just stop, this thread is now labels “for adults only” because of people like you, know nothing troll.


My expectations were aligned with a sellers word and pricing. My expectation is that people don’t lie. My expectation is when people lie, others do not back them up. My expectation is that those that back up that type of person do not come into threads and not help! GOT IT? IS MY EXPECTATION CLEAR? This is not my first 100. This is not my first used vehicle and this is not my first or even second decade of buying vehicles from private sellers from an enthusiast site. If you are not a buyer or seller with integrity, thank you for letting the entire site know NOT to ever have an expectation when dealing with you that you are truthful or that you sale will require thousands in repairs you said you already completed.

And yes, odometer fraud is a real thing. Would you be ok buying any vehicle with misrepresented miles? Are you ok with a truck that might have ten percent more miles than advertised?

Would you not return a car with odometer fraud? Private party sale means nothing.

Do you know that ten percent over 73 miles an hour puts you in jail in Virginia? Do you know that some people can not have that on their records?

Do me a favor, I asked about a leak while complaining of a poor seller. Unless you are that poor seller or want to help with the leak, MOVE ALONG. There was zero questions asked that you answered, troll.

Moderators, feel free to remove this person from the thread as it does not address the topic and the post is made purely to enflame. Do us all a favor “hickup”. Pm me if you just want to talk out of that poo filled mouth and have someone tell you that you should have no expectation but to eat sh** when you act like this.

I hope everyone helpful understands the need to call out this poster.

Back to the leak! I will be working on her today and can’t wait to hopefully uncover the issue. Thanks for those that did offer help.

Gary

If you don't like what he said you can just click the ignore button on his profile and it will be as if he is not on the forum. Anyone can comment on your thread. You can choose who's content you see.

I hope you figure out this leak. Based on your expectations I don't feel comfortable giving any further input, so I'm out.

 

[baltistyle]

If you don't like what he said you can just click the ignore button on his profile and it will be as if he is not on the forum. Anyone can comment on your thread. You can choose who's content you see.

I hope you figure your leak out, and consider amending your response to his post as it is excessive.

Thank you. I get that. I don’t need to ignore them as I figure if they can dish it he can take it AND I’ve read some of his stuff and don’t mind learning from him..... I also get calling out people that don’t contribute and enflame. I’m telling a story about a leak, he doesn’t like my story. He also can choose not to comment. I hope that he was also contacted to tell him how forums work. This is a reason I pm people many times instead of open forum questions. I also have low post count because I tend not to want to ask a question that becomes 90 percent useless to others because of people not reading the original post that asks politely for people to answer with experience with this exact leak. It does not ask for the class clown to critique what I feel was a buying experience that has become more costly than expected. The economy runs on expectations and willingness to pay. In my explanation of what happened, there was no references to me asking to be told in so many words “man up stiff happens”.

So I come asking for help, well researched and ready to document for the next person with this issue and instead of he or you helping, we are talking about the story or the buy and his response to my current dissatisfaction. I stand by my former post unless I am contacted by him to sort it out. I personally don’t care. He’s blunt, I’m blunt. Yay.

So I politely ask again, are you able to help me? If not, let’s not critique the writing, thanks

ON TO THE LEAK with a few new pics.

We see where the oil was deposited on the timing cover. We see oil near the valve cover and we se oil in the timing chain cavity.

I will next degrease and then check and retorque the valve bolts per the manual.

As thenTB work is about 40k miles old, has the longevity of the belt been compromised in a way that would require immediate replacement? It still seems very good but does have a slight sticky feel. Is there a way to clean if needed?

Thank you again in advance.

 

[baltistyle]

After cleaning and degreasing, the valve cover bolts were retightened per manual. PDF attached. The valve cover bolts were very loose except the “unreachable” bolts.

You will need a ten mm socket, various extensions 3in,6in,10in, and one angle adapter to get to the rear “unreachable” bolts on each side of the head.

Also needed is a low range torque wrench to meet the below values.


I will report back once it runs some more.

My hope is that the next person that has a leak at these specific areas, it can be deduced to the same cause.

Per advice above, I will keep an eye on the half moon cam plug on that side and the valve cover seals. Before starting, the vcs did not look wet at all but due to their looseness, I move them to the number one suspect.

 

[baltistyle]

Hello again,

After running around for a week after tightening the valve cover bolts, I am still having wetness in the same area. I have not removed the timing cover again, yet.

Here are the pics.

From your expert advice, is the next step removing stuff that side of the valve covers and inspecting furthur. It does seem like a top down leak but I am now thinking it’s the “cam cover” right in front of the valve cover. But I also can’t tell if it originates lower because I have not been too deep in this truck yet.

For those with experience with leaks from within the timing cover, does this fit the “look”?

I’m going to dive deeper before taking it in since I just had to have them replace a wheel bearing and both rear shocks.” And I’d like to save some dough.

Here are the pics. What do you think? I’ve tried to show what I could and could not get a better closer pic from underneath.

And as always, Thanks in advance.

 

[baltistyle]

FYI, this was a cam seal issue, fixed.

gary