98 Metro 1.3 4 Cylinder Oil leak advice needed...

[doug2060]

I just started work on my 98 metro. I thought I had a bad cam seal because the oil appeared to be coming out in places much higher than the crank seal. When I got in there the cam seal is new and has no signs of leakage but the crank seal which appears to be original has a lot of oil around it. I find it odd that there a signs of oil even above the tensioner. It was pooled up on bolt heads and anywhere it could pool up between the crank and just above the tensioner. The oil leak was pretty severe. Even after running for 10 to 15 minutes it would leave a football sized amount of oil. The timing belt did have a few spots of oil on it but not much. It is only 3 months old but I will still replaced it to save myself the trouble later on. Could it just have been flung around over time like that or should I be looking for something other than the crank seal? I really don't want to put that seal in and get it back together just to find out I have a bigger problem. The previous owner had the water pump replaced then later had the head gasket replaced and head shaved. All that was done in the last 3 to 5 months. Below I have posted 2 photo's that show what I mean. The first photo shows it with the belt on but you can't really see the oil too good. The second photo shows it after removing the belt and cleaned with brake cleaner (out of carb cleaner)... Any advice is much appreciated...

[mastersat1]

I understand that the head gasket is new but, you need to inspect it a little closer. Have you ran it with the timing cover off? If not try that and see if you can see anything now that it is cleaned up. You gotta get that thing running. Your losing money every day it is down with the price of gas.

[doug2060]

There's nothing coming from the head. It's was pretty clean until just a couple inches below it. I'm driving my 3 cylinder 91 model at the moment. I just want to be sure I just need that crank seal. I'll put the belt on and the outer pulley to keep it from coming off and run it a few minutes to see if anything is coming out elsewhere. As soon as I get this done I have to replace both axles. I'll have some real bitching to do when I get that started as the previous owner apparently cut the boots almost off and packed them up with grease.

[doug2060]

OK, I put the belt back on and ran it. There was a steady stream of oil coming out and the jagged back plate on the timing belt pulley was spreading the oil upward as it spun. I didn't see any other signs of leakage. I'll get a seal tomorrow and throw it back together. I was surprised at how similar this 4 cyl is to the 3cyl. Now I just have to do the axles and maybe struts and it will be good for a while.