Elusive Oil Leak Fixed!

[TRock]

Okay .. so I had an oil leak that was very hard to diagnose since it's splattered all over the rear passenger side area of my 06 Pontiac Vibe (150K miles). Doing a ton of research on Corolla and Matrix cars it looks like these are the two most likely culprits:

1. Timing Tensioner O Ring (Toyota Part No. 9030122013 ~$5)

http://www.paulstravelpictures.com/Toyo ... air-Guide/

2. Crankshaft pulley Oil Seal (aka camshaft pulley aka harmonic balancer) (Toyota Part No. 90080-31049 ~$10)

http://hubpages.com/autos/Toyota-Coroll ... eplacement
PDF for Toyota Instructions:
madstyle1972.0com/Repair/14/201jec04/x040001.pdf

You really CAN'T tell where the oil is coming from. So the first step is to do the easiest and change the timing tensioner O Ring. Tons of good info on it on the internet. I used RTV sealant in addition to the new O Ring and it worked fine. HOWEVER, if you still have an oil leak and the oil still exists at the bottom of the timing tensioner it is MOST LIKELY the crankshaft seal. When the oil leaks from the crankshaft seal it gets on to the pulley and flings it all over the place. That's why lots of people MISTAKENLY diagnose it as a timing chain gasket or some other gasket or think they failed doing the Timing Tensioner O ring properly.

When removing the Crankshaft pulley nut I didn't using any tool to hold the pulley. I used an electric impact wrench and it came out really easy. The pulley comes out pretty easy too. Now the Oil Seal is difficult to take out. You need to be VERY CAREFUL not to scratch the inside with the screwdriver so that's why the Toyota manual says to cover the tip of the screwdriver with some tape. The instructions also say that if you do scratch the metal when removing the oil seal to use 400 grit sand paper to smooth it out. Also be careful when tapping the oil seal back in. It must be flush with the cover side. The Toyota manual recommends 104 ft lbs torque to tighten the pulley bolt. I don't have a pulley holder tool so I just used the electric impact wrench. I'm hoping this will be fine.. time will tell.

NO MORE LEAKS! Good luck!

[Chiadog]

Congrats! and thanks for the information. I think you'll be fine with impact wrenching the pulley bolt! Could you have pulled the seal by drilling a small hole in the metal seal face, screwing a small screw into this hole, and tugging out the seal?

[TRock]

That's a great idea. I'll try that next time! Thanks!

[andrewclaus]

I just did this repair today. I tried the cheap ($40) electric impact wrench from Harbor Freight, but it didn't break the bolt loose. You need a better wrench than that. I had to use my chain wrench on the pulley and an 18" breaker bar, and that worked just fine. I liked getting the torque wrench on it to install, too.

I had to modify the chain wrench which is designed for a 4" pipe. I punched out a chain rivet and installed a 3" loop of heavy gauge hog fence wire. That worked great.

I used a six-point socket on a small ratchet with a pipe cheater on the belt tensioner and had no problem with it at all. The breaker bar didn't give me enough swing on the tensioner--I needed the fine ratchet. There was very little torque so the cheater didn't do any harm. The special tool at Harbor Freight didn't contain the right sized socket, just up to 18 mm, so I didn't buy that.