leaking timing chain cover?

[Legoman]

ok good news is my car passed its mot last week with flying colours , only two advisories , front right and front left tyre inner edge worn , this was due to worn sway bar which i replaced before the mot.

now the bit i want advice on , im sure my timing chain cover is leaking badly , got oil everywhere around the alternator and that general area , id imagine id have to do the camshaft seal too , how easy a job is this? any advice?

 

[kth286]

Hi Legoman

The oil leaks can be from 3 places.

1. gasket join towards front offside.

2. the timing cover join between lower cover and upper cover. It is a crtical U shaped seal.

3. Crankshaft pulley seal gone

All require major dismantling and are time consuming.

Geometry.

By sway bar I guess you mean the anti-roll bar ?

That has nothing to do with your tyres wearing.

It is merely a device to prevent excessive lean when taking corners.

You can leave the sway bar off the car and you will likely not even notice in normal driving.

When the car is driving along straight ahead the sway bar is in a neutral position and has no effect on car steering, geometry, or suspension, or anything else.

The reason for the tyre wear is too much toe out on both front wheels, probably due to worn lower arm bushes. It could be track rod ends worn but that will have been picked up at MOT.

The reason that lower arm bushes are not normally picked up on MOT is two reasons.

1. the force of the springs on the lower wishbone

2. the fact the anti-roll bar is bolted tight to the front wishbone.

For those two reasons the play in wishbone bushes is not picked up beacuse the testers cannot move the wishbones to reveal the play.

I have gone through all this stuff with my E320 coupe now at 163,000 ish miles.

A rear drive car pushes the front wheels apart when in motion and if there is a small amount of play there, it will push the wheels further apart and cause the inside edges to drag like your car.

If you want me to I can bring the wheels inline for a nominal donation in beer money and this will prevent your tyres wearing any further.

I can also take the spring force off your wishbones too and undo the anti-roll ends to show you the state of the wishbone bushes.

Let me know.