Dealer says timing cover is leaking oil, what should I do?

[RMcG]

Originally Posted by tmontague

I would highly recommend cleaning the area thoroughly with degreaser/brake cleaner and then recheck in a week or so.

If you cannot do this yourself then have an indie mechanic do it and it will likely cost very little.

My old Pontiac Vibe with the 1zz had a timing cover "leak" for the 4 years I owned it. It barely dripped and I never bothered re sealing it. You can also run a high mileage oil which will slow it down a bit.

Thanks tmontague and everybody else (bronsin, exfire & BLH) for your replies,

I think I would like to try doing this myself. Do I have to get underneath the car to do this? If so, I have two jacks (to jack up each side of the car) and can order (online) a pair of jack stands and a pair of wheel chocks for the rear wheels; total cost about $56 USD. These should allow me to safely get under the car and do what you suggest, including checking later to see if more oil has accumulated indicating how bad the leak is.

QUESTION(S): Does this sound like a reasonable plan?

Does anybody think that Walmart's overfilling of the crankcase could be a factor in causing an excess of pressure that could cause some leaking?

(Page 241 of the owner's manual says it takes 1.6 quarts added to go from low to completely full on the disptick. Based on those measurements, I think the dipstick shows the crankcase is overfilled by maybe 0.3 quarts. According to the specs on page 341, the oil capacity, i.e., drain + refill is 3.9 quarts with filter and 3.6 quarts without filter. Walmart usually puts 3.9 quarts of oil on the oil & filter change invoice -- they did this the last time the oil was changed, but maybe they put in the full 4 quarts. They almost never give me a partially filled quart of oil after the oil change.)

Any further comments you (tmontague) or others have will be appreciated and welcomed.

Thanks,

R.