cam cover oil leak/cracked tranny mount on '90 legacy

[Zack]

I have all my servicing done at a Connecticut Subie dealer whose service department I had found completely trustworthy and reliable. Unfortunately, the woman who was head of the department (or at least head of customer service) left the business, and the new people don't seem nearly as knowledgeable or competent.

 

I recently brought in my '90 Legacy wagon AWD (auto transmission) for a routine oil change, and was given some bad news:

 

1. There is a slight oil leak around the cam cover seals on both sides of the engine. I took a look, and there is in fact a light coating of oil around the cam covers. However, the leak must be pretty slight since I haven't had to add ANY oil in between oil changes. The service department told me I should get this fixed because otherwise oil could get onto the timing belt and cause it to slip causing major problems. They also suggested it would make sense to replace the timing belt while they were doing this work (the price, along with replacing the water pump, would come to about $700). I'm in no rush to put in a new timing belt, since it was last replaced only 40,000 miles ago (albeit this was 5 years ago). It's also been my understanding that a bit of oil leakage around the cam cover seals on the 2.2L engine is not unusual. The car drives fine, I'm not experiencing any performance issues. Can I safely ignore this slight oil leakage?

 

2. The two rear rubber transmission mounts are cracked through. In other words, none of the rubber is missing but there is a crack which runs straight through each mount. Theoretically, I guess this means that when torque is applied the transmission could rotate slightly because there is nothing (other than gravity) to keep one side of it from lifting off of the rear mounts. The service person said the mounts should be replaced ($300) and muttered about the possibility of the tranny shifting and causing the rear driveshaft to bend or bind. Again, I'm not aware of any performance issues; no jolt or bump when I put the car into gear (forward or reverse), no odd noises of any kind. I generally drive the car pretty gently. Am I ok ignoring these cracked mounts until/unless they get considerably worse?

 

thanks for all advice!

Zack

1990 Legacy AWD auto wagon 158,000 miles

[frag]

I can only volunteer an opinion in answer to your first question.

When I replaced my cam belt, the cam seals had been leaking for a long time but very moderately like yours. The old cam belt was completely dry, not a sign of oil on it. I think it would take quite a leak to have oil slung unto the belt. Of course, one never know, but that's my experience. I would think you can wait for the next belt change to replace the seals.

You might be well inspired to wait for other opinions here before deciding what you are going to do.

Good luck.

[Gnuman]

I have all my servicing done at a Connecticut Subie dealer whose service department I had found completely trustworthy and reliable. Unfortunately, the woman who was head of the department (or at least head of customer service) left the business, and the new people don't seem nearly as knowledgeable or competent.

 

I recently brought in my '90 Legacy wagon AWD (auto transmission) for a routine oil change, and was given some bad news:

 

1. There is a slight oil leak around the cam cover seals on both sides of the engine. I took a look, and there is in fact a light coating of oil around the cam covers. However, the leak must be pretty slight since I haven't had to add ANY oil in between oil changes. The service department told me I should get this fixed because otherwise oil could get onto the timing belt and cause it to slip causing major problems. They also suggested it would make sense to replace the timing belt while they were doing this work (the price, along with replacing the water pump, would come to about $700). I'm in no rush to put in a new timing belt, since it was last replaced only 40,000 miles ago (albeit this was 5 years ago). It's also been my understanding that a bit of oil leakage around the cam cover seals on the 2.2L engine is not unusual. The car drives fine, I'm not experiencing any performance issues. Can I safely ignore this slight oil leakage?

 

2. The two rear rubber transmission mounts are cracked through. In other words, none of the rubber is missing but there is a crack which runs straight through each mount. Theoretically, I guess this means that when torque is applied the transmission could rotate slightly because there is nothing (other than gravity) to keep one side of it from lifting off of the rear mounts. The service person said the mounts should be replaced ($300) and muttered about the possibility of the tranny shifting and causing the rear driveshaft to bend or bind. Again, I'm not aware of any performance issues; no jolt or bump when I put the car into gear (forward or reverse), no odd noises of any kind. I generally drive the car pretty gently. Am I ok ignoring these cracked mounts until/unless they get considerably worse?

 

thanks for all advice!

Zack

1990 Legacy AWD auto wagon 158,000 miles

 

1) OK let's tick off the point where they are giving bad info:

the 1990 EJ22 engine in your car is a non-interference engine which means that you could be going 80MPH down the road and if the belt broke, or "slipped a tooth or two" You would loose power and coast to a stop, then have to get the belt fixed. The valves and gears never share the same space in the combustion area. in 1997, they changed the design for several reasons, with the cost being that from then on the valves and pistons may impact if the scenerio above happened.

 

2) It would take a lot of an oil leak to cause a problem with the timing belt. I have worked on engines that were running just fine, qand had the O ring in the oil pump defirmes, and when I took the cover off, oil dribbled out os where the cover was. Yes, I replaced the timing belt on that car, but not from oil damage. It was simply the end of the service life for that timing belt. I also fixed the O ring and resealed the oil pump as well. . .(he was wondering why it was leaking so much. . .)

 

3) with gentle driving, the likelyhood of the cracked tranny mount bending the driveshaft (or even getting it to bind) is very slight. The reason I would have it replaced is because it may put undue stress on other mounts, causing them to fail earlier.

 

You know, I plan to be up that way in a few months, I may swing by and toss it in for you, if you have already gotten the part. PM me if you are intersted. . .

(also check the price of the part, compared to the repair estimate. . . )

[Zack]

with gentle driving, the likelyhood of the cracked tranny mount bending the driveshaft (or even getting it to bind) is very slight. The reason I would have it replaced is because it may put undue stress on other mounts, causing them to fail earlier.

 

You know, I plan to be up that way in a few months, I may swing by and toss it in for you, if you have already gotten the part. PM me if you are intersted. . .

(also check the price of the part, compared to the repair estimate. . . )

 

Thanks for the kind offer! Unfortunately, I will be driving the car out west next month, and will no longer be keeping it in NY. So it sounds like it might be a good idea to replace the rear transmission mounts? Is installing the mounts a big deal -- Does the tranny have to be removed in order to get them in?

 

Zack

'90 Legacy Wagon AWD auto 158,000 miles

[Gnuman]

Thanks for the kind offer! Unfortunately, I will be driving the car out west next month, and will no longer be keeping it in NY. So it sounds like it might be a good idea to replace the rear transmission mounts? Is installing the mounts a big deal -- Does the tranny have to be removed in order to get them in?

 

Zack

'90 Legacy Wagon AWD auto 158,000 miles

 

No, you jack up the tranny (be careful of the pan, do not jack from there. Find an available section of the case itself to jack from, perhaps under the front differential? Take the old mount off (along with the crossmember) and swap out the mount (leave the bolts between the crossmember and the mounts loose until you get it all ligned up and all bolts started), tighten everything down, then take the jack out, and you have just swapped out the tranny mounts. . .

[Mat]

If you do mean cam cover, rather than head gasket then this is a very easy diy job too. There is no need to touch the cam belt!! the covers just pull off after the removal of a few (3 each side I think) bolts. If you do do this then replace the bolt seals as well, they are cheap and in my experience more likely to be the source of the leak than the cam cover gasket.

 

I will second the earlier post that the tranny mount are easy to change.

[Gnuman]

Also if the leak is very slight as you say, perhaps the bolts just need to be retorqued(I used to know how to spell. . .) .

With as many miles as you have on your car, however, I would replace them as

1) it is an easy job to do yourself.

2) they are likely to need to be replaced in the near future anyway. . .

[hklaine]

Are we talking about the "VALVE COVER GASKETS" or the "CAM SEALS"?

 

The only other seals I can think of that may be allowing oil to leak onto the timing belt are the timing belt cover seals, but I don't think that these are in question. Besides, if these are leaking oil onto the belt you should stop the oil leak at the source.

 

I think I may be a bit confused.

 

If the leak in question is from the valve cover gaskets then

a. It doesn't make sense to mess with the timing belt at the same time

 

b. The leak is not all that likely to wet the timing belt.

 

c. The repair is simple.

If the leak is from the cam seals.

a. You should definitely do a few other jobs while replacing the seal (crank seal, oil pump reseal, water pump, timing belt, etc...)

 

b. The leak could wet the timing belt.

 

c. The repair is an involved process.

 

Both of these leaks are common ;-) and if they aren't excessive then I would imagine you can delay their repairs.

 

If it's the valve cover gasket and you do your own work you may as well replace it, only takes a few minutes.

 

The tranny mount (at least with the 5MT) is a simple job as mentioned and can't hurt.

 

Hope this helps and/or makes sense.

 

-Heikki

[Gnuman]

4EAT and 5MT take different tranny mounts due to the large flat pan on the 4EAT. The only difference in the procedure, and the hardest part of the 4EAT mount swap is finding a place to jack up the tranny without crushing in that flat pan (Transmission fluid drain pan, which is to your tranny what the oil pan is to your engine)

[Zack]

Thanks everyone for all the great information! I will check with a local mechanic about getting the tranny mounts installed (I live in the city, and have no garage space in which to work or store tools), and will hold off for now on doing anything about the slight oil leak (the dealer claimed the leak was in the Cam seals, though I suppose they could just be guessing...)

 

Zack

[Gnuman]

Thanks everyone for all the great information! I will check with a local mechanic about getting the tranny mounts installed (I live in the city, and have no garage space in which to work or store tools), and will hold off for now on doing anything about the slight oil leak (the dealer claimed the leak was in the Cam seals, though I suppose they could just be guessing...)

 

Zack

 

Gee Zack, that is awful trusting of you forsomeone from New York. . .

Oh wait, do you live anywhere near the city of New York? Or are you upstate? If upstate, I can understand then. . . .