damn, thats bull. the leak isnt from the crank pulley! that has got to be a lowblow man. as if that wasnt bad enough now u gotta bigger problem on ur hands. if its the timing cover hoppe u have got some major $$$$$ layin around. if it was due to the S/C i say take it back to the same place that installed it. thats a pain for a leak to come from there. dont know what to say......good luck, ur gonna need it.

 

Actually, it's not as bad as it seems. My usual shop said it'd cost about $350-500 to fix if it's the timing belt cover gasket. That includes removing and reinstalling the SC, which shouldn't be that hard since all you have to do is remove the intake piping (clamps), then unbolt the SC and bracket from the side of the engine. You don't even have to remove the blower from the bracket, I think.

One thing I'm miffed about is that the aluminum tensioner and idler pulleys aren't available, and I want to get the leak fixed soon. DanNY, what's going on???

Also, it's not really the original SC installer's fault. I think the pressure from the boost caused the leak.

 

not tryin to argue or anything, but why isnt kevs car leakin? or several others here who have the s/c. not tryin to place blame on any1 but something had to have gone wrong somewere in order for the leak to start. but thats a pretty good price for the cover, but still the point is u shouldnt have to spend that $350-$500.

 

I just scaned threw a lot of the post here but I have a gut feeling about what tee problem is, this feeling is assuming the fact the 2000 SC is mounted simalarly to my 98's.

Above the crank pulley and to the left of the idler pulley there is a port on the timing chain case. This port (piece of metal thats sealed onto the timing case, there is a real name for it) was installed when the SC was installed. now on my 98 VQ I had a oil leak there and a shop thought it was either comming from a pulley seal or my timing case. I bought a bottle of break lean and degreased/cleaned the whole area off and found out my port seal was leaking. When I installed the SC I did not properly degrease the area on and around that port piece. I managed to fanagal my way to it with out removing my SC, this however took some skill and patience. There are 4 10 mm bolts holding this piece in, with the SC on these bolts are a real big PITA to get to. After some work I managed to get these bolts off, remove the port, degrease the whole area and then I applied a fresh coat of sealant and re-installed the port piece.

Now I find in very unlikely you have a bad gasket behind a pulley considering how new your car is and the lack of abuse you put your car threw. It's either the oil feed back line or my guess the port. I wish I could look at this in person.. Good luck and let me know what happens.

 

Wow, thanks for the detailed information. Another possibility for the cause of the leak! I'm guessing you have the V1 SC on your 98, or does the V2 work on 4th gens? If you have the V1, I wonder if the design is the same as on the V2, so the port could be the problem.

The shop I went to did an ultraviolet leak test to find the leak, and it looked like the leak was behind the crank pulley seal, but the shop says that could just be oil that leaked from further up the engine and onto the crank pulley.

You wouldn't happen to have pictures of this port seal, would you? If not, I'm guessing they are on the installation instruction sheets. If I can find it and show it to the shop, it should make it easier to fix.

 

I had a V2 on my I30, this was about a year ago. And sorry no pics. Just look for a plate that has 4 10mm bolts in it.