Oil leak - Timing Chain Cover - Low cost repair available?

[Lawrence Weeks]

Once upon a time (Mon Jul 14), Wayne Cox wrote:
> At 04:00 PM 7/14/2003 -0500, rcoffman@sapc.edu wrote:
>> The mechanic says that you must remove the cylinder head to replace
>> the gasket which turns out to be a silcone sealent.

> Where exactly is it leaking from that they have to pull the
> head?! $1000 is about right labor wise for jobs that require head
> R&R. But I doubt it's really necessary. I know I've heard of at least
> a couple in-car timing cover replacements over the years. Anyone?

There is no need to remove the head. I have done it twice (installed
and sealed the front cover) with the head in place, and no leaks. If
you look in the FSM, there is no instruction to place goo gasket on the
top of the cover, only where it makes contact with the block. Up top,
where it meets the head, is head gasket that wraps around the opening
for the timing chain, so when you bolt the cover back to the head,
that seals it. I'm not really sure why the FSM says to even remove
the head when doing the timing chain, it seems completely unnecessary.

Larry
--
Lawrence Weeks                                    lweeks@anabasis.net
Anabasis Consulting Ltd