This crap is driving me crazy. After I installed a new long block and reused my old timing cover, chain etc. I can not get rid of this leak. It's at the bottom corner of the driver side. See the pix bc I marked it. Any information would be great bc I have no idea why is it leaking. It's like drips but it adds up and I can see oil on the oil pan and floor.

 

The covers are extremely sensitive to prep when install and good silicone. I spend extra time on all of the mating surfaces of a VQ build. How thorough were you in this area? Are there any pry marks there etc that could possible create a bad contact surface?

 

This was the second attempt. I took a raiser blade and took all the crap off the timing cover but that is it. I even use the red expensive sealant from nissan instead of the grey one and still it leaked from that same place.

I'm also having a real main seal leak. This was also the 2nd time it leaked.

 

We razor/screwdriver the big stuff including the grooves thoroughly, then use fine pads to clean it back to 100% like new, degrease, degrease again, then apply sealant. TQ in steps in sequence by FSM spec. Same goes for rear main.

 

dose the bolt that goes into that portion of the timing cover go into a wet cavity or dose the bolt bottom out into the timming cover case? have you tried installing the bolts in that area with sealant applied to them?

 

So there's no oil ring around that area that could cause the leak... just need better installation?

 

naw, the bolts arent leaking. We use silicone also on the bolts.

I have noticed that when I touch the area that is wet, there is a lot of excess silicone that is danging but still attached to the timing cover and I pulled some off. Is that normal or could the silicone have came out before it was bolted down?

 

generally when i assemble parts together wet with sealant i let them stand for a bit to let the sealant get tacky/semi dry before mating the parts together. i would recommend if and or when you pull the timming cover back off check that area for a possible hairline crack and or inspect the mating surface area with a straight edge to see if there may be some distortion due to the fasteners being over torqued. also check for tooling marks, screwdriver/prybar indentations.