Its back, and better than ever.

Go back in time approximately 6-months. Alan's Focus has a leaky valve/cam cover. He replaces the gasket. Tight as a drum for about 3-months. 3-months later, an oil leak returns. Fearing the worse, Alan takes it to the Ford dealer to diagnose the problem. Ford identifies a leaking valve/cam cover and fixes the problem.

Fast forward to today, approximately 3-months after the Ford fix. Oil is practically covering the underside of my hood above the cam gears. Thinking it couldn't possibly be another leaking valve cover, I check to see if one of the cam seals took a shit. Start the car again (motor still hot), and not a drip of oil coming off the gears. Just to reconfirm there is no oil, I hold a piece of white paper over the area for a few minutes over the area...not a damn drop of oil.

So what the fuck could be happening? I am absolutely baffled. Either the valve cover is leaking AGAIN, or oil is getting onto my cam belt via other means. I find it highly unusual to be on my 3rd valve cover gasket in 6-months (if that is the problem).

I know Ford has a habit of using bolts you can only torque a certain number of times...so perhaps the valve cover bolts are to blame? Maybe I should find some nice grade 8 stainless alternatives? Could there be something wrong with my valve cover (it is constructed out of plastic)?

I'm crossing my fingers just hoping it isn't seeping from the crank seal behind the timing belt gear.


I'm sure I'll be tearing into the valve cover next weekend during the battery and oil catch can installation. Should be another month before I can take a good look at what is going on with the bottom end. Just need to get some feedback on things to look for we go tearing into things on another wild goose chase.

 

Those rubber seals are bastards sometimes. Make sure it's clean and straight. I don't know how many times I've had to reinstall those due to slight misalignment or small debris under the rubber gasket. Torque is a HUGE factor with rubber gaskets as well. Make sure those babies are torqued right down to spec

Check on the bottom side of the engine near the crank pulley, sounds like it could be dripping from the backside somewhere onto the belts making it fling everywhere.

 

just use lots of blue RTV

 

Think I may have figured out what a portion of the problem may be. I was bored tonight, so I started reading through various things on my service CD. It seems you have to put some sort of gasket/sealant on the two outermost cam bearing caps. Odly enough, this crap was not even on there from the factory and no one ever really puts sealant on those caps when installing aftermarket cams. I'll give it a shot when I throw on the new head...it can't hurt. So between this, new cam seals when I throw on my head, and a metal valve cover that won't warp/melt...I should be set.