June 25, 200619 yr My '02 EJ-25 with 60k miles has been dripping a little oil from the center of the cam cover since about 30k miles. I assumed it was the crank seal but after digging through the Endwrench articles I came across this: "If you encounter a 2.5 liter engine with a leaking or dislodged front crankshaft oil seal, consider the oil pump as a possible cause. It may be necessary to remove the oil pump and examine the rear sealing plate of the oil pump. The screws holding the rear sealing plate may be loose. Some have been reportedly backed out 1/16 inch. This allows oil to exit the pump rotor area and get into the oil pump body where it is pressurized. This pressurized oil pushes on the seal, causing it to leak or pushes it out of it's mounting." The question for anyone familiar with this is; other than the slight drip, is there any harm in waiting until the big front teardown (t-belt, et-al.) to address it? **** ******!
June 25, 200619 yr this sounds oddly familiar, i think someone else ahs the same exact problem... nipper
June 25, 200619 yr When that rear plate backs off, you may not obviously lose oil pressure, but you lose oil circulation. The front seal can and will lose flexibility after time without the back plate being loose, and you can replace just that, but at 60K, it's worth it to have the oil pump rebuilt/resealed. A good Subaru shop can do that: no reason to spring for a new pump. They're practically bullet proof otherwise. Emily http://www.ccrengines.com
June 25, 200619 yr Author When that rear plate backs off, you may not obviously lose oil pressure, but you lose oil circulation.The front seal can and will lose flexibility after time without the back plate being loose, and you can replace just that, but at 60K, it's worth it to have the oil pump rebuilt/resealed. A good Subaru shop can do that: no reason to spring for a new pump. They're practically bullet proof otherwise. Emily http://www.ccrengines.com Thanks Emily, the short-circuiting of oil flow was one concern. The other was whether or not the misdirected oil could actually pop the seal completely out on I-70 halfway between Detroit, and Salina. The fix is just re-assembling the pump using blue Loctite on the backplate threads right? (and a new O-ring.) **** ******!
June 25, 200619 yr Author this sounds oddly familiar, i think someone else ahs the same exact problem... nipper Yeah, I don't know how that happened, I wasn't even drunk.
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