oil leak behind the accessory belt & pulleys

[TRAU BLAU]

I've used 2 o'rings on leaks.The 1st one a tight fit & a slightly larger one to compress a larger area.

[JC]

I did mine today - it was reasonably easy, and even though i didn't have the correct O ring, I had 2 that were almost right - one ID matched but OD was a fraction small, and one OD matched but ID was a fraction large, so I used both with the larger one towards the bolt head. i also used some high temp silicon on the threads so it should stop the leak. For the record, the old o ring was brittle, and had a crack in it.

I degreased and high pressure washed the side and front of the motor, and thoroughly cleaned the alternator too, so hopefully it should breeze through rego once I take it over the pits to transfer it to my name. All up, this took around 1 hour.

[Uncle_Ken]

Nothing like owning an AU
UK

[PridenJoy]

Originally Posted by Rfordsfun

the ford tps, if thats malfunctioning can make it idle high, dont think wetting the electrics on these engines is a great idea, if all you've done is washed it, gonna have to say make sure theres no residue, run the engine hot to evaporate water, inlet malifolds are a fibre type and an old one wont respond well to washing, and the inlet manifold bolts can loosen off, so check there. Run it hot, check for residue in electrics, check manifold gasket, might be worth giving all engine loom connections a crc or similar water disperse, yeah. so I'd crc the loom connections first , then give the engine a water rinse, avoid the inlet manifold gasket, take it for a drive to heat and evaporate water, then go from there. Once its all hot and dry trying flipping it over to gas.

It was the inlet manifold gasket. Pr!ck of a job but 4 hours later all done and running well again. I think it's leaking oil from the front of the engine. Looks like it's from the long bolt on the power steering bracket even though i gasket gooed it so might have to take it out again and goo it more.

[JC]

Originally Posted by PridenJoy

It was the inlet manifold gasket. Pr!ck of a job but 4 hours later all done and running well again. I think it's leaking oil from the front of the engine. Looks like it's from the long bolt on the power steering bracket even though i gasket gooed it so might have to take it out again and goo it more.

It'll be the timing chain tensioner cap bolt, that is on the side of the block, near and under the power steering pump bracket. It's a black bolt head and takes a 14mm socket (the others around it are 13mm/10mm). the o ring probably needs replacing, and the bolt itself will need new silicon to seal it properly.

[PridenJoy]

Originally Posted by PridenJoy

Just did this job yesterday. When i undid the tensioner plug only the plug came out so i just replaced the o-ring on it, which was rock hard, put some gasket goo and thread sealer then screwed it back in.

Question i have is how tight did i need to screw it in? Is it possible to be too tight? And if so how do i know if it is? I had a pipe onto the ratchet to give me more leverage and did it quite tight, could i have caused any damage?

Car is idling at 2000 rpm on petrol and backfired and won't run properly on gas, i did degrease and wash the engine so that may be the cause also but just want to rule out the tensioner.

Just did that JC as above. The problem in the last paragraph was because of stuffed inlet manifold gasket, i thought i did something wrong doing the tensioner but it just so happened the gasket decided to give up at the same time. All good now, except for the leak out of the long bracket bolt.

[TRAU BLAU]

I had to clean up the Mitsubishi alternator after fixing the leaking brake pipe connector above it.But there hasn't been any alternator trouble.Is the starter motor also a Mitsubishi product?

[Rfordsfun]

If youve done inlet manifold gasket. the rear bottom is a bugger to do up fully, and the gasket can shrink over the next few days / weeks depending on use, so go over them again in a week, and 2 weeks etc. as the fibre gasket shrinks before being settled, a bugger really you go out 2 weeks later and the bolts are loose. lol p.s. you probably should have done a few things while the manifold was off, hahahaa save you trouble later. ie everything under the manifold jokes.

[Rfordsfun]

the large thread on the timing chain tensioner leaks, ive done a few. pretty simple job just clean and goo the thread but let it cure properly before running. All pretty simple, just do the thread up by the to small holes, with a hammer and a screwdriver, doesnt have to be overly tight, just let the goo set, and make sure tensioner is in properly locked position, ive pulled mine out to many times to count, or the actual timing chain cover gasket can go as mine did, so just cleaned dried, gooed the **** out of it let it cure properly, no problems since.

[BigJamo]

Originally Posted by BigJamo

Awesome Thread. Thanks.

Only just got a leak from the front of the I6. So its my turn to get dirty.

CHEERS for the Heads Up

Only just found this thread again.

Ended up finding the leak, it was the long bolt that holds the power steer pump to the engine. (Must go into an oil capillary or something).

Fix ... some plumbers tape around the thread and added some gorilla snot to the top of the thread as I inserted it while I tightened it back up.

Thanks again guys.

[Uncle_Ken]

Good threads never die.
UK

[chashapi]

Originally Posted by Rfordsfun

the large thread on the timing chain tensioner leaks, ive done a few. pretty simple job just clean and goo the thread but let it cure properly before running. All pretty simple, just do the thread up by the to small holes, with a hammer and a screwdriver, doesnt have to be overly tight, just let the goo set, and make sure tensioner is in properly locked position, ive pulled mine out to many times to count, or the actual timing chain cover gasket can go as mine did, so just cleaned dried, gooed the **** out of it let it cure properly, no problems since.

Did you just seal it on the outside and not take it off? If yes what did you use please.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Maka]

Sorry about the thread mine but good threads like this one do go on & on, hey UK!

I just had the timing chain tensioner leak on my xr6 engine, using this thread helped me heaps in fixing the leak. Thanks to all who contributed their time & info to this very helpful thread.

At first i thought it was leaking from somewhere else so tightened & cleaned everything up took my kids to school yesterday then checked & you guessed it a little stream of Castrol Edge on the engine crossmember again!

In the end, mine was only a loose timing chain tensioner mechanism which i unscrewed out a bit & applied some gasket goo then i tightened it back up securely (thanks for the tip UK). I also applied some goo to the last long bolt under the vct pulley on the last bracket to come off just in case it leaked there too.

Left it overnight then today took my xr6 for a drive & the leak is no more for good i hope. I think the mechanism was loose only for a little while, so hopefully no brittle o rings fingers crossed.

Hope thats the end of that, now to clean up my garage floor oil stains..

cheers, Maka

[Greenmachine2000]

I have oil coming out of the bottom long bolt that holds the power steering bracket on as well.

Have tried sealant and also teflon tape, but still seeps out from behind the bottom of the bolt. Most annoying leak ever... Does anyone have any more tips for fixing this, as it's driving me crazy!

[fillmore]

Replaced seals on tensioner on my au and still leaked. Plenty of sealant on long bolt stopped the leak. Make sure the sealant you used is oil resistant. Not sure what I used, just that it was black or grey in color.

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[Greenmachine2000]

Thanks Fillmore. I used the grey sealant and it’s worked a treat. 👍 Now onto the leaks on other parts of the motor. 🙄

[NCII40]

Took me about 4 goes on the ltd vct


used this and it finally stopped



https://www.permatex.com/products/th...hread-sealant/




use on the long and short bolt and the 3 bolts for the tensioner on threads only


anything past the thread use this


https://www.permatex.com/products/ga...asket-maker-4/

[NCII40]

Originally Posted by NCII40

Took me about 4 goes on the ltd vct


used this and it finally stopped



https://www.permatex.com/products/th...hread-sealant/




use on the long and short bolt and the 3 bolts for the tensioner on threads only


anything past the thread use this


https://www.permatex.com/products/ga...asket-maker-4/

Failed again
Gonna go for the grey sealant

[Bill M]

After doing my AU 4.0L and making some of the tools to do this here are some photos to show what some of it looks like. The link is to a very good video of the tensioner and task in question. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h332SlvFvY0
Cheers
Bill

[TRAU BLAU]

Brilliant pics Bill.I'll know what to do if I need to tighten the timing-chain.What are the symptoms?

[NCII40]

Mines still leaking
Def not Timing chain tension plug or the long bolt


could it be the VCT gasket ?

[TRAU BLAU]

About 5 or 6 years ago I did the timing chain bolt leak with o-rings & same with speedo,power-steering pipes & valve,temp.sensor & others & haven't had any leaks that I'm going to worry about.I'd like to thank the Ford Forum & it's contributors for the advice that I've gleamed.I got a motorbike about 2 years ago & it's sort of taken over.Happy New Year to all Fordies!

[Citroënbender]

A question for anyone who knows the factory manual cover-to-cover.

In what section is the steering pump bracket discussed explicitly? Asking because this would be where the factory method for sealing the “long bolt” would be exposed.

I’m leaning towards using Stag paste but prep is obviously going to be my “devil in the detail”.

[Citroënbender]

The “plug” of the tensioner has a tapered thread. Ford say wrap it twice with Teflon thread tape, my mate last did this car about ‘09 and used brute force plus Stag. It was overly stuck by 2020 and the picture shows my only successful approach.

[aussiblue]

In what section is the steering pump bracket discussed explicitly? Asking because this would be where the factory method for sealing the “long bolt” would be exposed.

Section 3-4-10. No mentions of sealing the long bolt.

Although with the water pump in Section 11-2-1 they say to coat all the pump threads with sealant ESZ-M4G281-A

[aussiblue]

As I have mentioned few times in the past (e.g https://fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11423195) I used to use a cheap cube brake piston tool rather than a pin wrench as it takes a 3/8" square drive that means you can tighten it to the specified torque. One of these:https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Car-Vehi...YAAOSwWORbmHa1





Costs a bit more at Supercheap though https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/...be/580350.html

But I picked up one of these cheap at an auction a few years ago so I no longer have to make do: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Toledo-T...sAAOSw5k1cbx~Q and https://tridon.com.au/products/Toled.../422143/304707

[Citroënbender]

I’ve got the genuine Ford pin tool for installation, just not the “through” pin tool for removal.

Never had a brake cube, when starting out I bought the full monty wind-back kit with left and right threaded centres.

[aussiblue]

Never had a brake cube, when starting out I bought the full monty wind-back kit with left and right threaded centres.

I have one of those to but none of the adapter ever fitted any of my own cars and only a few other cars I have worked on. I bought the ABW wind-back tool for my old E series; identical to this Toledo one https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/TOLEDO-D...oAAOSw-wJaLi1W and still available as the ABW tool here https://www.statewidefastener.com.au...ools&cat=TO287 And ZI bought the cube just for the tensioner and have never used it for brake caliper pistons; I paid next to nothing for it on ebay (Edit: I think; but I find I have few of these cubes and I suspect the first one came with a set of brake tool I got from Eastwood in the US via mail order and prior to ebay existing).

[Citroënbender]

Since the question comes up often and I am yet to see a concise answer that doesn’t involve Ford part numbers:

Tensioner assembly o-ring sizes for the AU, numbered per BS1806, a parallel industry standard. I suggest buying them in Viton or HNBR, not regular NBR.

013 filter basket, buy two
017 retainer nose, buy one
109 plug midlength seal, buy one
118 tensioner flange, buy one

[Bill M]

I bought all my O rings from Renseal in Dandenong Melbourne. I took the old O rings and some associated parts and they matched them in a higher spec material than the OE ones. I did the lot as I detest doing jobs twice.

https://www.renseal.com.au/seals-and-o-rings