Im new to this site, even though Ive read through the forums for ages. Its great and I always seem to get an answer to my car questions without having to post. Well, until now that is....

I had a major leak from the crank and cam seals (bear with me as my motor lingo isnt all that crash hot....) and I took it to the RAC to get it serviced. While they were at it, they changed the timing belt. Took it home, good as new. Oh, my car is a 96 Magna, V6, 3.0 and has 277G odd on it. Without the leaks it is fine and has no other problems....apart from a recent 'grinding' noise coming from acceleration - and this dosent happen often either.
OK so it got fixed in April, I brought her home and she was fine. A couple of weeks later I noticed a 'wet patch' on the driveway when I was cleaning it, and I thought, nah.....anyway I started monitoring her again and yep, the leak came back. Not major and it would only leak about every third day or so. I stuck my head under the car last Friday and I saw that the.....sump area????? the panel that sticks out....was covered with oil. Anyway, its at the same area that the major leak was coming from. Im taking it back to the RAC today but my worry is that he'll start spouting off that its something else and I'll believe him coz I know sweet eff-A about it. I just thought some of you may be able to give me a heads up on what it could possibly be so I can walk in there somewhat educated? I believe I've given all the descriptions of the prob, not a major leak, every other day, from the crank and cam seals area as before.
Thanks.

If it's coming from that same location, it may not actually be the seals again. Look around above that area and see if there is a trail of oil coming from anywhere. If there isn't, it may just be the sump gasket itself leaking. You may find the leak is actually coming from the rocker covers, as I have come across many mechanics that either don't put enough sealant on the gasket around the sections of the cover that need it, and often don't even bother replacing the rocker cover gasket (which is a one-use thing typically, as the rubber becomes hard and "moulds" to the surfaces). If it is the cam or crankshaft seals leaking again, I'd be getting RACV to replace those free of charge under warranty! The only way seals would fail that fast is either if they weren't installed correctly, or there is some damage to the shafts causing the seal to get destroyed.

Thanks for the reply Dave262. If there was any other problem like you suggest would they have found that when they did work on the original leak?
I just need to be well informed when I go in there, I have been duped many times before by mechanics who think chicks dont know anything about cars! (in my case they are right!) :D

The grinding noise will probably be from the spare pulley in the TE models that was removed in the TF onwards.

See here: http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40110&highlight=useless+pulley

I had a grinding noise on startup when cold, it would go away, and only come back under acceleration, removed the pulley and havent had an issue since.

I agree with Dave that its probably from one of the rocker covers. If the front one is leaking the oil tends to run down the top of the water pump and come out on top of the oil filter.

If replacing the gaskets then they need sealant as per instruction and diagram in the workshop manual.

I have that bit saved in my other computer so could post it if you need it.

Rob

Thanks for the info guys. Im gonna take it to RAC now, see what they say. I'd love to be able to do these things myself and I've even considered doing some kind of car maintenance course so I know what Im talking about in these situations.
I'll see what they say and then give an update. Thanks again guys! :D

The RAC guy who looked over it actually did the work on the original leak so he did say that it may be a policy job so I was happy with that. Am taking it in next week so he can have a proper look.

It may be that one of the cam seals is still leaking. Following a timing belt & seal change on my TH one of the cam seals started to leak. I took it back and they replaced it under warranty. A week later more oil leaking out the bottom of the crank pully. Took it back again and they said that while the original seal did not leak the replacement one must not be seating properly on the shaft because of a minute out-of-round problem. They put a speedy sleave on the shaft, which gave the seal a better seat. Six months later and no more leaks. All done under warranty by K-Mart Auto.

Tell them to use a speedy sleave if it is a cam seal that is still leaking.

Thanks for the tip JOHNVRWD, I will take a copy of this thread with me on Monday just incase! :thumbsup: