Hey there can anyone help? I have a 99 magna 3.5 v6 and it has an oil leak that is hitting the exhaust and creating smoke and a bad smell. I have just replaced both rocker cover gaskets and they are no longer leaking but I can still see oil dripping from the top of the engine somewhere. Does anyone know what this could be??

My mate tjousk has his 1996 TE in at the mechanics right now and it was thought his oil leak was rocker cover gaskets but it has turned out to be cam shaft seals which weren't replaced when the timing belt was done, so it could conceivably be any of the other gaskets or seals. He also had to get all new welsh plugs as they were all rusting out and some were leaking coolant but that's a whole 'nother story.

If you're going to do it yourself you might consider doing a major degrease of the engine so you can see exactly where the leak is coming from and then either fix it yourself or take it to a good mechanic.

That is very helpful info so the cam shaft seals are in with the timing belt ?

I dont think its leaking there but im getting the timing belt and water pump dne very soon on it anyway

If you're getting that done soon then I'd let the mechanic do all the very dirty work. Should have heard the mechanic swearing at having to rip off the drivers side wheel to get to the timing gear which had to be replaced and he was covered in oil and road grime, haha.

Check also around and underneath the distributor where it mates to the head. Recently replaced that O-ring on my 7+ year TW

Check also around and underneath the distributor where it mates to the head. Recently replaced that O-ring on my 7+ year TW

+1 in a TJ

Thanks for all the help guys but have decided to just rip engine out and replace all gaskets and other things

Sounds like a plan.

OK guys I bought a 00 TJ 3.5L Magna last week with 213k kays, it obviously has an oil leak from the rocker covers but if i park it overnight i get two 20c piece size drops of oil on the driveway. If it was merely just the rockers these wouldn't leak whilst the car was at rest would they?

The car does't appear to have had the timing belt done at 200k kays (the logbook is filled out by a private mechanic but each service doesn't state what work was done, and the owner was being coy saying oh im not sure if it has been done, but in another conversation rattled off that the a/c & brake pads had been serviced 12 months ago) so Im thinking when i do get the $ to order the timing belt, water pump, rocker cover & oil plug seals is there any other seals that could be leaking that i should be looking at replacing?

Check the sump to see if it's leaking.. can be hard to tell though if there's been a heavy leak coming down from top of motor.
Check camshaft seals, these can leak when they're old.

If you are looking to save a buck, PM Madmagna on here, would probably sell you all that you need (especially timing kit) for a better price than you'll find elsewhere.

Where it's dropping may give some clue. If it's dropping where the bell housing meets the engine block it could be the distributor O-ring. I found the oil was beeing pooled on top of the box .

Thanks for the feedback guys! Hmm well its leaking onto the exhaust (and headers) and even at the top of the rocker cover. Under the car literally everywhere was covered in oil so i sprayed a can of degreaser over all the bottom of the engine, exhaust, chassis (subframe?) and the bottom of the tranny and then got the karcher out.

The oil lifted straight away, and it seems like it must be a slow leak as at least 4.5L was drained from the sump when i done an oil change on her today but that oil on exhaust scent is always there when driving the car :( (not that bad you can smell it inside the car, but when you get outside the car you can)

Yes, had that too if your talking at the filler. the rubber seal under the cap goes hard, already did my TW a year or 2 ago. You can get just the seal genuine.

MD311638 GASKET for oil cap

Yes, had that too if your talking at the filler. the rubber seal under the cap goes hard, already did my TW a year or 2 ago. You can get just the seal genuine.

MD311638 GASKET for oil cap

Oh no the cap is fine, i meant the upper portion of the rocker cover shows small signs of leaking (one would think it would be the lower portion of the rocker which would leak due to gravity if you know what i mean?)