Thread: The common timing cover oil leak - Bodge fix suggestions?

Hi guys,

Got the (apparently very common) leak from the top of the timing cover, I had been ignoring it, but it is getting pretty bad now.

The car is only a sub £1000 Primera (Infiniti G20 to any Americans reading!) so the proper fix involving tearing the engine apart to take the cover off is out of the question, I'm not doing it, I'd rather set fire to it! Lol

Anyone had any luck with bodgey fixes? Cleaning it up and smearing RTV over the part it leaks from? Or silicone? Tiger seal? Exhaust paste?
Anything else? How long did it last?

Or making an oil leak "diaper" and mounting it somehow to catch the oil before it reaches the ground?

Suggestions and pictures welcome.

Many thanks.

That looks like an aggressive leak.

We are a "do it right the first time" crowd here.
My suggestion is to get emotionally prepared to reseal the front cover properly. =/

Use the opportunity to replace your front main seal as well. Maybe clean out the oil pick-up tube screen.

get in there and do it dude! just did mine on the NX due to oil pump failure. you can check out my thread for some guidance

I heard you have to take the head off, the sump, baffle, pulleys, etc, to do it?

Hence me aggressively resisting! Haha

The silicone hasn't worked so I'm going to try and do it a bit more properly, but still not properly properly, with some RTV, having extensively cleaned the area with chemicals first!

If that doesn't work, well... Maybe I'll have no choice! :P

The oil sump (consisting of the lower steel oil pan and upper aluminum oil pan) does need to come off, but the head does not need to be removed.
Not having to remove the head makes the job a million times easier. You will need to remove the pulleys too, yes.

Unless somehow the leak does involve the head. In which case you're SOL.

don't forget the lower cross member and exhaust.