Possible timing cover leak

[JimJoeBob]

Hey folks, I have some Viper woes I need help with. I was in the middle of pulling of the bell housing and all of the sudden coolant started dripping. I traced the source as best I could and I ran it back up to somewhere around or behind the alternator. I believe it's the timing cover gasket failed. About a third of my reservoir leaked and then it quit but I assume that's just what coolant was in that area.

In summary, how difficult and time consuming is it to replace that gasket? I've heard the camshaft position sensor has to be removed and that makes me feel a bit sketchy cause I'd hate to ruin that.

[lane_viper]

I just ended up doing this. My leak was coming from around the Oil filter housing.

Check the oil, this gasket can also fail internally and will then mix coolant with oil. I wouldn't drive the car until this is fixed.

I didn't remove the camshaft sensor when I did mine. The whole cam cover comes off. I used the service manual to remove everything.

A couple of notes.

I went with Cometic replacement gaskets. The Mopar stock gaskets are paper, and I wanted to go with new aluminum cored Cometic gaskets, and they seem to be more tolerant of mating surfaces and seal better.

Contact Dan Lesser at http://www.viperspecialtyperformance.com/ and he can get you some gaskets.

I replaced most all of the front gaskets with Cometic.

Timing Cover Gasket, Oil filter Housing gasket, Thermostat housing gasket and new 180 degree thermostat, water pump and water pump gasket, intake gaskets.

The "While I was in there" could add up. To get to some things you have to remove others. To get the timing cover off, you will have to remove the water pump pulley, the Crank pully and balancer (you will need to replace the crank seal), the alternator, loosen 2 of the AC bolts and loosen the Power steering pump.

I also removed the hood (4 bolts) and the cross member. You prob don't have to, but gave a ton more room.

One of the Power steering pump bolts broke on me, and I ended up replacing the PS bracket with one from Roe Racing. I also went with a new ARP balancer bolt with red loctite as they are known to come loose.

When you remove the timing cover, it contains the oil pump. Be sure to line up the splines of the oil pump to the crank when re-installing. You will see how they line up. Don't want to crank up with no oil pressure!

I can send you the PDF manual I have, it's for a Gen II, 97 I believe, but they didin't change a lot, and it worked for my 96 perfectly.

Not a hard job, you just have to be diligent.

All in the job took about 10 hrs. Factor in a couple of hrs for scraping the old paper gasket off the mating surfaces of everyhing. They are a real pain to get all of it off.

Good luck with the repair, and Feel free to message me if you have any other questions.

Lane

[dave6666]

How does one instigate a coolant leak on the timing cover (front of engine) while removing the bellhousing (rear of engine).

[JimJoeBob]

How does one instigate a coolant leak on the timing cover (front of engine) while removing the bellhousing (rear of engine).

I have no idea and I wish I knew. Granted I was banging around pretty hard to knock some of those bolts loose and all the sudden I noticed the coolant leaking. It's since stopped however but I'm hesitant to attempt to start the car. Everywhere I've asked so far has suggested, due to the location, that it's likely the timing cover. If you had any alternative idea to what it could be I'm all ears.

[JimJoeBob]

I just ended up doing this. My leak was coming from around the Oil filter housing.

Check the oil, this gasket can also fail internally and will then mix coolant with oil. I wouldn't drive the car until this is fixed.

I didn't remove the camshaft sensor when I did mine. The whole cam cover comes off. I used the service manual to remove everything.

A couple of notes.

I went with Cometic replacement gaskets. The Mopar stock gaskets are paper, and I wanted to go with new aluminum cored Cometic gaskets, and they seem to be more tolerant of mating surfaces and seal better.

Contact Dan Lesser at http://www.viperspecialtyperformance.com/ and he can get you some gaskets.

I replaced most all of the front gaskets with Cometic.

Timing Cover Gasket, Oil filter Housing gasket, Thermostat housing gasket and new 180 degree thermostat, water pump and water pump gasket, intake gaskets.

The "While I was in there" could add up. To get to some things you have to remove others. To get the timing cover off, you will have to remove the water pump pulley, the Crank pully and balancer (you will need to replace the crank seal), the alternator, loosen 2 of the AC bolts and loosen the Power steering pump.

I also removed the hood (4 bolts) and the cross member. You prob don't have to, but gave a ton more room.

One of the Power steering pump bolts broke on me, and I ended up replacing the PS bracket with one from Roe Racing. I also went with a new ARP balancer bolt with red loctite as they are known to come loose.

When you remove the timing cover, it contains the oil pump. Be sure to line up the splines of the oil pump to the crank when re-installing. You will see how they line up. Don't want to crank up with no oil pressure!

I can send you the PDF manual I have, it's for a Gen II, 97 I believe, but they didin't change a lot, and it worked for my 96 perfectly.

Not a hard job, you just have to be diligent.

All in the job took about 10 hrs. Factor in a couple of hrs for scraping the old paper gasket off the mating surfaces of everyhing. They are a real pain to get all of it off.

Good luck with the repair, and Feel free to message me if you have any other questions.

Lane

That doesn't sound to bad. Just tedious. Also I have all the manuals for my car which is a 97 so I'll get to digging to see the process. I appreciate it.

[dave6666]

Refill the cooling system and pressurize it with one of those cheapo test pumps.

https://www.amazon.com/OEMTOOLS-2706...96049685&psc=1

You could have strained a hose if you were twisting the motor around a lot.

[JimJoeBob]

Refill the cooling system and pressurize it with one of those cheapo test pumps.

https://www.amazon.com/OEMTOOLS-2706...96049685&psc=1

You could have strained a hose if you were twisting the motor around a lot.

I'll definitely give it a shot. I'd much rather have been stupid than actually go through the timing cover, much appreciated as always dave.

[Fatboy 18]

You do not have to remove the cam sensor, just unclip the wire

https://driveviper.com/forums/thread...t=TIMING+COVER

For easy access I removed the square aluminium brace bar in front of the engine.
to remove that place a jack front centre of the car below the steering rack, with the front wheels off remove bolts, unclip a couple of the metal pipes that go to the overflow cooling bottle then lift out the brace bar.
By having the jack center of the car this opens up the frame arches a fraction allowing you to remove the brace bar. I used a small bottle jack.

[lane_viper]

I have no idea and I wish I knew. Granted I was banging around pretty hard to knock some of those bolts loose and all the sudden I noticed the coolant leaking. It's since stopped however but I'm hesitant to attempt to start the car. Everywhere I've asked so far has suggested, due to the location, that it's likely the timing cover. If you had any alternative idea to what it could be I'm all ears.

In Re-reading your original post, check the 2 smaller coolant lines from the water pump. If you were knocking or twisting the engine, they could have just tweaked or sort of come loose. Those 2 hoses sit right below the alternator, and right above the Oil Filter.

Check your oil for coolant contamination. If all clean, you should be ok to start her up. With the coolant passages going through the timing cover, and using that gasket I was scared to start mine up once it was leaking. I've read horror stories of that gasket failing on the inside and coolant mixing with oil, and boom.

In my case, I saw coolant running down the timing cover so it was either the water pump gasket or the timing gasket. I replaced both for good measure.

If your gaskets are original, it might not be a bad idea to refresh them anyway, being that they are 20+ year old.

This thread is a good read for information as well.

https://driveviper.com/forums/thread...ing-Cover-Leak



When I bought mine, it needed quite a bit of TLC, because of that, It was a great deal. I've been able to learn a lot about the car, and its really not hard to work on.

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

LANE: Only 11 posts, but this one is Top-10 !! Good, helpful post.

I just ended up doing this. My leak was coming from around the Oil filter housing.

Check the oil, this gasket can also fail internally and will then mix coolant with oil. I wouldn't drive the car until this is fixed.

I didn't remove the camshaft sensor when I did mine. The whole cam cover comes off. I used the service manual to remove everything.

A couple of notes.

I went with Cometic replacement gaskets. The Mopar stock gaskets are paper, and I wanted to go with new aluminum cored Cometic gaskets, and they seem to be more tolerant of mating surfaces and seal better.

Contact Dan Lesser at http://www.viperspecialtyperformance.com/ and he can get you some gaskets.

I replaced most all of the front gaskets with Cometic.

Timing Cover Gasket, Oil filter Housing gasket, Thermostat housing gasket and new 180 degree thermostat, water pump and water pump gasket, intake gaskets.

The "While I was in there" could add up. To get to some things you have to remove others. To get the timing cover off, you will have to remove the water pump pulley, the Crank pully and balancer (you will need to replace the crank seal), the alternator, loosen 2 of the AC bolts and loosen the Power steering pump.

I also removed the hood (4 bolts) and the cross member. You prob don't have to, but gave a ton more room.

One of the Power steering pump bolts broke on me, and I ended up replacing the PS bracket with one from Roe Racing. I also went with a new ARP balancer bolt with red loctite as they are known to come loose.

When you remove the timing cover, it contains the oil pump. Be sure to line up the splines of the oil pump to the crank when re-installing. You will see how they line up. Don't want to crank up with no oil pressure!

I can send you the PDF manual I have, it's for a Gen II, 97 I believe, but they didin't change a lot, and it worked for my 96 perfectly.

Not a hard job, you just have to be diligent.

All in the job took about 10 hrs. Factor in a couple of hrs for scraping the old paper gasket off the mating surfaces of everyhing. They are a real pain to get all of it off.

Good luck with the repair, and Feel free to message me if you have any other questions.

Lane

[dave6666]

Yeah. It's a great post unless it's one of the hoses like I mentioned in post #6 or a leak that can be clarified by a pressure test as mentioned in post #6. Before doing all of that work. Because I'd rather know where the leak is before starting all that work.

[Dan Cragin]

Front timing cover gasket failure was common on 96-97 cars.

Always replace the front crankshaft seal as well. Make sure you install the cover first, then the seal.

[GTS Warp]

This post is definitely gold. I spotted a coolant leak on my '97 happening right around the two coolant return hoses where they go into the water pump. I can't pinpoint it yet, but i can see the drip. I was planning on replacing the t-stat and water pump anyway but now have to search that MF'er. Good call Dave6666 on the pressure test with that pump before I go in further; I'm ordering one today. Fatboy 18 I was wondering how to get that aluminum brace out of the way; now i know. I'll get the Cometic kit from Dan Lesser if it's the timing cover. Planning on doing the P/S pulley and bracket while I'm at it...good time to de-grease everything too. You guys with your clean AF engine bays got me going!