Oil leak around alternator area / pulleys??? :( HELP!!!

[MR2-4-Life]

Hello all, hoping someone can help me figure out where this is coming from if its a common failing point etc, car driving perfectly, went to asda, had a nice shopping spree and on way home after filling the car with lots of food i smell smoke, thinking someone elses car is fooooked, i look in rear view mirror and smoke is coming from my engine bay!!
I pull over and have a look, can't see anything, get it home and today had a proper look at it

Seems oil has been dropping down onto the alternator or has been dripping onto the driveshaft and flicking up onto the alternator, smoke pooring out of the alternator and whining now abit now...

rocker cover isnt leaking, seems its running down behind the alternator from somewhere and is dripping onto the driveshaft, although now smoke is there even after leaving it running to try burn any oil off the alternator although maybe its not getting hot enough to burn it off or its leaking?

oil level is fine so can't be losing much although has only just happened (the burning oil on the hot parts of engine, alternator area)

is there a paticular item around there near the camshaft pulleys etc that could be dripping oil.....what seals are prone to give if any, not sure where it is coming from but defintely the alternator side of things and not the rocker cover gasket as all around the top edge of engine is dry.....I don't mind having to fit another alternator but obviously need to fix oil leak first

Any and all advise is much appreciated as not driving it until I have sorted it to save the risk of damage and also a smoking engine bay doesn't look the best lol!!!

Rev2 turbo for the record

[djpkins]

Oil dripping/leaking onto the alt is the biggest cause of alt failure...keep an eye on your lights/battery etc to avoid a nightmare of no electric.
Are you sure that it's dripping onto the driveshaft and flicking around...and not just gearbox oil leaking from the driveshaft oilseal and travelling along the driveshaft?
How long have you had the car? The rockerbox gasket commonly leaks from the cam corners if a blob of silicone isn't put there first, rev1 and 2 have crappy posidrive scews that hold down the rockerbox lid as opposed to rev3 + which have bolts, some people use allenkey studs or M4 (possM6) bolts instead cos the screws come undone with vibration etc.
There isn't anywhere in that corner that can leak oil exept the rockerbox lid, if it was the engine leaking, you would have stopped moving by now.
Oil can leak from the turbo feed/return pipe and spray/travell...this would deffo leak onto the exhaust and burn...been there.

[clarkson23]

double check corners of your rocker cover mate, and driveshafts oil seals, could deffo be shafts seals if your finding sprayed on the underneath of it, could possible leak from headgasket , my old polo use to do this

[MR2-4-Life]

Firstly thanks for reading and your reply djpkins

yeah found the crappy screws that are used, will be changing them out asap, they were slightly loose but still getting a small droplet build up at bottom of engine above the driveshaft, and its coming from above that so not the gearbox oil, it appears to be running down the metal mounting bracket, thick peice from behind the alternator and dripping onto the driveshaft which has then flicked everywhere and I guess the leak has become slightly worse and finally become so much that it landed on the alternator and started burning the oil off hence the smoke?
probs will need another alternator though to be on the safe side, where is the oilpump and oil seals on the pulley side of the engine? if its not the rocker cover gasket which I don't think it is as top and edges of engine are dry up top, not had it long, few weeks, driving style hasnt changed, just suddenly seems to have become a leak leak now rather than the odd drip getting flicked off the driveshaft, thank god the oil level is still good as wasnt a bad leak before obviously and headgasket has been done and is all good as well, no mayo on oil cap and coolant all good, and no overheating issues..... where is this oil leak coming from!!!

[MR2-4-Life]

double check corners of your rocker cover mate, and driveshafts oil seals, could deffo be shafts seals if your finding sprayed on the underneath of it, could possible leak from headgasket , my old polo use to do this

thanks for reply, rocker cover corners are all dry, could it be the camshaft pulley seals? or a seal on one of the items that the pulley goes around?

the headgasket seems all good and was done unless they did a xxxx job of it, drive shafts are dry from seals and drip is forming above the driveshaft and dripping down onto it, running down from around behind the alternator it seems the line of oil is coming from...

[djpkins]

smell it...just to make sure it's not from the box.

[MR2-4-Life]

okay will do, but it's deffo not from that side of the engine, the smoke happens on idle when stationary and smoke is being blown around the alt by the alternator spinning so is dripping while running but not moving...

[mozzafan07]

really does sound like the cam cover gasket, I had leaks on my rev1 and 2. gave me good reason to paint the cam cover and manifolds though

oil would find its way down my engine and I had no idea where it was from at first, on my second one it was obvious, oil was spitting onto the exhaust heat shield and the next day when I was taking out the ignition leads (whilst in the process of replacing the gasket) 2 plugs were full of oil.

a few items later

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-MR2-Ro ... 256e5442bb

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3SGE-3SGTE-ro ... 564929d4c5

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Loctite-5699- ... 3f154bd9e4

(ebay links for examples of stuff only, make sure things are correct for your car)

and I fixed my leak

[MR2-4-Life]

really does sound like the cam cover gasket, I had leaks on my rev1 and 2. gave me good reason to paint the cam cover and manifolds though

oil would find its way down my engine and I had no idea where it was from at first, on my second one it was obvious, oil was spitting onto the exhaust heat shield and the next day when I was taking out the ignition leads (whilst in the process of replacing the gasket) 2 plugs were full of oil.

a few items later

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-MR2-Ro ... 256e5442bb

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3SGE-3SGTE-ro ... 564929d4c5

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Loctite-5699- ... 3f154bd9e4

(ebay links for examples of stuff only, make sure things are correct for your car)

and I fixed my leak

cheers for the links and info, could it be the rocker cover gasket even though there is no signs of oil anywhere around the rim of the rocker cover??? all spark plug holes are clean and dry as well

[4ndee]

Whip the top cambelt cover off and have a look at cam oil seals.

[MR2-4-Life]

i've taken the cambelt cover off and there is signs of oil under them but can't tell if its come from them or not without taken the cam pulleys off I think??

[mozzafan07]

got any pics of the problem area and of the engine bay around it, someone might spot something to suggest

[mozzafan07]

done some quick research for things you could try:

oil filter seal (wipe round it and check its not leaking)

dip stick O ring (random but this is what I found lol)

oil pan gasket

leaks from distributor

hope that helps in your search

[MR2-4-Life]

done some quick research for things you could try:

oil filter seal (wipe round it and check its not leaking)

dip stick O ring (random but this is what I found lol)

oil pan gasket

leaks from distributor

hope that helps in your search

thank you, I checked the following yesturday
oil filter is all good
dipstick nice and clean
oil pan gasket has seen better days but leak is above this on the rear side of the engine
dizzy all clean and dry

hate it to be the headgasket although no overheating or mixing of water/oil so fingers crossed plus thats been changed recently which is why I find it hard to think its the cam seals or rocker gasket but i really am hoping its the cam seals as both items should only come in at around £35 plus sealant

think I might be buying a rocker cover gasket and cam seals and praying its one of them, although seems to be a hard task finding cam seals from the uk! lol

I really do hope changing these fix the problem though as would hate to do that and then still have the problem

[MR2-4-Life]

camshaft seals and rocker cover gasket ordered from camskill

fingers crossed, wish me luck lol

[mozzafan07]

hope it goes well, you can give things a good clean while your there so thats a positive and if you wanted to tart up the engine bay with some paint than the time is now lol

always look for the good in the bad

[toxo]

It's not hard finding the parts at all, just buy them from Toyota Remember with the cam cover gasket you need some liquid sealant too (and you should replace the washers on the bolts - 1 side of them is rubber and is single-use as it moulds/seals itself to the cam cover). Follow the procedure in the BGB.

Cam seals or main seal at a guess.

[MR2-4-Life]

already got the head off and yep indeed going to give the engine bay a clean up and dab of colour tart up ready for my chargecooler to be fitted once this is sorted, looking like cam seals at a look now I have head off and cam pulleys off as oil is up top running down so fingers crossed, parts on order and as soon as they arrive it will be ready for them to go straight in and reassembled, will keep this up to date to help others with a similar issue if and when it does arise if not already, my mr2 build should be an interesting sight for you guys when its finished, going to be far from an mr2 looks wise when it's done if i do go ahead with plans stay tuned folks!

[clarkson23]

good look man

[MR2-4-Life]

good look man

cheers man, going to change headgasket as well I think, might even be the headgasket edge at rear