Hi all,

I'm havnig a very frustrating sitution here. For quite a while now my 1996 Dodge Neon SOHC has been dropping oil. It only seems to drop it while the engine is running. When I come home from work and park up it drops a few drops and then stops. It will not continue to leak oil while sitting idle.

When I had my state inspection they pointed the oil leak out to me and said it was the cam position sensor...So this past weekend I got in there and replaced the whole cam position sensor unit including the O-ring washer. I also took the valve cover off and replaced the spark plug tube seals and the valve cover gasket also. I think I did a pretty good job. I have the right tools and torqued everything according to specs etc...

However, it STILL is dropping oil. Exactly the same as before. Where else could it be coming from?? There is such an oil mess on the engine its hard to see exactly where it us coming from but it does seem to be around the cam position sensor... Are there any other comon sources of the leak??

I'm stuck for ideas now...

Many thanks,

Trevor

 

do you have the MLS head gasket?

 

I know for a fact that this car had the common blown head gasket issues when it was relatively new...It went back for a warranty repair and there have been no issues since.

There is no water in the oil and no oil in the water so I have not really considered it a head gasket issue.

Could I be wrong?

 

Try degreasing the engine and then looking for the oil leak.

 

yeah I am thinking if it is up that high it is going to be the head gasket, I could be wrong and I also sugest degreasing the engine and taking a closer look at it. to degrease the engine I take it to the Coin-op carwashes and soak the engine down in tire soap and rinse it off after a minute.

 

i would go down to the local parts store and grab some dye for the oil and use the old black light to pinpoint it precisely.

autozone has the light and dye, i know napa has the dye on the shelf 90% of the time as well as the light but more $.

good luck.

 

Oops, almost repeated what audioguy said. The dye works great every time. If it's the cam seal, order the cam seal retainer; there is a bulletin out stating the added retainer is required.

 

I had a leak on the back of my engine and it turned out to be the oil pressure sending unit, its a cheap part, with a special socket you can prob rent from napa or autozone, or advance auto. bout 15 min fix.

If i remember correctly its right below the headgasket, or very close to it.