My 1996 2.4L Stratus has 42,000 miles on the ticker. Bought it new. It developed an oil leak on firewall side up where you can't see where its coming from when underneath the car or when using a mirror from the top side. New cam cover gaskets did nothing. Replacing the oil pressure sender switch made no dif. There's no oil in the water and no steam in the exhaust.

Before going all out and replacing the head gasket, I'm wondering about giving the head bolts maybe a 1/16 turn. If it slows down or stops the leak, that would be good enough for me.

Now I'm wondering if I can get to the head bolts with a box-end wrench or open-end wrench without removing the cam shafts so I can give them that 1/16 turn. Can't remember what it looked like when I had the cam cover off and whether or not I could get that box or open-end wrench on the head bolts without removing the cams.

Anybody out there with any insight on the subject and also on the size of the head bolts i.e. what size wrench to fit the head bolt heads?

Thanks in advance.

 

IMHO, You'll never be able to turn the head bolts with a wrench. Not only because of their locations, but because of the amount of torque on them. There is a reason that one uses a 1/2" drive torque wrench to tighten head bolts. Then, add to that, newer cars use a degree wheel AFTER the torque procedure. IOW: you have to turn each bolt a certain number of degrees beyond where it stops after reaching the rated torque spec. This is due to bolt 'stretch'.

IIRC, there is some problems with valve covers not sealing (warping?). If I were you, I'd take some time to really isolate where this leak is coming from. Read up in the archives, I'm pretty sure someone here has had the same problem and posted what needs to be done to fix it.

-Good luck, Ken

 

chances are the head gskt is leaking at the oil feed passage to the head .It is a rubber insert in the head gskt. causing an external oil leak

 

Thanks Guys for the replies. For some reason the oil leak has slowed way down. The two things I did before the oil leak stopped, or at least slowed down were:

Started topping it up with 20w50 full synthetic 4 stroke motorcycle oil. (Had been using mobile1 15w50).

At a high rate of speed, at the top of a long downward hill, put the auto-tranny in "Low" range and took my foot off the go pedal then let the engine slow the car down the long hill. This turns the engine into a giant vacuum pump, pulling the head down hard on the block.

 

Your car may have low miles but it is still 16 years old with a lot of sitting time and I'm sure thats not good for the gasket.