I'm not even sure what I'm asking here...

I have a strange oil leak coming from the timing case cover area. somewhere around the power steering pump... I think. It's real hard to tell where exactly

Here's the catch, the timing case is intact as far as I can tell. The leak only occurs in pretty much -20C weather or colder. I had this leak back in december when we had a real cold snap and when it got a bit warmer it went away. Now it's cold again, real cold. And the leak has come back.

And it's a pretty serious leak too. I'll lose probably 1-2 qts of oil in an hour or 2 worth of driving And considering I run amsoil synthetic oil, it's not a cheap leak either.

Anyone have any suggestions or possible ideas here? I'm kind of stumped.

 

Metal expands and contracts with differing temperatures, as do gaskets. I say clean off the oil and try and trace where exactly it's coming from. Check all your torques and see what happens.

 

I knew someone was going to say that and I really should try it. I just can't see why it wouldn't leak at all most of the time, and SOOO much once it gets cold enough. And would keep leaking so much even when the engine is warm.

 

Could it be your vacuum pump leaking? Mine started off pretty simple just leaving a couple small dots of oil, untill it seemed overnight the oring let go and I leaked out oil the way your describing. It took me about 1.5 hours to pull the pump off, clean it up, and reseal it with some gasket maker from the auto parts. Not a single drop since and everything is still bone dry.

 

sounds just like my water pump. It will leak when its really cold and did last winter but when it gets warm it seals back up. Gaskets shrink in the cold and are more prone to leak. And I know how it is with that spendy amsoil leaking out...