Oil on timing belt - how bad?
 

While setting valves on my I4 92 Accord, I noticed light deposits of
oily dirt on the inside of the cam belt cover. I've known for a while
that I have a drops-per-day leak in the cam, crank, or valve cover seal
on that side of the motor. It appears that small amounts of oil are
being flung about by the pulleys and belt. The belt is hardly soaked,
but does seem to have been exposed to a very light 'mist' of motor oil.
How much (if at all?) will this shorten belt life?

The belt was changed shortly before I bought the car, about 65K miles
ago. I was planning to change it this fall, but may move up the
schedule if opinion warrants.

I'll pop more of the belt cover this weekend and get a better look.

Thanks

Re: Oil on timing belt - how bad?
 

On Jul 24, 5:22 pm, Greg Campbell <nos...@null.net> wrote:
> While setting valves on my I4 92 Accord, I noticed light deposits of
> oily dirt on the inside of the cam belt cover. I've known for a while
> that I have a drops-per-day leak in the cam, crank, or valve cover seal
> on that side of the motor. It appears that small amounts of oil are
> being flung about by the pulleys and belt. The belt is hardly soaked,
> but does seem to have been exposed to a very light 'mist' of motor oil.
> How much (if at all?) will this shorten belt life?
>
> The belt was changed shortly before I bought the car, about 65K miles
> ago. I was planning to change it this fall, but may move up the
> schedule if opinion warrants.
>
> I'll pop more of the belt cover this weekend and get a better look.
>
> Thanks

You'll need to find out where the oil is coming from. The cam seal
and crank seal would be the main culprits. It could also be an oil
leak from elsewhere that made it to the timing cover.

Belt is shot. You will need to replace unless it looks worse than it
is.