An oil leak at the front of the engine is 99% of the time a leak from the front crankshaft seal in the timing cover. You may also have a little seepage from the timing cover gasket.
To repair this, the harmonic balancer has to be pulled. This has to be done with a pulley puller that is bolted to the center hub on the balancer to keep from damaging the balancer.
Then the timing cover can be removed and a new seal installed. If inspection of the crankshaft-sealing surface shows any wear (which it probably will) an offset seal might work or if it is to badly worn a wear sleeve or “Speedi-Sleeve” can be installed.
To gain access to the lower front of the engine the radiator will need to be removed and even then it is difficult to get at the balancer. Unless there is a problem with the timing gears there is no need to remove them to fix a front oil leak.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
