9-5 2.3t timing cover leak?

[toxicavenger]

So here is the deal, my wife noticed our 9-5 Sportcombi with 60k on it had leaked some oil on the garage floor. Well after a trip to the dealer they said it was leaking where the timing cover meets the cylinder head. Now is there a way to tighten this? I thought the timing cover was kind of wedged in between the oil pan and cylinder head and didn't actually bolt to it. Or am I wrong on this?

they said it does not have a blown headgasket.

Thanks ahead of time and if anyone has pics that would help out allot also.

[Shazam]

Hmmmm... according to most of the guys on Saabnet, your looking at about $2k to fix a timing cover leak. Most people said it's about 14-22 hours of labor to get it done... not cheap.

Here is the handy thread...
Saabnet.com: 9-5 BB Post: Front timing cover leak - 22 hours?

[Brad Lauzze]

Agreed, if it's the timing cover is in fact leaking, it's a very time/money consuming fix. There are two ways to do it: in the car, which becomes a game of removing the mounts/supports, suspending the engine via a cross brace, and taking everything off of the front cover until you can remove it, reseal it and re-assemble it. Method two is dropping the engine/trans/subframe, resealing it and putting it all back together. It becomes a slippery slope because while you're in there, you may feel compelled to put new chains and guides in which I've had a number of customers do on high mileage 9-5s.

[toxicavenger]

Thanks for the replies and the car is at my Indie right now so maybe he can get me a different opinion oh what is wrong.

Shazam, thanks for info and I also found the same research before posting. It seems like a time consuming job and I am coming at the end of the month after being in Iraq for along time. So I am not sure the first thing I want to do is to crawl under a car for 3-4 days.

Brad thanks also bro and I will keep everyone up to date on what happens.

[jlstewart3]

I believe i have a similar issue going on. The oil is getting on my serpentine belt and has been causing it to slip off.

[Mike Brennan]

My guess is that it is something else. At 60000 miles on an 06, never have heard of that happening so soon. Good luck.

[Mike Brennan]

So what did you find out?

[bobthebuilder]

I have exactly the same problem as jlstewart3. and it's the same car - '04 9-5 2.3T. oil leaking right where timing cover, head and block meet behind the chain tensioner. the leak is prolific enough to coat the alternator, front of timing chain cover and serpentine with oil, and eventually the serpentine belt gets saturated and slips off. I can see the leak. It is not the tensioner. I don't look forward to pulling the cover off. Is there something that can be applied to that joint where the leak is to slow it down or plug it until there is a bigger repair requiring disassembly? I've heard of using JB Weld and it will "chip right off" if you need to remove the cover down the road. I'm not so sure of that. Maybe some kin of high temp silicone? I just to slow it down - a lot if I can! Thanks.

[Mike Brennan]

I have been thinking about this a little bit and somewhere in the back of memory banks I thing there are glues that are impervious to oil. I am thinking that this kind of a glue on a leather patch applied on a de-greased area of the leak might stop it. Sometimes the timing belt will actually cut the metal which would make a repair easier, but where it is under the cover and the gasket has failed is a bit more like a boat leak. In a boat we insert material between the planks an push it in with a thin tool and a wooden mallet. Seems to me the same might apply to this recurring issue. Toxiccaregive has been off line a long time so I dont know what happened to his car.

[toxicavenger]

Okay I have done the timing cover leak stoppage with the JB weld. I also replaced the timing chain tensioner gasket. I still have a leak coming upstream from tensioner. I have no idea what could be leaking up under the intake manifold. Any ideas would be appreciated.