crank case timing cover gasket

[Yomper]

Hi
I have a ex rac 330 2.4td rwd 03 van. the front of it has an oli leak and i been told it is the crank case gasket or timing cover. its coming from underneath and after a little searching on google i found this site and i undertsand there is a seal behind this cover.

I think i have someone to do it for me for cheap although i am still not 100% that he will do it.
my question is is it easy to do it myself? i havent done anything like this before last time i did anything on an engine was change an alternator on an old mk 2 cortina in the late 80's (those were the days)
Should i attempt this and just buy the haynes manual for instructions or if i cant get my mate do do it shall i stick it in a garage? if so how much am i looking at paying for labour.

tia

[angeleye]

go to mk6..mk7 forum on 3rd page you will see a thread on this subject,

[Yomper]

Thanks for that link, i think i should be ok if i have to do it just ownder if i have to remove the whole front of the van to get to it as mine is a rwd not fwd

[angeleye]

not sure weather you can do it with radiator in or not,prob best to remove front, easy to do as its all bolt on
take off battery earth (safety measure, will lose radio code)
drain coolant ........remove rad hoses..........unclip headlight wires.......remove headlights (bolt on).........undo 3-4 bolts on wings (gives you a bit of flexibility)....remove air intake(bolt by bonnet stay).....take out 4bolts for bonnet release catch.......undo front panel (bolt on)take panel out.......take out radiator.......take of aucillary belt and jockey wheels......take of bottom crankshaft pulley(best put in gear, handbrake on, and maybe get someone to stand on brakes, as sometimes hard to undo)......take off fan 3bolts hold bracket......undo 4bolts for coolant pump(there is a metal gasket between pump and block)...take off coolant outlet pipe at top off timing cover..undo 3 bolts holding coolant elbow..loosen small clip on small pipe on coolant outlet elbow....pull elbow off.(when pulling elbow off pull small pipe at same time).......take out all bolts round the cover.....use a stanley blade round cover to break seal, ease cover off, .......the rest is common sense , cleaning cover etc...........when putting back on centralise bottom crank seal so as not to damage it,.good idea to replace seal... if you have a bit off mechanical knowledge you will do job with ease.

dont think ive missed owt sure it will be put right if i have (anyone) good luck

ps how many miles has timing chain and tentioner been on, as it might be an idea to change tentioner at least

[MARKOVERTON]

Are you sure it is the timing cover? It could also be the front crankshaft seal. Unless you are 100% sure I would wash the engine down thoroughly and then se where it is reapearing from. If it is crank seal then it can be easily replaced without removing the timing cover, just the crank pulley.

[Yomper]

To be honest i havent seen the leak as it is in london and i am in milton keynes as i had it up for sale on my mums drive and my brother was in at the time and the buyers were the ones that noticed the oil leak, he handed my brother a bolt from somewhere underneath and said a few of them were missing.i phoned fords and they said the timing gasket is only £7.99 and the seal plug is £15 so i was going to buy one anyway.
i hope my other brothers mate who is a mechanic fixes it for me but if he dont then i guess i will have to do it myself. uless the garage would quote a decent price and i am not sure how much they charge for either gasket/seal

[angeleye]

no gasket for timing cover its sealant, you need to see if its the bolts out of cover that is missing , if they are thats your prob