[Arawan]

mechanic says they found oil leaks at the timing belt tensioner and at the valve cover gasket. this is a subject matter i'm kind of in the dark about (trying to read up about it now).
anyways, my car has about 70K on it and i had the timing belt/water pump/etc replaced at 60K. it was a different mechanic that did that job. I kind of question why the original mechanic that did the timing belt job failed to mention this.

anyways, how much do you think this is going to cost in parts and labor to fix?

RKA

It's probably about $200 parts and labor. The thing is, it's not terribly critical, and if you later have a desire to roll up your sleeves, you can do it for the cost of the parts ($50?).

The other leak mentioned might be runoff from the valve cover gasket. However if it's oil coming from the TB tensioner (there is probably a small amount of oil in there), I might be a little concerned. If the TB work is still within warranty, I would bring it back to the mechanic that did the work. First get some clarification on the nature of that leak before you make appointments for anything.

[Arawan]

i don't mind getting my hands dirty on something that isn't technically difficult to do. i just wasn't sure on the severity of the issue and how imperative it was to get done right away...

the timing chain tensioner one did worry me more, too, and i was thinking hte same thing about bringing it back to the original mechanic. i bought the parts through him when he did the timing belt change for the exact reason that he would warranty it.

this trip is getting expensive for me as it is. had him replace the clutch, fix my headlight washer pump and throw in a purems snub mount. they found my outter tie rod ends need to be replaced (so that he can do an alignment which i direly need). the whole trip is not going to be cheap...

RKA

That's different from the timing belt tensioner (and the chain tensioner leak is probably a lot more likely). If that's the case, then the mech that did the TB work has no liability here. It's not urgent that you address it either.

If the valve cover and the cam tensioner seals are both leaking, I would at least replace the PVC valve right now (near your intake hose). It could be that crankcase pressure is building because of a clogged PCV, and that might be why you're blowing oil out of the gaskets. Best case, you might actually halt further leaking. Worst case, you prevent the existing leaks from getting worse. Clean up any residual oil after you change the PCV, and monitor the valve cover gasket and tensioner leaks afterwards. You can decide later whether you want to address those leaks.

[Arawan]

i'm going to talk to them more about it in the AM.

at least i can now talk a little more intelligently about it. thx

B5V30

it is covered with it, what does is either the place where timing chain tensioner attached to a solenoid valve or through the rubberized metal gasket that goes under the tensioner assembly.
first case is very rare happens when the solenoid is getting bend. the rubberized gasket under the timing chain tensioner goes more often, it is possible to change the gasket without taking off the timing belt, you have to have the tensioner retainer tool which will compress the tensioner and make some slack underneath it. you probably would also have to loosen the intake camshaft to give some more space under the tensioner for the gasket replacement.

B5V30

head cover gasket definitely can be done at home, 30 minutes job (2.8 AHA B5)..
i would start with changing the head cover gasket first before doing anything with the tensioner gasket.
as RKA mentioned it could be that the leak in the CH head gasket is mistaken for the leak of the TC tensioner gasket.

RKA

Well, you only have one chain...so that pretty much narrows it down.