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There are several places that could leak up there. On the drivers side towards the front, there is the oil pressure sending unit and the fuel pump. If I remember right from messing around with the same problem on my car, the oil pressure sending unit screws in. You can peek down with a light and then make sure its tight. I had a bad gasket on the mechanical fuel pump and it leaked a lot of oil. A new gasket will fix this or if you have an electric fuel pump you can remove the whole assembly (rod that goes to the cam and the rest of the pump) and cover the hole with a flat piece a metal...that way there are no parts to cause trouble.
On the front cover of the engine, the seal around the balance shaft/gear can leak. Mark Ashcraft sold me a better cam and warned me about replacing the front cover. It needs to go on just so, so that the balance shaft is centered in the seal. He said there are special tools for this and it is common problem.
And the last leaky place (below the heads) I can think of is the oil pan. Its a bad design in my opinion because the lip is way too flimsy and that semicircle seal on the back of the engine is just ridiculous. There are wedges that squeeze in there but the first time I refitted the oil pan is wept back there. The second time I gobbed on the gasket sealer and it held tight. But you said your leak was towards the front..could be a tear in the gasket. Its cork so it takes the shape of the oil pan and base of the block but like I said, the overtightening the bolts can warp the lip of the oil pan. This is where my sonett currently leaks. If you decide to tackle that, go around to each of the bolts and tighten them a little at a time. The best solution would be a steel or reinforced aluminum oil pan (hint hint to any metallically inclined ppl out there).
Are you using synthetic oil? That will find places to leak faster than the regular stuff.
If your car is not rusty, you can use a pressure washer on a warm day and spray down the engine and engine bay. After you drive it to town and back, look hard at the engine for leaks and remember to look for the highest wet spot...everything drains down. Good luck
posted by 24.240.3...
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