I've had a small oil leak on the front of the engine for 5+ years and was fairly sure it was the VTC strainer, but just never got motivated to replace it. Finally found a reason as I had to replace the A/C compressor and decided to do all the other accessories at the same time. That opened up the room to swap it out and it's a 60 second task once you get the power steering pump and tensioner out of the way. The old gasket was hard as a rock.

 

Thanks for posting up. Another place to watch for leaks. If I had seen this a while sooner I would have done same as you while working on the AC compressor.

 

What does VTC mean. Variable Timing Chain is all I can think of. Thanks.

 

Variable timing control

 

Bumping this old thread because I think I need to replace my VTC strainer. I've had an extremely minor oil leak for the last couple years and finally looking to fix this now that I'm done with the front suspension.

Anyone have any guides or tutorials? Is there a way of replacing this part without removing the compressor and/or pwr steering pump?

Much appreciated.

 

I've sold the car, but I think you only have to remove the tensioner.

Edit: Scratch that. I think the p/s pump needs to come out to get to the tensioner. You don't have to disconnect the p/s hoses though.

 

Have you checked your oil filter housing for leaks?

 

I have not checked for that specifically - but it doesn't seem to be coming from the general vicinity of the oil filter.

I started down this rabbit hole after reading this post and accompanying pictures. My leak looks very similar.

I'm also generally in the mood to replace old parts that haven't been replaced in awhile. Based on my service records the VTC strainer hasn't been replaced in at least 100k miles.

But if you think there's another likely culprit for a very minor leak (I'm talking a fraction of a quart and I change my oil every 5k) - I'm all ears. I want to put the work into this motor now to (try and) make it last.

 

Perhaps I should just do it - looks very simple to replace...

 

I heard getting the three screws off the top out is very convoluted. You may possibly want to do more research

 

If the picture below is accurate, the yellow indicates the oil filter base with the half shaft blocking the top two screws?

 

Ouch - convoluted is an understatement there. I had been meaning to have a look underneath.

Ironically I had my buddy help me replace that intermediate axle (cracked heat shield mount) back in December. Would have been ideal to do it then - getting it out was a major pain. We had to unhook a couple of the motor mounts and lower the sub-frame a bit.

 

Definitely a doozy - but there's actually about an inch of clearance between the intermediate axle and those two bolts.

I also think it's more likely this is the source of the leak looking at these pix...

 

two people on this board said they had to cut a wrench in half, but then they could get the bolts off.

You may want to buy one of these off amazon in advance.

 

Interesting.

I do have a set of pivot head ratchet wrenches, although I don't really want to cut my 10mm in half.

How do you get enough torque to liberate a rusty bolt with such a short wrench handle?

 

Since I have never done the job, I will rely on you to let us know

 

At 8.7 lbf-ft they should not be to bad; however, if rust is involved, all I can say is make sure you wear gloves, pray there is space to fit your digits & wrench inorder to gain the leverage you need for joy.

 

8.7 ft-lb to torque them back on, but I have a feeling it'll take more to get them out. Been fighting rusty bolts for the last couple months.

I stopped by my local dealership the other day and ordered new oil filter base O-rings and a VTC strainer. Btw, the guy at the parts counter said only those O-rings would need to be replaced - no sense replacing the entire filter base (which was $200+).

Will report back once I finally dive into the job.

 

Today I replaced my VTC strainer, but decided to punt on the oil base gaskets as it was getting late in the day.

VTC strainer wasn't terrible, although that 3rd bolt on the belt tensioner that's behind the wheel was a PITA. And I deff struggled with the alternator belt at the end, but finally prevailed.

Now to give the engine bay a good wash and see if that resolves this oil leak.

 

I ended up having this done at a local garage. It was $600 when all was said and done as they did the oil pan gasket as well. Too old to be messing with this stuff now under the car.

 

That's not a bad price given all the labor involved.

This weekend I'm replacing the power steering pump, which ironically is less work than the VTC strainer - no need to remove the belt tensioner this time around.

 

Just curious as to why you are replacing the power steering pump? Curios because I am getting a noise at low speeds it seems when I am turning the wheel. Fluid level is good. Not a grinding or clunking either. Just something like a whirring type noise. No impact while driving, just not something I have heard before. Thanks

 

Two reasons:

-This car is old and I'm just in the mood to replace things that haven't been replaced in awhile. Many of them are arguably elective, but I'd rather invest in this car's future. And since investing in a good set of tools, I can do a lot myself and keep my costs down.

-I've had power steering issues for awhile, which persisted even after changing out the entire power steering rack (!). Specifically, the issues are a crunching/metal-on-metal rubbing noise, and a thunk/boing noise (almost like a spring) coming from the right-side of the vehicle when going over speed bumps and other 'wavy' sections of road (but not harsher bumps from potholes.

At this point, everything in the steering system is brand new except the p/s pump, return line, and steering column. My buddy thinks the replacement rack is no good, but I want to rule out any other possible culprits before shaking the retailer down for a refund over a defective part.

I'm also doing a couple other minor things this weekend to rule out other causes: new swaybar links, lower ball joints, and greasing/tightening down the rack mount bushings. The s/b links and balljoints aren't that old, but I'm treating myself to an upgrade (Mevotech TTX greasable).