Hi all,
The EF has a nice big puddle of oil under her. It's definitely coming from the front of the engine but the serpentine belt is flinging the oil everywhere and it's hard to pin-point exactly where it's coming from. I'm 90% certain it's not the rocker cover. I suspect (and pray it's not!!) the timing cover, but I thought best to ask here if there is anything else I should look at before I start pulling bits off in the hunt for this bloody messy leak.
Thanks

Could be the front main seal behind the harmonic balancer

^^
Jeezzzz!! What's the good news?? I'd rather the timing cover!! lol
Thanks though, I'll have to get under I guess and look at that as well.

Have a look at your power steering pump. May be leaking and spitting everywhere.

I had a similar problem with my EF. The timing case gasket had failed around the timing chain tensioner oil feed, so oil was coming out under pressure from behind the bottom power steering pump bracket bolt.

front crank seal costs less to fix then the timing cover gasket/s

No it's defiantly oil. And the P/S pump is a recent reco one.
Could be... there is a s**t of oil spewing out of it.

I just had a look in the workshop manual at what's involved in replacing the timing cover gasket..........

HOLY F**k ............. Not looking to promising, 'It is necessary to raise the engine'.... don't have access to a crane, 'Using the special tool to prevent the retainer from tuning'.... Don't have said tool, 'Using the (yet another!! ) special tool to engage in the tensioner retaining holes'... Nope, don't have that either!!

Has anyone done this job themselves? Have any tip's, advice? I'm wondering if it would be better to get the mechanic to sort this one out, but it's just a bloody gasket and I don't want to be charged 100's of $$ just to get it changed as I'm on a limited budget. I may be better off saving up and buying an engine crane etc and doing it myself. The mechanical side of it I'm fine with (Still looks like a pretty big job, 3 pages worth in the manual ) May be an idea to pull the whole engine out and give it a 'once over' maybe. (watch the 'once over turn into a full rebuild )
The beauty is that the wagon is a 'week-end' car, I only use it when I have the kids. So I don't need to worry too much about it spewing oil every day.

Did it twice Once in the car, once pulling the engine. It's easier with the engine out, but more effort to get the engine out, so no gain really. I would do it in the car if I had to do it again. You already have the manual, so I'll just give you a couple pointers that helped me.

- You probably won't need a crane, as long as you can get the car up on stands to work under it for the sump.

- Take the radiator and fans out before you start. It takes 10 minutes and will save time and heartache later. The more you remove from the front of the engine, the easier it will be to work on. If the water pump is more than a year or two old, you will probably want to replace it at the same time.

- You need to drop the sump to get at one of the chain guides. Remove all bolts except the back two - loosen those about one turn - and drop the front of the sump until it hits the crossmember. If you need more clearance, loosen the top motor mount nuts until only a few threads are engaged, and raise the engine with a jack and block of wood under the sump, then wedge something on top of the motor mounts to prevent the engine dropping back down. You will need a universal joint and extension for your ratchet to get at some of the sump bolts with the engine in the car.

- To put the sump back on, I used the original gasket, just cleaned the oil off both surfaces with Fuelite and put a bead of Ultrablack sealant all around the gasket. It didn't leak.

- Make sure you cable tie the chain to the cam sprocket on both sides (as close to the bottom as you can) to prevent any slack and misalignment. To be safe, put the crank at TDC before starting, so you can always align it later if need be.

- You don't need a special tool to hold the tensioner retaining ring. Two thin screwdrivers crossed in an X (a bit fiddly) or a vicegrips will do it.

- To lock the tensioner in the released position, spend $10 max on a long allen key (3.5mm from memory). If you slip a length of thin hose (like fuel line) over the allen key, it is dead simple - it goes straight into the tensioner.

- When you put it back together, put sealant at every point wherever three surfaces meet: sump-block-timing case, head-block-timing case, etc. Also on the threads and under the head of the crank pulley bolt, and between the crank seal and the timing case.

That's all I can think of for now, but those are the majors. Hope this helps.