Sooty/Oily Front Engine & Pulleys

ozenator · Jun 15, 2026

Hello! I'm a first new member and first time poster so hopefully I'm doing this correctly. The following photos are from my 27,000 mile 93 GT and it unfortunately doesn't get driven alot and I do need to pay more attention to it. I started to notice when I had it on the lift this spring that passenger side of the engine bay but really all of the pulleys, smog pump, AC compressor and power steering pump and alternator and brackets are covered in an oily, sooty grime. The smog pump had a drop of oil hanging from it. Naturally I blamed this on that and took the smog pump out to examine it further. When I got that and hoses out I noticed that the hoses going into the pump were completely clear internally. Not oily or remotely dirty. I checked the PVC valve and it is clean and moves freely. Have any of you run into this problem? Would you assume it is the smog pump causing this? I find no exhaust leaks, all the gaskets around the heads and intake are dry and not leaking. The car runs and drives same as it always has since new. I would think if the pump were not working and engine gases were pushing back through that all the associated plumbing would be oily and dirty. The front of the engine is a mess and needs a lot of cleaning.

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AeroCoupe · Jun 15, 2026

Just me but I think the oil is coming from the crank bolt. The inside of the pulley has a lot of build up and it just appears that the oil is slinging from the pulley and outward.

ozenator · Jun 16, 2026

AeroCoupe, I appreciate your insight and reply. I saw that as well but it looked and feels crusty and dry but I'll investigate further. Isn't that a somewhat odd place for oil seepage? I've heard of the crank seal failing but I've never seen that around a bolt.

keel · Jun 16, 2026

ozenator said:
AeroCoupe, I appreciate your insight and reply. I saw that as well but it looked and feels crusty and dry but I'll investigate further. Isn't that a somewhat odd place for oil seepage? I've heard of the crank seal failing but I've never seen that around a bolt.

The crank bolt threads into a blind hole but oil can get still work its way through the balancer through the woodruff key grooves in the crank and balancer and then come out behind the bolt. My friend had an 85 5.0 that had this issue so bad that oil was puddling in his crank pulley.

gkomo · Jun 16, 2026

Does the smog pump have oil/grease in it?

The backside of your crank pulley also is covered in sludge and based on the spray pattern with your alternator fins and smog pump it looks like something would be leaking like in the area to the top left (from front of vehicle) of your waterpump and then getting on all the front drive accessories. Your idler looks clean and below the crank/balancer/oil pan all look clean so its weird its just in that 'middle zone' of your engine. From what i can tell the distributor area looks clean. Hows the passenger side front valve cover gasket area look?

nickyb · Jun 16, 2026

You should.degrease all of that and add some uv dye to the oil.that way your not chasing your tail.

Mustang5L5 · Jun 16, 2026

This could be an old leak that was since repaired.

What I’d do here is degrease the hell out of everything and get it all clean and grease free, and monitor. If it’s an active leak, you will see it rear its head again.

And of course, check oil level along the way.

General karthief · Jun 16, 2026

Don't overlook the clutch on the cooling fan, that oil will blow onto the water pump pulley and belt that will sling oil everytime it turns on a pulley.
prolly should put a new belt on the list..

ozenator · Jun 16, 2026

Everyone really appreciate your help. Here’s the inside of the crank pulley/harmonic balancer. It does have somewhat of a swirl pattern in there. The smog pump took the brunt of the spray on the exterior but is not full of oil. After listening to what all of you are saying I think I’m gonna to clean out the inside of the crank pulley and put the pump and belt back on and drive it. If it’s the leaking from the bolt as AeroCoupe is saying what needs to be disassembled (does the balancer need to come off?) and what would all of you use seal the leak? New bolt, new woodruff key and if sealed would it be a permatex or loctite product? Just trying to get a sense of the procedure

AeroCoupe · Jun 16, 2026

You will need to pull the balancer to remove the woodruff key and then clean the key way up and the woodruff key itself. Once you have all of that clean then you put some RTV in the key way and install the woodruff key.

I would inspect the balancer and make sure its in good shape and does not need replacing. With your car its not a mileage thing its an age thing. This goes for the balancer seal in the timing cover as well.

Remove the crank pulley and clean that up. Clean the balancer up on the car and then reinstall everything and see if you can tell where the leak is coming from like has been mentioned above by a couple of members.

ozenator · 2026-06-22T17:11:35-0500

AeroCoupe said:
You will need to pull the balancer to remove the woodruff key and then clean the key way up and the woodruff key itself. Once you have all of that clean then you put some RTV in the key way and install the woodruff key.

I would inspect the balancer and make sure its in good shape and does not need replacing. With your car its not a mileage thing its an age thing. This goes for the balancer seal in the timing cover as well.

Remove the crank pulley and clean that up. Clean the balancer up on the car and then reinstall everything and see if you can tell where the leak is coming from like has been mentioned above by a couple of members.

Everyone here’s the photo of the crank and keyway. The key sits at an odd location with the timing chain cover somewhat interfering. So to be clear you remove the key and clean that up and reinstall with rtv and I’m assuming rtv in the grove of the balancer. It doesn’t look like mine had much sealant and the grove in the balancer is completely clear of any sealant.

gkomo · 2026-06-22T20:48:21-0500

When I replaced my balancer I ‘forgot’ to add rtv to the keyway (I say forgot because the forum kinda steered me to doing so but I had already reinstalled the balancer and didn’t want to take it off again). Long story short I’m not getting any oil leaks without rtv.

Blackhawkxx · 2026-06-22T22:54:15-0500

I have never added sealer to that area and have never had oil leak from there.

Sooty/Oily Front Engine & Pulleys

ozenator

New Member

AeroCoupe

lube between the nut and the face. I know my lubes

ozenator

New Member

keel

Active Member

gkomo

now i can hopefully expect to receive the shaft

nickyb

I gotta say i never painted my nuts, Never Ever

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

ozenator

New Member

Attachments

AeroCoupe

lube between the nut and the face. I know my lubes

ozenator

New Member

Attachments

gkomo

now i can hopefully expect to receive the shaft

Blackhawkxx

Advanced Member

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Sooty/Oily Front Engine & Pulleys

New Member

lube between the nut and the face. I know my lubes

New Member

Active Member

now i can hopefully expect to receive the shaft

I gotta say i never painted my nuts, Never Ever

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

New Member

Attachments

lube between the nut and the face. I know my lubes

New Member

Attachments

now i can hopefully expect to receive the shaft

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