96' Grand Am Issues

My 96' Grand Am has developed some strange problems in the past few
days. A little background info on the car: It has the 2.4L, 4 Cyl, DOHC
motor in it. The car has 126K miles, and has been well maintained over
the past few years that I have owned it. All filters, plugs, most
fluids, ect have been replaced in the past few months.

Anyways, here is problem #1. When cold, the car starts fine, but after
it has warmed up, then sat for a little while, it will not start very
easily. When cranking it over with no firing, I tapped the throttle a
little, and it started to fire, then gradually started to run. Sounds
almost like vapor lock.

Problem #2, when looking over the motor after problem #1 started, I
noticed a good amount of oil all over the lower half of the timing
chain cover. After further inspection, the whole fan belt, crank
pulley, ect is covered. It appears to be leaking from around the
crankshaft pulley. About a quart had leaked out, so no damage due to
low oil levels was done.

My main question is could these two problem be related? I only
speculate this since they both started at the same time. If so, what
are a few good things to check out? If not, I'm open to any advise.

Thank you in advance to for any help! Jeremy

Any sensors in the way of this oil? Check fuel pressure when it is difficult
starting also. If good, check for spark and injector pulse next.
"Jeremy" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
> My 96' Grand Am has developed some strange problems in the past few
> days. A little background info on the car: It has the 2.4L, 4 Cyl, DOHC
> motor in it. The car has 126K miles, and has been well maintained over
> the past few years that I have owned it. All filters, plugs, most
> fluids, ect have been replaced in the past few months.
>
> Anyways, here is problem #1. When cold, the car starts fine, but after
> it has warmed up, then sat for a little while, it will not start very
> easily. When cranking it over with no firing, I tapped the throttle a
> little, and it started to fire, then gradually started to run. Sounds
> almost like vapor lock.
>
> Problem #2, when looking over the motor after problem #1 started, I
> noticed a good amount of oil all over the lower half of the timing
> chain cover. After further inspection, the whole fan belt, crank
> pulley, ect is covered. It appears to be leaking from around the
> crankshaft pulley. About a quart had leaked out, so no damage due to
> low oil levels was done.
>
> My main question is could these two problem be related? I only
> speculate this since they both started at the same time. If so, what
> are a few good things to check out? If not, I'm open to any advise.
>
> Thank you in advance to for any help! Jeremy
>
>



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Sounds like a battery issue with prob. #1, now with prob #2, you should try
to take of the timing cover and take a look to find a leak... I have seen
the front crank seal and or an oil plug thats sits under the cover