Oil leaks and spare tire holder

[BrianS]

2001 Grand Caravan w/3.3l 142,000km

Engine oil leaks... appears to be coming from the valve cover on the front bank of cylinders. I was going to replace the valve cover gaskets but it was suggested that I would have to replace the intake manifold gaskets as well. This doesn't make sense, and being the engergy conserving(lazy) person that I am, I don't want to pull the intake unless I have to. Where would it be leaking oil? The only place I can think of would be the china wall at each end.

Is there another spot I'm missing?

Spare tire holder... There is a safety latch on the spare tire holder which, I'm assuming, is to prevent the tire from falling off if the cable breaks like my 1988 did. Is there a repair for this, short of replacing the cable winch assembly? Or, should I just take it right out and depend on the cable to hold the tire up? The latch is there, but the latch release mechanism has left this world for the next.

Thanks in advance
Brian

[s38638i]

i just repaired a vehicle this same year 3 days ago for an oil leak the valve cover gaskets were leaking badly and the font timing cover gasket was also leaking oil and also the front crank seal and oilpan. hope this gives you an idea on where to look.

[BrianS]

Front cover and seal look dry so I think I'm OK in that regard, but thanks for the info.

Just curious, when you changed the timing cover and seal, did you change the timing chain and gear?

Brian

[yarisncaravan]

i used a pry bar to fix the spare tire