Mitsubishi Repair: mitsubishi 3000GT oil leak from front cam oil seal, sprocket seal, mitsubishi 3000gt


Question
I have a 1997 misubishi 3000 gt single overhead cam base engine and it appears that the front cam timing sprocket seal is leaking oil.  I would imagine that it would be best to replace the timing belt along with the seal.  The car has 70,000 miles on it.  The timing belt still looks good.  How hard is it to change the front cam seal and belt?  It looks like if I remove the left upper motor mount I would have access to do the job.  Do I need any special tools?  What would a dealer charge for this job?  Does anyone have an instuction picture / word detail description to do this job from a manual?

Answer
Tom,
Replacing a timing belt can be quite a difficult task if you've never done it before and/or never have done engine work on your own car.  It's very labor intensive and if something gets installed improperly, it can cause your car to run very poorly or not at all.  The best manual to get is the actual factory service manual from the dealership.  There are a couple good online sites you can visit to get good information about your car.  Check out this one:
http://www.3si.org/

If you'd prefer to have someone else change your timing belt, either have the dealership do it, or a mechanic you trust that has a good working knowledge of your particular car.
Good luck!