Oil leak caused by retarded timing?

[jeremylmartin]

I recently purchased a 79 spider. I had the car shipped and when it arrived it was driving very sluggish and could not get over 30 MPH. Also could not make it up even small hills. Long story short - the timing was way off. Once I got the timing right the car now drives great. I didn't drive the car more than a handful of miles when the timing was off and when I parked it back in the garage it left a big mess of oil. Now the timing is correct it doesn't seem to be leaking oil (or very little at least). Could retarded timing cause oil leaks? If so - could have it ruined any seals?

[narfire]

I don't think the timing would affect the amount of oil spewing out of an engine. I though timing will affect the performance/milage. Hope the real techs will chime in though
My suggestion for a piece of mind... clean the engine up a bit, under the engine ect. I like using brake cleaner and a big pile of shop towels. once it is sort of clean, especially the potentially guilty spots...front seal, rear seal take it out around for a drive again. Should mention clean the floor as well. park it overnight and have a look and see if it is still dribbling oil. Most of these engines do drip some oil. This evolution might give you a better idea where any offending oil is coming from, then a solution can be offered.

[RRoller123]

If it was that far off, it probably wasn't driven much, and the seals dry and tend to leak. Cars like to be driven. Mine leaked pretty significantly when I bought it last year, it had only been driven about 100 miles per year. I have driven it regularly (~2000 miles this year) and the leaking has improved. That being said, the timing belt should be changed unless you know for sure when it was last done, and during this change, it is really easy to change all the front oil seals. The back ones on mine still leak a little, and I have NO idea how to change those, so I am putting up with it for now!

[RoyBatty]

Possibly your timing adjustment placed the drain hole in the bottom of the distributor in a position where it's not as likely to allow oil to puddle as bad?
Do you now smell an ocassional odor of burning oil wafting into the cabin?