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Troubleshooting Oil Leak


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My car has started leaking oil and its kind of hard to tell where it's coming from to be precise. It usually leaves 2 small spots (one at front and one at back of sump) overnight and occasionally another small spot in between the 2. Noticed recently that the engine side of the drive shaft and the bracket for the alternator have some oil on them (although it could be grease as I had a burst CV gaiter) and also the sump is quite oily. I'm guessing either dipstick oil seal, sump needs resealed or (hopefully not) crank oil seal. Any ideas of how I can check exactly where it is coming from?

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Probably the crank seal, clean it all up from the engine and monitor it....the sump in my experience never leak unless they have been opened before it usually the crank seals

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ive recently had same symtoms...

but fixed it...

now check around head area to make sure its not coming from their and dropping down..

distributor o ring is common to fail, giving the symtoms u have..

to check crank oil seal, u got to remve timing covers top and bottom and crank pulley ideally to rule that out..

i did all that then found two drops, so re sealed sump and fixed it..

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for all the help. Checked the dipstick oil seal and when I removed it the rubber was very perished and so brittle that when I bent it, it snapped. So have replaced that and seems to have cured it but will keep an eye on it.

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  • 2 months later...

Unfortunately this now seems to have re-appeared :( it is mainly covering the boot for the steering rack, lower control arm and driveshaft with oil. Will be changing to a manual box at some point soon so may be a good idea to check it out then.

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If your doin a manual conver mate u would be as well as pulling the engine out with the box and getting to the bottom of why its leaking. that way if it is a crank oil seal it will be easyer to do and easyer to mate the manual box to the engine and dropping it all back in together. :)

Edited by daveEP
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wrong side of the engine to be gearbox oil seal mate. Will find out for sure when the engine is out though as I will be changing all 3 belts anyway. Heard of a proper pikey way to change timing belt but it may be easier than I thought. Cut the old belt in half or smaller (width wise) then take the tension off a little bit and slip the new belt over so it gets a grip then cut the old belt completely and pull it off. No need for checking timing marks etc

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  • 4 weeks later...

wrong side of the engine to be gearbox oil seal mate. Will find out for sure when the engine is out though as I will be changing all 3 belts anyway. Heard of a proper pikey way to change timing belt but it may be easier than I thought. Cut the old belt in half or smaller (width wise) then take the tension off a little bit and slip the new belt over so it gets a grip then cut the old belt completely and pull it off. No need for checking timing marks etc

Always check your timing marks, its free and bent valves can be expensive. Just to add to this thread, about the crank seal leaking on our 4e engines, Ive seen on two engines where the crank seal has actually marked the crank so when you are fitting a new seal, do it carefully, lube it nicely and then rotate engine and check it has a good contact. Plus I wonder if excess crankcase pressure causes the seals to leak? Most vauxhalls leak at the crank because the pvc valve gets blocked and it seems a shame to spend so much to fix the seal when a £5 pvc was the cause. Glad I have a Toyota

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Always check your timing marks, its free and bent valves can be expensive. Just to add to this thread, about the crank seal leaking on our 4e engines, Ive seen on two engines where the crank seal has actually marked the crank so when you are fitting a new seal, do it carefully, lube it nicely and then rotate engine and check it has a good contact. Plus I wonder if excess crankcase pressure causes the seals to leak? Most vauxhalls leak at the crank because the pvc valve gets blocked and it seems a shame to spend so much to fix the seal when a £5 pvc was the cause. Glad I have a Toyota

ive seen 2 cranks marked from the crank seal cause the seal hardens up over time.. couldnt believe the difference between a new and old one.. and yes, excessive crank case pressure can force oil past the seals..

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  • 8 years later...

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