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Was doing my brakes and discovered another drip. This one seems to be going a lot faster than the oil seal one. Any advice on what it could be? Left side of the engine, but doesn’t seem to be the oil seal anymore. Some pics:

Almost looks like it's coming from that red thing, but I guess that's not likely. Right side of the car also seems to have some funkiness, but it's not nearly as "fresh" as the left side. Oil level after idling the car for 1 min, turning off engine and waiting 4 mins:

I checked the oil seal where the fix was previously done and I don't think it's coming from there...

The 'red thing' is the bush for the downpipe bracket. Any idea how the oil seal was done - engine in or engine out? Refitting things like the turbo oil return pipes is extremely difficult with the engine in the car, especially if they were removed from the pump and turbos - it's easy to miss one or more of the multitude of clips, I missed one which luckily I spotted when checking the job. And the position of the oil on the body is just about in line with the turbos. There are of course other places it could be leaking from but most (like the cam end caps or the rocker covers) don't have the pressure behind them for the oil to do anything other than just weep down the block.

Jim Haseltine wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 04, 2020 9:21 am

The 'red thing' is the bush for the downpipe bracket. Any idea how the oil seal was done - engine in or engine out? Refitting things like the turbo oil return pipes is extremely difficult with the engine in the car, especially if they were removed from the pump and turbos - it's easy to miss one or more of the multitude of clips, I missed one which luckily I spotted when checking the job. And the position of the oil on the body is just about in line with the turbos. There are of course other places it could be leaking from but most (like the cam end caps or the rocker covers) don't have the pressure behind them for the oil to do anything other than just weep down the block.

I paid about $3K for the job, so it was engine in. You're thinking it might be the turbo seal(s)?

[edit] and if it is the turbo seal(s) - i''m afraid to ask - but then it's a definitive engine out? or still avoidable?

The 20th century solution to oil leaking out the bottom of the engine is to put more oil in the top.

I'm not sure we can get away with that any more, so the next question would be - how fast is it coming out?

If the leak can be created by an engine-in-car job, then surely it can be fixed the same way?

Nick

I discovered it today while I was doing brakes, so I'm going to see tomorrow how much comes out after I leave it parked overnight. If this is really an engine out job, with the current economic environment, I'm not convinced I can drop the $10K or so that the local shops are going to want for it, so I might have to do with the 20th century solution for a few months, if there is no other real danger to it...

The original seal fix was done back in November, so it's been a few months now; not sure if can be considered related anymore or not.

Silly question - Is it confirmed as engine oil?

On the left side, other than the LH Turbo oil extractor pipe, there's nothing high up on the block with oil in it other than the rocker cover seal and thats usually a tiny seep rather than a big dripping leak. Everything else on the LH side of the engine is on the bottom (oil pump).

IanH755 wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 04, 2020 12:13 pm

Silly question - Is it confirmed as engine oil?

On the left side, other than the LH Turbo oil extractor pipe, there's nothing high up on the block with oil in it other than the rocker cover seal and thats usually a tiny seep rather than a big dripping leak. Everything else on the LH side of the engine is on the bottom (oil pump).

Yep. Sadly, definitely engine oil. Yellow and .. well, oilish.

I wonder if it’s coming from somewhere else?

jbourne wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 04, 2020 9:32 am

I paid about $3K for the job, so it was engine in. You're thinking it might be the turbo seal(s)?

No, not the turbo seals, the oil return pipe between the turbo and the oil pump. There's a metal pipe attached to the turbo then a rubber one from there to the oil pump (near the back on the left side of the pump). Rubber pipe is attached with spring 'ear' clips which aren't easy to reach or fit - the upper (turbo) end is particularly awkward to get to.

If the turbo seals leak the oil ends up in either the intercooler pipe or the exhaust. Or more usually both.

There's also a possibility that it's actually hydraulic oil from the power steering - the pump is around that area if I recall and there's a metal pipe that has to be removed as part of the 50p oil seal R&R job. Through that oil is a slightly different colour from engine oil and usually has a distinctive (and rather offensive) smell.

I did suspect my power steering oil was leaking some time back (because I kept pouring it in but it kept wanting more), but I feel like it has stopped - last few times I checked, I feel like the level has stabilised. So hopefully it’s not that, and I don’t think it had a foul smell today. Will check garage floor tomorrow.

Understood re: turbo seals as well. I don’t have any blue smoke (or any unusual smoke) from the exhaust so it’s likely not that.

Noted re: oil return pipe. Is this something I can visually identify, maybe with the belly pan off? I wonder if the Shop did a shoddy job of reconnecting it last time and it fell off? Though it’s been about 4-5 months now so maybe not that likely.

Do you have to remove the oil feed pipe to the turbo in order to change the 50p oil seal?

I'd have thought the feed pipe was the more likely culprit because it's under pressure, as opposed to depression.

Nick

Just realised I also took a video of the leak, maybe it's a bit easier to locate oneself in it.



My friend the indie mechanic (who sadly isn't near me, else we'd just wrench the damn thing apart) is also suggesting it may be power steering fluid. Hrm. I need to sniff it in the morning.

But that still means engine out, right? If the rack is leaking?

[edit] no wait. power steering is green, isn't it? the VW one i added was green. The leaky one looks yellow. Or am I going colourblind by now as all I can see is brown (which is the colour of local money).

Power Steering is definitely green fluid but Yellow could also be brake fluid as you've just refreshed your brakes. Part of that is supposed to include removing a little oil from res first to prevent it spilling over when you force the calipers back to fit the new pads which increases the amount of brake fluid in the res.

Hmm. I didn’t replace the brake fluid yet, that was going to be next, and I also didn’t open the reservoir when I pushed the callipers back so it couldn’t have leaked out right? Also, brake fluid isn’t oilish to touch, right?

It feels like vegetable oil to me, way lighter than engine oil but still oily to the touch. I'd have a quick look at the brake res just to see if any fluid has been forced out through the cap threads. It may not have been but it's one less potential source to worry about.