Oil Leak - where from?

[Anonymous]

Slowly going through all the issues with my 'new' car and having the stripped the front end down im faced with this:





I cant decide where it seems to be coming from. Its either the front crank seal or somewhere up behind the alternator. Are there any usual suspects before i start stripping things down? The front of the sump was a bit dirty before i sprayed it but i didnt think it was enough for a passing seal. Unless of course this has been happening for a long time.

Cheers RC

PS yeah i know, that belt is proper goosed!

 

[Beedub]

sump gasket maybe?

these engines are abit wet.... lol, ive got a very low mileage one with a few weeps here and there!

 

[mr nurburgring]

Oil filter housing gasket.

 

[Beedub]

Oil filter housing gasket.

doubtful on the side of the engine by engine mount..... OP would be able to diagnose this easily as the OFH is easily accessible.

 

[Anonymous]

The OFH is above there and that was my first goto. Couldnt see anything obvious tbh.

Ive got to take the bumper off to reseat it and was intending to change the waterpump/belts/tensioners so i guess i should get a better idea, particularly if i removed the alternator. I just dont want to start stripping the intake manifold off with all its bits.

 

[mr nurburgring]

Oil filter housing gasket.

doubtful on the side of the engine by engine mount..... OP would be able to diagnose this easily as the OFH is easily accessible.

It will be, the oil blows back along the block/sump and down the engine mount, mine looked exactly the same before I did it.

 

[mr nurburgring]

This gasket.

 

[colb]

Classic oil filler to block gasket gone bad, easy enough to take it off and renew the gasket. Only other gasket that seems to go bad is the cam cover gasket, that usally leaks on the exhaust side of the cover allowing oil to drip on the exhaust and burn off causing smoke to appear. The centre plug well gaskets under the cam cover can also fail causing oil to fill the plug wells and drown the spark plug. When renewing the cam cover gaskets always get a kit that includes the cover retaining rubber seals, they need replacing when fitting a new cover gasket.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys, that does seem to make sense. Is taking the alternator off the best access?

Im presuming its one of these i need to add to the ever increasing order then??

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/febi-bilstein/8766915

 

[mr nurburgring]

Yes one of those. It will be like hard plastic when you remove it.

It’s an easy job, air box, alternator off then you can see what you have to remove.

You don’t have to go too tight replacing the bolts either. They don’t need a lot of torque.

 

[Anonymous]

Top job. I think these are the torques:

Oil filter housing and lines to crankcase
M8 22 Nm

 

[colb]

As Nurburgring says, thats the one for the filler housing to block.
At the age most of our cars are now its not much of a surprise for gaskets to start failing, the continued heat cycles they endure eventually turns them hard and brittle so they crack and start breaking up. You should have seen my cam cover centre plug well gaskets they were well toasted and just about ready to start leaking, in my case it was the outer cover gasket that sprang a leak dripping oil onto the exhaust and burning off producing smoke. New gaskets including the round rubber seals under the cover retaining bolts solved mine. Those round seals are important to get the cover torqed down correctly as the old ones will have gone as hard as the gaskets do and don't torque down correctly to provide a lasting seal.