|
|
#1
06-28-2020, 04:09 AM
|
|||
|
|||
big oil leak while engaging reverse gear
Hello everyone,
Soo...the TB is done and the car was running perfect until yesterday (the motor has only 120K, the car is able to reach the top speed indicated in my green book (la revue technique ) which is 150km/H. Not a single drop of oil. And yesterday my brother was parking the car, he engaged the reverse gear (maybe it has nothing to do with the problem but it still looks odd..) she lost , I'd say maybe 0.5 liter of oil. There is so much oil. We pressed ignition several times, letting the mill running idle with some acceleration, nothing happened . Also, when I plunge the oil stick , the indicator remains spotless! When I did the oil change, I put the exact same amount of oil that is indicated in the book. And i'm pretty sure I've never lost oil since yesterday . Is it possible that the oil gauge is not working..? I'll take some pics of the suspicious spots on the engine. Cheers 
|
|
#2
06-28-2020, 11:06 AM
|
|||
|
|||
Hi,
Very good news that the timing belt job is done now! Feels good, doesn`t it? You`ll now have safe cruising for another 5-8 years or about 60000miles (100k km). Though, the top speed is not an indicator of a well done and successful (=safe) timing belt job ) It`s more like that they timed the injection pump right and set the engine pretty well for you to have good results in how it starts and runs... Probably your smoke is gone too and it runs happily with good power. Are you by the way the forumer who was looking to find `an easy solution` (or a shortcut method?) to the timing belt job? I am hoping, for the overall future health of your car, that you found someone who really did know how to do it properly. I mean a person who definitely applied enough torque on the crankshaft 27mm bolt. To answer your question accurately and to provide useful advice (not just random ideas), we would need to know a couple of details! I do not know how familiar you are with this engine and IDK how long you had the car so excuse me if I write something that sounds very `beginner` to you. I have a couple of ideas that I`ll explain later in this longer reply. Because very often there is a tiny simple secret behind the `problem`, such as a small mistake which a worrying car owner doesnt think about (or not at the moment when an issue suddenly pops up, right?). First, you`d need to positively verify, what kind of fluid you are seeing? What is the leak? Where exactly is it, in relation to the engine or transmission? Is it definitely motor oil, thick and darker than for example diesel fuel? I`m asking because if you have a diesel fuel leak, it often does look like motor oil, due to the years old motor oil stains that may have been on the side(s) of the engine for some longer times and now diluted and removed by (for example) a leaking injection pump, a fuel line, etc, even the filter housing and its hoses can do that, or a leaky injector or a hard line on it. So please double check carefully and make sure it is NOT a diesel fuel leak that looks like motor oil. From your post it is also hard to tell if it may be transmission fluid. And because you are saying there was engaging into reverse when it happened, I`d like to not fully close out a tranny fluid leak. Is the car automatic by the way? Would be good to know. I`m sure though that you could identify tranny fluid if you touched and smelled it. Is your leak really motor oil? Tranny fluid can also appear to be as an oil leak IF the leaked out fluis washes off old oil and dirt from the surrounding area on the car. My next question is, can you track, spot, and see the exact source of the leak? Or is your engine pretty oily and wet from other fluids leaking sometimes? There are a couple of types of fluid that can leak, such as power steering fluid, motor oil, diesel fuel, etc, just to mention a few. Step one is to figure out what leaked and where it leaked (from). I`d like to mention here that in some rare occasions there is a human mistake and it may be easy to `fix`. Some stories here... Once I was so excited to go on a multiple day fishing trip that after doing the final pre-trip check under the hood, I forgot to put back the oil cap. Sure enough it gave me a scary situation down the road, very soon, when I stopped and noticed the mistake. As the oil started getting forced out of the by then warmed engine, thru the top filler hole, I could see and smell fume. So never close out a small human mistake and try to not think of something very serious. In another occasion, after doing an oil and filter change, I had a long drive and getting home I saw some dripping oil under the oil pan. I thought I had an issue but it was only that the filter was not totally turned tight enough and let out some oil later when the car got hot and the oil became more `fluid`. Another easy fix... Another time, after doing valve adjustments, I saw some oil leaking at the driver side of my engine. As freaky as it sounds, and it did look like it was coming from the headgasket but it wasnt. When I reinstalled the vacuum pump after the valve job, I reused the seal that was in there but it moved around enough while out and the seal never made it back to its original position so it didnt seal well. At idle I didnt notice but when the car got warm it appeared as an oil leak. Easy fix. Small details always count. BUT, you are saying you had a leak that looks to be half a liter. That IS a lot of oil, we are talking about half of a 1qt bottle. My other question is/are, When they did the timing belt, they probably reused the old valve cover gasket. What kind of gasket did they use? Some companies still sell the two-piece gasket, that, is junk. this one is off-topic, but in the long run, you should have the 1 piece, rubber gasket. So the question is, do you think it is possible that the valve cover is not tight enough? Are you able to track alongside the top edges and figure out whether or not this may be the case? Is your leak persistent or was it a one time thing? Please verify about the leak asap, what fluid is it? Reversing a car often involves turning the steering wheel all the way as we try backing up into tighter places. I can`t close out a leaky steering system but I HIGHLY doubt that is your issue. But bc IDK details about your fluid leak, from what you explained, I need to come up with some ideas car unseen. ((Do you know whether or not the mechanic who did the TB also decided to replace front and rear seals, maybe?)) I bet you already located the leak and stopped it. Is it a TD or is it a nonturbo engine? To answer your other question, yes, it is possible that an oil gauge is not working, but I highly doubt it. What do you see when you pull out the dipstick to check the oil level? Is the oil `missing`? For your information, there is 1liter difference between the minimum and maximum marks (COLD engine!). Best of luck, and dont forget, we are here to help. Even if you figured it all out by now, still reply to this post so others can also learn from your story. Last edited by RedArrow; 06-28-2020 at 11:24 AM.
|
|
#3
06-28-2020, 04:40 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Hey RedArrow,
Thank you very much for this answer, it really is heart-warming. Yes, I was this very forumer ! I did the job with two friends, one of them was a good mechanic although not a D24 expert. We did it with the home-made tool you can see on the pic from my other topic. We did not have all the special tools. I now understand the use of these tools : you don’t spend your time to double-check every minute if you’re still at TDC. We took 8 hours to get the job done properly : I think that with all the tools, it could have been divided by 3!! I define myself as a beginner with this engine and in mechanics in general, so thank you for the precautions. I cannot be sure about the fluid as I do not know if transmission oil looks like motor oil. Now, there is a lot of dripping oil under the pan. It is very very greasy around the oil sensor . I could take pic today, I ll try tomorrow. I remember having removed the relief valve of the oil pump (clapet de décharge in French, Im not sure about the English) , I did not change the gasket . It s very greasy underneath. About the valver cover : yes, there is a small leak, I completely forgot to change that gasket and we used the old one and I promised to change it as soon as I could. It is greasy on the most detoriated part but I don’t see how it could explain such a loss of oil. I drove the car back (one km) and I noticed nothing peculiar. Got it started a few time without noticing any leak. When I pull out the dipstick , I can sea a little drop on the top of it, but that’s it. It is so strange!! About the seals: are you talking about the crank seal? we did not change it… The car is a manual 4+OD, NA. Thanks a lot again. I ll try to do some cleaning and spot the leak properly!
|
|
#4
06-28-2020, 10:47 PM
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
Quote:
Quote:
1. (most common) Leaking vacuum pump o-ring gasket 2. Leaking valve cover gasket 3. Leaking head gasket (common head gasket leak location around #3 cylinder-- just under the vacuum pump). Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
__________________
1985 744 gle d24t 1985 745 gle d24t
|
|
#5
06-29-2020, 11:23 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
I started the cleaning.
There was a nice little pond of oil on the intake manifold. Must be that head gasket that was in shred and has not been replaced. I will finish the cleaning, change the gasket, and see what happens. I am still concerned about the dipstick because i remember that while checking the level after the oil change, It remained spotless. My odometer takes vacations now and then, my fuel gauge doesnt work, I was hoping I could still now the amount of oil that runs the motor. But no!  I hope i did not put back too much oil after this loss of oil because of that stupid stick!
|
|
#6
06-29-2020, 01:01 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
__________________
1985 744 gle d24t 1985 745 gle d24t
|
|
#7
06-29-2020, 01:08 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Yes , that's it! But I dont see how a dipstick could fail at doing its job?! It would definitly means that I lost 4 liters of oil lately, without noticing anything?
Last edited by dahicori; 06-29-2020 at 01:22 PM. Reason: grammar
|
|
#10
06-30-2020, 10:33 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
You were talking about losing 4 liters of motor oil and I don't even think it's possible because of a leaky valve cover gasket. It's just a huge amount of oil!!!!
Dont drive the car until you fully clean the engine to figure it all out. The total oil capacity is 7liters and if you lost 4 you are in some deeper trouble. Any chance you replaced a motor mount at your timing belt job and lifted/supported engine by jacking oil pan (and maybe cracked that)?? We have no idea until you confirm : -what exactly happened -where the source of the leak is. -how much oil is gone -is it really still leaking? UNCLEAR TO ME what do you see when you pull out the dipstick to wipe it then insert it again and pull it out again? Try to see if the bottom of the dipstick *tube* is wobbly a bit. There's an o ring in there too that fails over time. Every d24 i had, needed it changed. But it wont make you lose 4liters of oil SO QUICKLY. Fully clean the motor to start with. Another question, again, are you totally sure that it IS in fact motor oil? Last edited by RedArrow; 06-30-2020 at 10:51 AM.
|
 |
|
|
Linear Mode
