Td5 oil leak - turbo area

[2 rocks]

Hi all
Alerted by some tell tale spots on the rear bumper, I realised oil was being hurled along under the car and landing there courtesy of turbulence...sump, crossmember and gearbox are wet, but anything above the airstream isn't.

Off with the acoustic shell and heat shield, as I've often had issues with "loose" oil filters (only one elbow per arm :D). The bottom of the filter was wet with oil - but so was what I assume is the oil return feed off the bottom of the turbo.

I've been able to nip up the oil filter a smidge, but the oil pipe seems higher than the filter so I'm leaning towards this. Is this a common thing as I've not encountered it on 2 ROCKS? I've tried to tighten the bolts on the pipe flange but they seem pretty tight anyway. I take it there's a little seal between that and the turbo housing...

Also does anyone know what size nuts I need for the exhaust manifold to front pipe studs? Er, it doesn't appear to have any...:p

Cheers
Mike

[OffTrack]

There is a crushable gasket between the turbo and oil drain. They tend to leak if you reuse them.

Drain gasket is PNT100030

The Exhaust manifold to turbo nuts are M8. ESR2033

Exhaust to Turbo gasket is ERR6768

cheers
Paul

[2 rocks]

Thanks for the prompt reply Paul!

..and for the numbers, outstanding! :)
Cheers
Mike

[justinc]

Further to Pauls info, yes it is common I do them quite often, enough to keep those seals on the shelf:o.

Beware that the flange DOES distort if overtightened, I would carefully inspect it before refitting, if it is warped you will need to remove the pipe from its bottom fitting (24mm/ 15/16" spanner) in the block and reface it, I use the side of a dressed large grinding wheel to do it, but a linisher would be best.

JC

[2 rocks]

Thanks Justin
I've cleaned the pipe and filter off, so I'm going to take if for a run and see if I can positively ID the culprit...but from what you say, I think it may be the turbo not the filter.

As an aside, when looking round for my first Td5 6 years ago-ish, I inspected and rejected a nice example that had a flash oil filter remotely located on the firewall - my reasoning being "hmm, something must be wrong". Right or wrong, I know understand why they did it - changing the filter must have been a 20 second job! :)

Cheers
Mike

[worane]

My td5 also leaked at the turbo return pipe when I first bought it.
I could smell hot oil at the traffic lights. Took a while to find the culprit.
The gasket cost about $3.00 and when I went to fit the new one I found the it had no gasket there at all! Now I knew why it was leaking.
End of problem.

[justinc]

I had one last week like that !:o, owner had had vehicle for only a short time, bought it in Vic and lives here. Oil leak was a constant and found that the previous owner had fitted a new turbo with no gasket to the oil return:p.

Easy fix:)

JC

[2 rocks]

My td5 also leaked at the turbo return pipe when I first bought it.
I could smell hot oil at the traffic lights. Took a while to find the culprit.
The gasket cost about $3.00 and when I went to fit the new one I found the it had no gasket there at all! Now I knew why it was leaking.
End of problem.


I had one last week like that !:o, owner had had vehicle for only a short time, bought it in Vic and lives here. Oil leak was a constant and found that the previous owner had fitted a new turbo with no gasket to the oil return:p.

Easy fix:)

JC

Full points to both JC and Worane - did the oil return today and surprise, surprise...there was no gasket. Which makes me wonder - it's a bit of pain to get to so if youve already pulled it apart, why not put a 3 buck gasket in! ;)

However, this does not appear to be the end of the leak/s. :mad:

As if... :wasntme:

The side and bottom of the sump (where it kind of flares out) and engine mount bracket on the block are very wet with oil. I'm trying to figure out if that oil return is leaking where it joins the block, the sump gasket needs replacing or there's some other piece of plumbing under the exhaust manifold that could be leaking - a fair bit too given how much is on the crossmembers and gearbox? Will degrease again in daylight and check.

Also, do the rocker cover gaskets have a tendency to go on the driver's side toward the rear? Both cars seem damp down that rear part of the block and I can't see anything there other than the FPR?

Cheers
Mike

[BIG O]

Similar scenario to you..ended up being a shot O ring in the engine oil cooler .

Both our Td5's leaked from the rocker gasket right side rear and at the rear. I got rid of that for good by Ditching the rubber gromets and using fiber x1and metal x1 washers under the cover bolts.

[2 rocks]

I'd forgotten about the oil cooler...;)
But another degrease and the area around the spin on & centrifugal filters and turbo oil pipes etc remains dry.
Oil still dripping off the two bolt castings where the bell housing and rear of the sump meet.
As I don't know what sump casting looks like off, I'm wondering if its the part of the sump gasket that seems to mate to the bell housing.
Oh and looks like the front output housing is leaking too :D:D, if so, that'll have to wait till the gearbox is changed :p
Cheers
Mike

[BIG O]

I have had a relatively new sump gasket poke out at the rear and leak where you describe,,but that was pooring out . I also checked the sump bolts a year after a new gasket and
at least 5 were loose...

[Epic_Dragon]

currently sorting these oil leaks out myself!

[dolphinberserk]

Just to add my recent experience to this thread. I had ongoing but suddenly significant oil leak/s on the Td5 left (passenger) side. Messy, oil everywhere. Also had a coolant leak. Excellent LR independent mechanic in Nerang (GC) said it was the oil filter housing gasket. Being skint I do the work i can myself and pulled the turbo, both centrifugal and cartridge oil filter housings and then the oil cooler. I found blue silicon compound around the centrifugal filter housing oil drain (both at housing and sump ends) and ****ty old gaskets with over torqued screws, suggesting a previous leak. So to address the oil leak, I replaced the metal gaskets for the oil cooler and the cartridge housing, the o-ring for the oil passage between the oil cooler and the centrifugal oil filter housing, the gaskets for the oil drains for the turbo and the centrifugal filter. As a matter of course I used new exhaust manifold and exh down pipe gaskets for the turbo. And after some hard driving no evidence oil leaks. Nada. Zip. So now I guess my Td5 will rust like a normal car. So..I recommend anyone with an oil leak in that area to replace all these gaskets, as they have to removed to get to the oil cooler and the gaskets are cheap (and should be replaced with each and every removal, according to RAVE, which may not have happened in the vehicles past).
The oil cooler coolant chamber was not pretty, with some deposits. I put a little OHT coolant concentrate on them and them scraped them off with a sharpened chopstick. Was that the right thing to do? I have no idea. (All my previous vehicles being air-cooled).
An interesting thing with that, this being a 1999 D2, the oil cooler had its external coolant spigot connected (rather than plugged as in later D2s) to the hidden pipe that goes back to the radiator bottom circuit. Later vehicles, this forum tells me, had the spigot plugged as the later radiator had one circuit, unlike early D2 radiators which had a separate circuit for the fuel cooler and oil cooler coolant 'drain' through the hidden pipe. Anyways, all stock replacement radiators have the oil cooler spigot blanked (I learned when my Nissen unit arrived) and the hidden pipe and the 'drain from the oil cooler become redundant, an appendix as it were. SO I found that the radiator I removed already had a blank spigot (must have been changed out) so the oil cooler had had this 1 metre long coolant appendix attached for some years. The rubber coolant pipe from the oil cooler spigot was in bad nick and had plenty of coolant deposits. Maybe this was to do with the hidden pipe (running back to the blank spigot at the base of the radiator) being a coolant dead end and getting no sugar with coolant flushing and changes? Anyway I cleaned the spigot up with a file and blanked it with a $5 kit (to be checked regularly as it sits in a very hot spot) as recommended on a few forums. I just thought I'd add so that anyone digging down to the oil cooler on an older D2 for the first time might have a heads up.
I don't know much but i do know that changing all those gaskets made one very very leaky D2 into a pristine father-in-law's-driveway-safe machine.