Thread: New oil leak

So, I de-greased the bottom of the engine, topped up the oil and took the Rangie for a run to get the engine warm. When I got back and looked underneath there was no sign of an oil leak. Maybe I didn't run it long/hard enough.
Let the engine cool down for about 20 minutes, then jacked up the front with a high-lift jack and drained the oil. With the sump removed, I could still see no obvious source of leakage as it was all pretty filthy


Only the three nuts at the front of the sump had washers, and they look to be reusable. None of the 14 bolts had washers.

Dirty at the flywheel side but no pools of oil.


Both of the vertical bolts at the transmission end had plastic/rubber sleeves (you can see a bit of one in the pic above) which are now destroyed. Is this a problem, or can I just put a dab of gasket goo on the bolts when I put them back?

Spent a couple of hours giving the sump a good clean with de-greaser, WD-40 and a selection of scouring brushes. Cleanest it has been under my ownership




See the notch in the bottom of the bellhousing in the pic below? I guess that is supposed to be open to allow water/oil to drain out? I don't remember seeing any plug in there.


Tomorrow I will clean the mating surfaces on the engine side and put it back together...

Hi Paul
the three nuts at the front end require washers to prevent galling. The bolts are flanged for that purpose. Mine had no plastic sleeves etc on the two vertical recessed bolts...it's the first time I suspect they'd been removed.

You appear to be missing a rubber "bung" from the rear wall of the sump (photo 2 -RHS).

I put a very small dab of antiseize under the flange of each bolt and then, using a 13mm socket on the end of a 1/4" drive extension bar attached to a 12V drill on minimum torque setting, drove the bolts home in rough sequence..they barely touched before the drill clutch kicked in. I then tightened them up to spec. in two steps in the 'RAVE' sequence. It saved a lot of time!

(Have had to put the rest of the job on hold for the next 4 weeks: the heads are on but the whole engine is now wrapped in polythene sheet and gaffa tape)

Like I mentioned previously, keep an eye on the health of the seals under the flanges of the cross drilling bolts just above the lip of the sump... am sure some of mine are 'weeping' ever so slightly from there...
cheers

Thanks Hoges. Both rubber bungs are accounted for, the other was already removed.
Studying my own photos closer last night, I suspect the leak may have been at the gasket at the bell housing. Will know soon enough if it returns.
That sucks having to leave yours for four weeks. So close...

Cheers, Paul.