Oil leak - a sick puppy needs your opinion....

[0to60in6min]

hi all,

I have a question regarding this oil leak on my 89 Carat-WBX. After a trip about 300 miles, we park the van for 1 hour and found a puddle of oil under the engine, dipstick reads 1 quart low, no oil light during driving.

infos: oil leak in the area between engine and transmission, Mahle oil filter, 20W50 Castrol oil - new clutch 20K miles ago - engine bay is clean no oil -

facts: my 22 old son was driving the van, he knows vanagon and has some experience - he did miss-shift once or twice going from 2nd to Neutral instead to 3rd - he did start on 3rd instead on 1st a couple time - all this problem is from a sloppy shifter which I plan to get it fixed...

question: my guess is the seal between engine and transmission - but how it got busted? (if my guess is right) - the purpose of my question is not to blame any one (my son blames himself already) - but to know why it happened - may be they installed a new clutch and not installing a new seal? - too high oil pressure?

thanks a lot for any idea...

[Terry Kay]

Original seal?

You got a high pressure oil pump in that puppy?
High speed unit?
I would't worry about high oil pressure unless you've made some changes.
_________________
T.K.

[thummmper]

cast the mainseal, mr christian!

[Wildthings]

Probably the crank seal, but maybe an oil galley plug on the way out. Buy a quality seal and tear into things and replace, checking the oil galley plugs well while you are in there. Starting your engine with 20W-50 in the crankcase during the winter isn't going to affect the seal much, but could affect the galley plugs.

You probably want to replace the clutch disc while you are at it, as any oil which has gotten on it will change its friction characteristics. If you haven't done so recently replace the transmission input shaft seal while you have the engine and tranny separated.

There was a good thread on the crankshaft seal over the last week.

[0to60in6min]

thank you guys...

so I would assume it's a old seal that can go boom anytime and nothing with the mistake mentioned above...

[dobryan]

The oil in the picture looks like it is coming from above. Have you checked very carefully to see where it is coming from? If it was the mainseal I'd expect it to be coming out the bottom of the trans/engine mating surface. Others please correct me if I am misleading the OP...

Try thoroughly cleaning off the oil with Simple Green or engine cleaner and then run the engine long enough to see where the oil is coming from. When it is caked on like that it can be difficult to see where the leak truly is.... YMMV.
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

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[0to60in6min]

thanks,

the first time I see it, oil is dripping from the black spot where the exhaust pipe was bolted. Then I open the hatch and look from top down.. dry, no oil. Then I put a finger on the hole on the left side of the engine, near the tranny (the big hole where you can see the fly wheel),... it's soaked with fresh oil...

I think it's gonna be expensive to fix... yike..

[?Waldo?]

Go to a car wash and clean it. Make sure the oil is coming from inside the bell housing. If it is, then give it a sniff. If you are using typical gear lube (not redline) then you should be able to smell it. If it is engine oil, then, as stated, it could be the main flywheel seal, the flywheel o-ring or a galley plug. If it is gear lube then it will be from the input shaft seal. You will need to pull tranny or engine to address all of the above (should have all been done with the clutch...). I would also suggest changing the pilot bearing in the crank to check that the oil slinger (behind input shaft seal) is still a press fit in the bell housing.

[0to60in6min]

thanks Andrew for your suggestions...

it's engine oil (I smell it), and the area on the picture is bone dry before the trip...

[Mish]

I have an '84 AT 2 WD Vanagon with a new JPL engine out of Colorado. My question is this: I have had three MGB roadsters and everyone told me "they always leak oil". I was wondering the same thing re. Vanagon engines. My oil level always registers no loss,of oil , yet I can see 4-6 nickel sized drops on the driveway after driving for half an hour or so. So the question is....do these beasts always leak oil?

[Terry Kay]

Some do--some don't.

The push rod tube seals are prone to leaking, the oil cooler seal is pretty common.

It's like asking; "do all small block Chevy valve cover's leak?"

Most of them do--some dont.
_________________
T.K.