Oil on the floor . . .

[Guest]

Guys,

On going out to my car this morning I noticed a few drops of dark water underneather the OS front bumper (possibly oil contamination) infront of the wheel, I was unsure whether it was general road filth and water that had dripped of the wheel arch shield over night as the roads were wet last night, there is a similar patch on the other side . . . Anyway I looked underneath the os front bumbers and I can see about 4 pipes that disappear across and up these seemed to have reminense of some oil, this prompted me to look on this wealth of knowlegde forum. I have read about the oil cooler problems an have checked both my oil and water, the water bottle although is grimy inside (probably from a previouse oil seal issue) currently contains liquid that does not show any signs of carring a film of oil on the top. I have dipped the oil and it seems dark brown with, some slight condensation is evident only on the top of the oil filler cap but all seems to be ok.

What it up undernealth the bumper? Is it an external cooler? Which direction does the oil flow? Down and across or across and up? Any advisce would be great - I am looking for someone to tell me that all is ok and that small seems from this area are due to a union or something

 

[Guest]

Thanks Andrew - The car I have is an 88 944 non turbo . . . care to post any further information? What is up in the OS wing? Oil flow direction?

 

[944Turbo]

I would guess wet salt and road dirt dripping out the wheel arch liner,
Tony

 

[sawood12]

Oil leaks are a nightmare to track unless it's a severe one with oil pi$$ing out of somewhere becasue of the number of hoses everywhere and turbulent air blowing oil all over the place. I have just got an oil leak fixed which took me ages to track. It appeared to be coming from the lower balance shaft seal but turned out it was actually coming fromt he oil cooler gasket on the drivers side of the block and dripping down to the balance shaft housing. The best thing to do is to give your engine a good steam clean to get rid of what's already there, lay a clean white sheet under the engine and run the car for a good half hour or so to get everything upto temp and pressure then switch off the engine and look for leaks. Don't make the mistake of pulling the sheet out from under the car to look at it as you are relying on the sheet giving you an idea as to where the oil is coming from. Hopefully you should be able to pin-point to source of the leak.

 

[lali]

Oil pressure sender?? Is it dripping on the ARB?

 

[zeb]

sounds like festive road crap to me[]

 

[944cabby]

ORIGINAL: lali

Oil pressure sender?? Is it dripping on the ARB?

Where abouts is the oil pressure sender then?

 

[lali]

ORIGINAL: 944cabby

ORIGINAL: lali

Oil pressure sender?? Is it dripping on the ARB?

Where abouts is the oil pressure sender then?

Not entirely sure, the picture on PET looks like it screws into the housing below and to the right of the oil filter. But it is apparently a common place for 944's to leak from. The pressure sender used to be a lot of money to get but they are now about £50 from your OPC. When it drips it drips on the ARB.

 

[John Sims]

ORIGINAL: sawood12

Oil leaks are a nightmare to track unless it's a severe one with oil pi$$ing out of somewhere ......

So true. Beaky had a ballance shaft O ring deteriorate which is, apparently, at the front of the engine. The oil would leak along the top of the sump flange and drip onto the cross over pipe causing burning oil smoke when the cross over pipe heated up.

When this was repaired we then had a leak on the nearside rear of the engine. This was high on novelty value as there isn't much over there to leak. It was decided the froth tower was u/s so that was replaced. Beacause of weather, and no garage currently, I don't know if the oil leaks have gone but we are now loosing coolant like it was going out of fasion. I almost wish I'd left the first oil leak well alone.

And don't forget, oil leaks are good to stop the underside of the car corroding.

 

[sawood12]

I get the impression that fixing oil leaks is a bit like plugging one hole and another springs up. I enjoyed about 3 months of oil leak-free motoring before my recent service spotted a light oil wheep coming from the rear crank seal that was perfectly OK before. I'll keep an eye on it until it gets a bit worse - i've not had to top oil up yet so it's not severe.

The oil sender screws into the oil cooler unit where my leak was. It's about £50 for a new one and is a screw out/screw in unit so would be an easy job if it wasn't for access. I suspected this on mine asit was covered in oil but it turned out to be the cooler gasket so it just goes to show under the bonnet of a 944 oil can defy gravity and drip upwards! You can spot it as it has two electric wires coming out of the top and is on the left hand side of the engine as you look into the engine bay from the front - quite low down so it's tricky to spot.

 

[944cabby]

ORIGINAL: John Sims

ORIGINAL: sawood12

Oil leaks are a nightmare to track unless it's a severe one with oil pi$$ing out of somewhere ......

So true. Beaky had a ballance shaft O ring deteriorate which is, apparently, at the front of the engine. The oil would leak along the top of the sump flange and drip onto the cross over pipe causing burning oil smoke when the cross over pipe heated up.

When this was repaired we then had a leak on the nearside rear of the engine. This was high on novelty value as there isn't much over there to leak. It was decided the froth tower was u/s so that was replaced. Beacause of weather, and no garage currently, I don't know if the oil leaks have gone but we are now loosing coolant like it was going out of fasion. I almost wish I'd left the first oil leak well alone.

And don't forget, oil leaks are good to stop the underside of the car corroding.

How much coolant are you losing?I have a similar issue with mine although not a major amount - i'm damn sure it's not the head gasket but i can't find it - the level drops on short journeys or if it's been standing.I'm still sure i've got an airlock somewhere from when i replaced my rad which was leaking along the seal, although i've bled the system twice.It's really annoying me now.

 

[John Sims]

ORIGINAL: 944cabby

How much coolant are you losing?.....

Well, it drained to 20mm in the bottom of the expansion tank in the equivalent time to using one tank of petrol. So I think we could say it's loosing lots. You would think that that amount of leakage would be easy to spot wouldn't you.

 

[Guest]

John, if it's any consolation, Mine did the same. I couldn't spot any obvious leak either. I replaced my top hose from tank to rad (although now with an oil cooled only tuurbo, it makes it much simpler) and the loss stopped. I guess I just got lucky!

 

[Diver944]

I had an untraceable leak a few years ago that turned out to be the main hose from the waterpump to the bottom of the rad. It was just a slight split that would only leak when pressurised steam was forced out of it [8|]

It was caused by years of oil spillage when changing the oil filter right above it which gradually softened the rubber

 

[sawood12]

Apparently the old wives tale of putting a raw egg in coolant works believe it or not as proved by those crazy Mythbuster guys on Sky TV. Itt'll solve all manner of coolant leaks.

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: sawood12

Apparently the old wives tale of putting a raw egg in coolant works believe it or not as proved by those crazy Mythbuster guys on Sky TV. Itt'll solve all manner of coolant leaks.

a few of us had an old Carlton that we used to run around Germany with. It actually overheated on the way there though, so we put a dozen eggs in, and refilled it. Worked a treat! That car was absolutely knackered, but with half a dozen every 3 months, it held fine for years!