Puddle of Oil !

wingco · May 11, 2007

[

] Got the car out of the garage this morning to be welcomed with a nice little puddle of the oily stuff. I have had a minor leak for a while ( only one drop of oil per 7days ) so took it to the garage to be told it is the rear part of the crank shaft that has sprung the leak. Apparently the part to fix this is a mere £20-30 but it needs between 6-8hrs of labour to do the job as you have to do loads of complicated mechanics stuff to be able to get to the seal.
My question is this, how quickly do I need to resolve this problem and are there any other jobs you would do at the same time as it seems they have to dismantle the rear of the vehicle to access this job. Also how much dollar is this likely to lighten my wallet by.

Cheers
Simon

zcacogp · May 11, 2007

Can't help with the cost (apart from to offer 7x[Hourly Rate] + £30) but if they are taking the end of the engine off, I'd suggest getting the clutch done at the same time if it hasn't been done recently - particularly if they are going to remove the torque tube.

Oli.

sawood12 · May 11, 2007

Yep, as Oli has said you have to effectively remove the clutch to get at the rear crank seal so consider getting your clutch done while your in there. A clutch kit is about 350 quid which is alot less than the labour required to fit it (typically 12 Mh labour so about £600) so you don't want to have to pay for the labour twice even if you are replacing your clutch prematurely, unless of course you've very recently replaced your clutch.

peanut · May 11, 2007

crikes bad luck mate. We all have nightmares about a sudden direct hit on the wallet.

zcacogp · May 12, 2007

On the upside, there is no rush to do anything about it as long as you keep the oil topped up. Which will be a pain, and an ongoing expense, but you probably won't make the situation worse (or cause further damage) if you don't do something about it pronto.

Oli.

wingco · May 13, 2007

Cheers all. Think I will seriously consider doing the clutch at the same time, can't believe the expense that is potentially involved in replacing a £20 part but I suppose that's the pleasure[8|] of owing such a car.

sawood12 · May 13, 2007

Well don't think that modern cars are immune to things like this. The day after my dad's TT's warranty ran out his clutch went. Apparently the hydraulic master cylinder is inside the clutch assembly and a 20p O-ring went and hydraulic fluid leaked out and contaminated the clutch plates. Needless to say that Audi were characteristically unconcerned and refused any sort of discount on labour or parts and he had a £800 bill for a clutch replacement. Bear in mind that a TT is basically a Golf/Leon/Octavia with a different body therefore that's a hell of an expensive clutch replacement for normal family hatchbacks.