Oil Leak

[goodoldgrandad]

I've an anoying little oil leak from the engine bay that started about 500 miles ago. It drips a few spots overnight (regardless of how hard the engine seems to work). It is toward the back right of the engine, somewhere below the dip sticks. It appears to be engine oil not gearbox oil. The engine oil level is kept at the upper fill mark, and doesn't actually seem to drop in level.

It's been in the garage for a full service and they can't spot exactly where it is coming from. They suggested "trying a gasket at a time", which seems a nice little money spinner to me. Does anyone know of any common oil leak points to look at?

[Dave-Ellen]

I've an anoying little oil leak from the engine bay that started about 500 miles ago. It drips a few spots overnight (regardless of how hard the engine seems to work). It is toward the back right of the engine, somewhere below the dip sticks. It appears to be engine oil not gearbox oil. The engine oil level is kept at the upper fill mark, and doesn't actually seem to drop in level.

It's been in the garage for a full service and they can't spot exactly where it is coming from. They suggested "trying a gasket at a time", which seems a nice little money spinner to me. Does anyone know of any common oil leak points to look at?

its the rear main crank seal i bet,,,,,,,,,,,

had it go on mine.........5 hours + labour !!

known weak poibt on the jz engines...

[goodoldgrandad]

Must see if I can spot the point of trouble before taking that one out as it sound somewhat of a job!!

[chips229]

Hi,

It could also be a small leak coming from the power steering system,it might be worth having a look at the power steering fluid level

[goodoldgrandad]

The power steering level seems OK. The oil is dark in colour, so I'm suspecting it is something from the engine itself. Still can't see exactly where it is coming from. It's going in to an independent garage today to see if they can offer any suggestions or spot anything when it is up on full ramps.

[maneesh]

sounds like rear main seal. dave is right, it is a common fault on once the engine gets older. bloody expensive job as you have to take out the gearbox to replace the 10 quid seal!!!

if it's just tiny spots of oil, you don't have to do it immediately, it's just the staining on your driveway that will bother you.

if the drops become the size of a 10p piece, then action is probably required.

[goodoldgrandad]

Yes I've just been quoted a price from the garage if it's the back seal - I'm cancelling Christmas!!

They can't actually see where it is coming from - so I've just had it degreased from underneath in a hope that I'll then be able to see the oil run from somewhere!!

It currently drops a patch of oil about the size of 2 or 3 ten pence pieces overnight, but it can't be that much physically because the dip stick mark hasn't noticably dropped. I'v ehad it checked and it definately is engine oil.

[Dave-Ellen]

i had to cancel x-mas twice as mine still leaked after being replaced due to a prev bodge job :duh:

what you find is the oil gets on the exhaust if you are unlucky so you make more smoke than a downed WW! fighter plane when on full throttle

[JS820]

check the mount of of the vvti gear, which can be see easily when you change the timing belt.

[goodoldgrandad]

Timing belt was changed a short while ago. Everything looks OK - just can't see where the small oil leak is actually originating from !! I don't like stripping anything down before I know exactly where and what is the problem.

I don't like to use oil additives to stop such leaks (a bit like Radweld for radiator leaks), because if a gasket is starting to leak it must have reached the end of its useful life. Anyone tried such additives, and do they work without damaging the engine?

[skeet94]

Just to be on the safe side I'd avoid those "additives" :). You don't want nothing going wrong...otherwise you'll end up cancelling the Christmas for 2007 too.

You've got PM btw gramps :).

[goodoldgrandad]

I'm personally not in favour of any "additives", as they tend just to mask or cover up problems, not cure them.

Still searching for that little drip!! :duh:

[skeet94]

How you getting along mate? Any luck yet?

[goodoldgrandad]

Silly thing has stopped dripping for the last two nights!! Having said that, it has only been on short runs in between garaging. I'll have to wait until after the weekend to properly warm the engine and see if it starts leaking the oil again.

I'll post any information of what I find.

[skeet94]

David you have PM :).

[mattanna]

Could also be oil pressure sensor switch which is near air con compressor, you should also check your breather pipes.My car had similar prob and has cost me £5000 so far with a rebuild but is a mk1, hope yours is simple.Suspect crank seals if you are running higher boost, trouble with oil is it could be leaking from front and being blown back when driving etc etc

[goodoldgrandad]

It's booked in to the garage for inspection, as I can't get under the car sensibly to spot the leak (I've no pit or high ramps to get the car perfectly level). I'm convienced it is forward of the rear crank case as the drips fall before this and can't see why it should dribble forward when you think normal driving should be forcing it backwards anyway.

I'll post up what the garage suggests.

[goodoldgrandad]

The mystery of the oil leak saga may be over :D

It would appear that my TT engine has been modified before I bought it, and has a slightly larger oil cooler fitted and consequently a larger oil filter than the standard Aristo/Supra engine. I had a full service some 500 miles ago (just afterwards the oil drips started) and the oil filter used (and another replacement one I used the other day) were standard Aristo/Supra size. Consequently it appears that the fibre washer was a gnat's whisker too small, and tightening the oil filter probably gave a metal to metal contact.

The oil seems to have been spraying from the top of the oil filter seal (or lack of it), traveling up and backwards - confusing everyone. Measuring the metalwork for the oil filter it appears that I have a larger Toyota Landcruiser diesel engine fitment, so I'm able to use a much larger capacity oil filter than the standard Aristo. As the garage thinks this is an "improvement modification", and the filter specs are the same (just more capacity) then I've just popped on the bigger oil filter and recorded it in the service book ready for my next service.

Could it be the only Aristo/Landcruiser hybrid in the world !!! :o

[gazwalker]

The oil seems to have been spraying from the top of the oil filter seal (or lack of it), traveling up and backwards - confusing everyone. Measuring the metalwork for the oil filter it appears that I have a larger Toyota Landcruiser diesel engine fitment, so I'm able to use a much larger capacity oil filter than the standard Aristo. As the garage thinks this is an "improvement modification", and the filter specs are the same (just more capacity) then I've just popped on the bigger oil filter and recorded it in the service book ready for my next service.

Could it be the only Aristo/Landcruiser hybrid in the world !!! :o

Its a popular thing on Supra's too - only the upgraded filter to use is the Lexus V8 not a Landcruiser filter ;)

Gaz.

[goodoldgrandad]

That probably explains it - the Toyoto Landcruiser and V8 Lexus LS400 appear to have the same oil filter part numbers according to the filter manufacturer's look-up tables. Do I'm not driving a hybrid diesle after all!!!