Sudden Oil Leak on a VR

[emax 0]

My VR has sprouted a sudden oil leak.

 

Yesterday and today, when I park up and leave the car for a few minutes, I have noticed a substantial deposit of oil underneath the engine.

 

It seems to be coming from the passenger's side of the engine and stems from the rocker cover area. I don't think it is anything sinister like a head gasket problem -the car still runs fine, no mayo on the oil cap and normal oil pressure. It has hardly used any oil in the last 3,000 miles until it started to piss out yesterday.

 

I recently loosened the spline bolts that hold the plug lead guides on that side of the engine to check the wiring on the CPS and one of the bolts had been rounded (not by me!). I tightened this bolt loosely as I didn't want to have problems getting it out again next time.

 

Do these spline bolts also have another purpose? Like holding the rocker cover in place??

 

Any other ideas?

[Supercharged 2]

Hmm, strange, maybe coming from the oil pressure/temp senders above the oil filter housing..??

[emax 0]

I think it is a little higher up than them. They still look pretty clean.

 

Thanks

[emax 0]

Strangely this dumping of oil seems to be intermittent.

 

If I drive the car really gently (no full throttle and

 

If I drive the car a bit harder (occasional ~ 4,500 RPM bursts) it drops a 2-3ft diameter puddle from the Rocker Cover area.

 

I don't know if this sheds any more light?

[Chris VR6nos 0]

LOL 2 0r 3 FOOT! have you got any oil left in the engine at all?

 

It should be obvious where it's coming from if that much is comming out!

clean the area, Gunk or pressure wash and be critical, this is easy to fix if it's that bad so go look properly and we can try and give you a better feel for the problem but adding pics would help too, it's fun guessing but ultimately that's all it is.

 

Chris

[chrishill 0]

could it be the rocker cover gasket? mine leaks a little, i assume they just get old and tired like any other rubber gasket...

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Have a look at the cam sensor, they have an O ring that can leak, but it wouldn't leak in the quantiy you describe. The end cover plate for the chains can leak too if not sealed onto the head gasket properly...check that also. It's the large alloy housing the chain tensioner bolt screws into.

 

Could also be the rocker cover gasket. Oil pressure is at it's highest past 3000 rpm.

[Chris VR6nos 0]

Chris, no matter how much you c**t your car it wouldn't leave a 2-3foot puddle! :lol:

 

What a fruit, go check it EMAX man and get it sorted cos ya injin will sieze if not.

 

Chris

P.s. Chris you sorted new fixings for the weekend for the cover?

[emax 0]

Thanks guys. I'll remove the plastic lead guide and investigate the CPS area.

 

I'm going out tonight so I'll take a look later in the week and take some pics if it's still not clear.

 

Oil pressure is normal (4bar plus at 3,000rpm when warmed up).

 

I guess oil spreads a lot more on a smooth, flat surface but it still is a heck of a lot. I've put in about half a litre in the space of a few days driving!!!

 

The thing that surprised me is that the leak came suddenly. After months of not dropping _ANY_ oil, it seemed very sudden. Can the RC Gasket fail so suddenly?

 

Anyway, I'll check it out and get back.

[emax 0]

Vortech, I'm keeping it topped up at the maximum level so no worries about siezing ;-)

 

Like I said, if I drive it really gently and it drops no oil.

[chrishill 0]

P.s. Chris you sorted new fixings for the weekend for the cover?

 

yup, they're going to be in friday ;)

[Roger Blassberg 0]

The cam cover gasket is not under engine oil pressure as such, but if there is a blocked crankcase breather somewhere there may be some pressure build up. Anyway, if it's coming from that high up at such a rate of flow, it would just go everywhere with the airflow around the engine.

 

Are you sure that you are not overfilling it? Sorry to ask such an elementary question, but if you are, maybe the engine is just vomitting it out.

 

Best wishes

 

RB

[emax 0]

Hi Roger,

 

Pretty sure I'm not over-filling it. The car has done 3,000 miles trouble-free. In which time, I have had to add a total of 0.5 a litre. I've been checking the oil in the morningl, first thing, when the engine is stone cold and then adding as necessary. I always err on the side of under, rather than over-filling as I don't fancy buying a new cat any time soon :-)

 

I'll get to the bottom of this as it is starting to leave a nasty stain in the carpark at work!!!

[emax 0]

Turns out I had an oil AND a coolant leak. The former was caused by the filler cap's seal not being good. Got a new cap on Friday.

 

My coolant leak seems to have confused me (I thought it was oil due to the stains at the car park at work). Anyway the coolant light came on on my way home from work on Friday. I wasn't paying attention and didn't look properly, assuming it was the oil light (idiot!). As I'd stopped in a bad area (pulled over straight away) I put in about a litre of oil.

 

Only when I drove off did I notice that it was the coolant light! This figures with the area of the leak which was the same as here:

 

http://www.gti-vr6.net/library/engine/r ... using.html

 

So it looks like it was the thermostat houseing/seals.

 

I don't think I'll have done any damage in driving it home, there was still some coolant in the expansion tank and I only drove about 6 miles (3 with the coolant light on). Coolant temp was normal on the gauge.