Oil leaks on vr's

[robo22sri 10]

Hey guys was wondering what the common leaks are on the vr's?!?

 

My car has a leak at the bottom near where the gearbox joins the block!

 

Not sure if it's the rocker gasket or the sump?!?

 

Any pointers would be great

 

Thanks Rob

[easypops 8]

Mine leaks there too, i changed the sump gasket but it still leaks, i get the feeling its the crank oil seal..............one day i'll fix it :)

[robo22sri 10]

Great! I think its one more reason to get the chain done!

[VW_OwneR_85 2]

common leaks for me, rocker/cam cover gasket,oil cooler seals. oil cooler seals are tricky to do with just jacking the car up without takeing the front off but its do able with small hands,

[fendervg 32]

Sometimes you can't really tell where a leak is coming from by looking at the stains - it will travel a long way. Oil cooler seals are the prime candidate and known to fail, also as above, rocker cover and cam seals. Also check the oil filter housing - I've seen this go on without the seal a few times - and the drain plug in the middle.

[robo22sri 10]

looks like i need to get up in the air give a good degrease session

[monzablau16v 0]

also check the sensors on the oil cooler housing. My tem sensor had cracked just where the spade connector attches and was pi%%ing oil everywhere - but was only evident when the throttle was open. New oil temp sensor cured it and no more sodding oil all over the bottom of the car.

[SamG40 0]

Do you need to buy a new oil cooler to sort the oil cooler seals out or can you buy the seals seperatly. Is it worth sacking it off if it is this and getting a mocal instead?

[fendervg 32]

You can but the seals on their own - not expensive. You can also do it with the hoses on if you can get the car high up with access from below.

[SamG40 0]

Yeah I've just searched and found a few useful threads. Can you do it from underneath without taking the front off with aircon does anyone know? It gets in the way massively of that area.

[fla 9]

Sam - v hard tbh, as you said the pipes foul it considerably at the front. I would drop teh bumper and take the front off.

[fendervg 32]

Hmmmm. Didn't realise you had aircon - in that case the front and rad will have to come off - will be easier in the long run.

[SamG40 0]

Damn it. I thought someone would say that. I was hoping to avoid taking the front end off again, the aircon can be a right pain. Oh well I'll get the misses cleaning bits whilst its all off! Cheers guys.

[robrado974 1]

common leaks for me, rocker/cam cover gasket,oil cooler seals. oil cooler seals are tricky to do with just jacking the car up without takeing the front off but its do able with small hands,

did my oil cooler last week ,just jacked the car up seemed easy to me .But then again i have been strugglin for hours to do a job and someone comes over to help n does it in couple of mins lol.

Edited August 23, 2011 by robrado974

[Stonejag 10]

Mine's leaking too - garage bloke said it might have had the wrong grade of oil in it in the past?

 

Stone

[nrc 0]

Yep, I have aircon and had my oil cooler off at the weekend. It was a pretty easy job with the spoiler off, except for the light shower of black gunk.

[Roger Blassberg 0]

I did the seals without taking the front off, (with air conditioning). Maybe release the front engine mount and jack up or down as required. Its a fiddle, but possible.

 

Best wishes

 

RB

[nrc 0]

Reading all this I'm getting a little concerned about how simple I found it to get at the seals on mine. Come to think of it I only recall seeing one hose attached... This may explain my oil temps being on the high side.

[RW1 0]

Reading all this I'm getting a little concerned about how simple I found it to get at the seals on mine. Come to think of it I only recall seeing one hose attached... This may explain my oil temps being on the high side.

It is easy.

 

Leave the engine standing for 24 hours to minimise oil dripping.

 

It needs the right spanner to get on the bolt/cap cover (ring/open ended so the ring end cants onto the bolt. Undo.

 

Old seals (2) out.

 

Clean surface on engine block for smooth surface.

 

Fit new seals (2) and tighten up the bolt/cap cover (not over tight so seal is still flexible, not squashed hard.)

 

The power steering pipe mounting bracket by the oil filter housing will need detaching but not the hose itself.

 

There are two pipes attached to the oil cooler but they don't restrict access, so can stay connected. Just push the oil cooler up out of the way while you clean the engine block seal contacting area.

 

The Corrado should be lifted up at the front by ramps or a jack at the jacking points and axle stands for safety. Access is then pretty easy.

 

Took me an hour and I was taking my time cos I wanted the engine block surface as smooth as possible.

 

.

[joebloggsVR69 0]

Mine's also dripping a bit where the sump meets the gearbox.

I was wondering if it was the sump gasket, which I'll be replacing soon, but I guess it's worth replacing the other seals while I'm at it.

 

Dont suppose anyone has the part numbers for the other seals? :)

[RW1 0]

Mine's also dripping a bit where the sump meets the gearbox.

 

Mines the same. Been chasing it for the last 6 months having cleared the oil cooler (engine seal side gone), sump (weeping) and timing chain casing/head gasket extension weeping (tighten up the forward bolt of the two that sit on the underside by quarter of a turn, it was slack.).

 

But in the middle of all this, I found the top of an oil filter (metal top plate) stuck up the oil filter housing which appears to have been causing higher oil pressure problems. http://the-corrado.net/showthread.php?56348-Problem-with-VR6-slightly-overheating-with-rising-Oil-Pressure Since removing the filter metal top, the sump gasket has stopped wheezing oil mist and things have settle down.

 

Whats now left comes out usually when the oil is very hot on a run. Its on mine coming from inside the clutch housing which suggests the crank seal but from what I see looking up there with a bright light, its not coming from the shaft area.

 

And it appears "after" the drive mainly - as much as upto 12 hours afterwards it appears, not during the drive.

 

I have just lowered the oil level down a little to the top of cross-hatched area of the dip-stick by dropping out what was in the filter housing. Then added Forte Seal Conditioner on the basis the crank seal is ageing but not damaged and needs a bit of rejuvenation. Too early to know whether this has worked as the seals haven't had time to adjust since Sunday.

 

Other than that it gets down to the crank seal mounting plate on the side of the block weeping (metal to metal seal). That needs the gearbox off. Clutch is still some way off as is the engine chain guides etc.

 

After the leaks I have had, its down to 2 drips per journey, which is pretty good going considering it was plumming down the underside of the Corrado.

 

.

Edited August 24, 2011 by RW1

[SamG40 0]

I had a crack at this yesterday and managed it without undoing anything at all apart from the oil cooler itself, I left both coolant pipes on too. Was quite suprised how much room there was. Only problem I had was that the seals themselves werent in too bad a condition so I am actually wondering if that was the issue at all. Oh well, for the money and time it cost it doesnt matter that much just still potentially leaves me with the leak.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Mine leaks there too, i changed the sump gasket but it still leaks, i get the feeling its the crank oil seal..............one day i'll fix it :)

 

Yep, rear crank seal. It's well known to not seal properly and is much discussed on US forums.

 

They never seal 100% and you always get a sweat of oil coming out of them. I guarantee *any* VR6 that has it's gearbox removed (including all R32s and 24Vs) will have a nice coating of oil in the bell housing and the block face behind the flywheel. This oil builds up over time and gathers in pools, which drips out and wicks it's way around the block and gearbox like blotting paper.

 

Dropping the box to replace the rear crank seal is a waste of time, all you can do is live with it. Having taken apart 3 variations of VR6 engine recently (12V, 2.8 24V and MK5 R32) the rear seal has been redesigend 3 times, but it *still* leaks.

 

On the 12V you can help leaks by using a thicker oil @ 100 C (10W/50 synth) and switching to an ally sump off the 24V as the two machined surfaces + VAG's special sealant give a total seal. Rubber + steel sump has always been hit and miss for it's sealing quality. My old 12V was 100% leak free.....except for that darn rear seal.

 

The front one is perfect, never leaks (unless nicked on the woodruff slot during installation) and typically that's the only seal of the two which is a peice of p1ss to change.

 

24Vs you can't run a thicker oil because it screws with the VVT adjusters. 5-30W is your only choice.

 

So yeah, a long winded way of saying don't waste any time or money chasing rear crank seal leaks.

[RW1 0]

Found my final source of a leak. Nothing to do with the crank seal. Although the evidence on the front block by the gearbox bell housing suggested that it was leaking.

 

Turn out there is still a small leak from the timing chain cover split, right in the corner by the engine block behind the thermostat housing.

 

Not visible due to its location and all the cooling pipes etc. But no evidence of how it gets down to the bottom really visible. And its not coming down the inside of the housing where the clutch is. Appears to travel down the joint edge between the gearbox and engine block on the outside.

 

The spinning flywheel appears to be whipping up this oil from the front right corner of the engine block into the gearbox bell housing, making look like the crank seal was the source. Blocked off the path from the outside by jamming a piece of folded kitchen towel inbetween the front end of the gearbox cover plate and the lip of the engine block. I had cleaned off oil inside the bell housing area and it did not return but collected on the outside half of the towel, nothing from the inside edge.

 

Back tracking the leak's possible oil path up the engine block, managed to trapped fresh oil from the minute flow by using a well placed kitchen towel up behind the thermostat housing.

 

On the face of it, there appears to be no leak by visual examination, so it was easily missed. Damp patches on the gearbox had dried up when I found the front one of two allen head bolts to holding the timing chain case halves slightly loose and smarting out oil. So having sorted that and applying a little sealant, the drying out of the main flow suggested I had stopped that leak. Obviously not quite!

 

.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yes the chain cover plates can weep a bit too.