Oil bathed engine

[muddyjames]

I have been for a 140 mile drive today to pick up a steering guard and when I got hom eto fit it I found the engine is covered in oil alongwith the steering arms and top of the axle. the oil is mainly on the back of the rad fan, the area around the air con idler pulley and the side of the rad water bottle.

I havent lost any oil out of the engine as that is still on max, nor the brakes nor the power steering. Only fluid that has gone down is the rad bottle but thats isnt oil as you all know. There is some brown scum in the rad bottle ontop of the water.

Its a 300tdi auto.

anyone got any guesses from where it is coming from and I should look?

[hobbit]

Its amazing how a little can go a long way, wash it clean and run it up, on medium revs, you should be able to spot the leak as it spreads

[muddyjames]

How do I wash and clean and engine?

[hobbit]

If you have a pressure wash, ok.

If not make sure you are on a piece of ground that wont matter about stains, get some Gunk degreaser or similar make, brush it into all the nooks and crannies all around and use a garden hose to rinse it off under thumb pressure,

Or find a place that does engine steaming

[muddyjames]

so just go down to my local jet wash and blast away? What about the electrics?

[hobbit]

On a tdi just bea bit careful where you blast it, at the front end there is not too much in the way of electronics, apart from the alternator of course, take some wd40 with you just in case of it wont start

If you dont mind the spray you could leave the engine running

[hobbit]

As a thought you could wipe round the rocker box cover and oil filler cap area to see if you are leaking from there first

[muddyjames]

and what mess would it make on the floor if I used my own power washer? Where I park my landy I am not supposed to be i the car park so having an oil slik in there I would not be popular and there is a hose pipe ban on :(

[muddyjames]

around top of engine and filler cap is dry as a bone. only thing it has on it is dried on mud

[hobbit]

Thats why I said it at first, it will make a mess, oily greasy water.

Not very popular with the neighbours then

[muddyjames]

I get on well with the neighbours just dont get on with the land lord for the few flats next door.

[hobbit]

Sounds like a wipe with some rag first off round the rocker box joint onto the head, first

Then find an engine steaming place to to the compartment, they are more skilled at that, there is no guarantee that you wont get water in the electrics, but they are more experienced at doing it

Diesels are not as easy to drown as petrol, but it can still be done

[hobbit]

Have a look round you havn't got an oil breather pipe off anywhere have you?

[muddyjames]

Yup sounds like steam cleaner place :(

As long as the oil is not going down really fast out of the engine then as you say a little goes a long way so it could be a slow leak.

I will give it a wipe over sometime and see if I can see a spray coming out.

Its just annoying with the floor needing doing and buying my first house I dont have the money to steam clean.  :twisted:

I also have the cb radio to install sometime too :lol:

[muddyjames]

oil breather pipe? what does one of those look like or where would it have come off?

[muddysteve]

have you checked the oil level on the transmission, i think theres an oil cooler on the front for the gearbox

Steve

[muddyjames]

yeah the oil on the dip stick is pink as it should be but it says on the dip stick check oil with engine on idle when cold. cant see what difference it makes but it always shows way over full.

I tow my caravan last weekend. could that have put more strain on everything because the oil is ott?

[hobbit]

Forgot it was an auto :roll: ,  have a look and sniff of the oil, compare the smell from the gearbox and engine see which it resembles

[chuggaman]

check your front diff oil seal aswell........if it leaks it will spray diff oil around the area

mike

[Range Rover Blues]

yeah the oil on the dip stick is pink as it should be but it says on the dip stick check oil with engine on idle when cold. cant see what difference it makes but it always shows way over full

An Auto box isn't just a boc full of cogs, it's a hydraulic syste,m that is self-bleeding and to check the level correctly it should have all the oilways in the valve block bled and all the various pistons/actuators full of oil too.  Before checking do you go slowly through all the positions on the selector before puutting it in neutral?

[muddyjames]

No i do move the selector at all. I just start the BGG (big green giant) up when cold and look at the dip stick in P

[extreme90]

check the front diff pinion seal mine went a few weeks back, the prop picks the oil up and sprays it from in a line everywhere, it will be all on the chassis legs, on the track rod +  damper if im right as the damped is fitted to the track rod on disco's unlike defenders    

u'll know if it the pinion seal as there will be a puddle of oil under it

[Xtremeteam]

yep what RRB said,start it up in neatral & run through all the gears pausing for a second,do this twice then back to neutral,then check the oil level,i think i know where its leaking from as on the 300 autos its common for the pipe that goes from the auto box to the cooler at the front to rust through at the connection at the oil cooler behind the grill

[muddyjames]

I shall check the auto level later and also I would check the pinion seal but I have no idea where it is or the diff seal :(

I am a very novice person when it comes to cars im affraid. I can do mega basic stuff and that is as far as I have got in training myself :)

[extreme90]

just look where the front propshaft goes to the diff......the flange that it bolts to is the pinion, you will see oil seeping inbertween the diff casing and the mud shield on the flange

u should be able to tell what oil it is any way if it is auto box oil.....it wil b very thin if u rub a bit between ur fingers

if it is diff oil........1 it will stink !! and 2 it is very thick

[muddyjames]

I have had another look today and it looks like it is hitting the fan and being spread but i couldnt see a spray of oil.  the wetest part was by a square lug just below the air con puley idler. maybe wrong as there maybe no oil around there what so ever!

[hobbit]

Is it engine oil or power steering fluid(red)

[muddyjames]

didnt touch it as i was in good clothes but it looked black. prob not much help.

[hobbit]

If it looks black, it could be engine then, have a sniff of it, then smell the oil in the engine and again off the dipstick rfom the gearbox

[muddyjames]

just been outside to the disco. sod the good clothes. wiped some off the bit under the air con idler with a bit of kitchen roll. looks black but wiping someoff the kitchen roll onto my finger it feels thin and has a red tint about it.

wiping some off the steering rods its black and is stil black on my finger. that may have been there from when the oil thermostat leeked.