Found my oil leak I think...? Please help!

[Last Triumph]

Whilst I was having a general poke around with a pen torch on my 1.8 20V looking for the source of the not insignificant oil leak, I noticed something that looked suspicios....

If I follow the dip stick into it's plastic guide tube, and then follow this guide tube into the block / sump there seems to be a large gap between the metal tube sticking up from the sump and the plastic guide tube going into this tube - it's as if there is meant to be a sealing ring or something there, but instead there's what looks like a 2mm+ gap all the way round and below this area is a lot of 'evidence' of a leak.

I read somewhere else that this is a commom problem?

Does anyone else have any experience of this or any pics of what this area is meant to look like?

Cheers

[Last Triumph]

I've just nipped out to the garage and on closer inspection, what I thought was a gap at the bottom of the metal tube was in fact the remains of the old orange guide tube funnel that had broken off and slid to the bottom.
There is obviously a newer one in place.
Can't be certain if this is where it is leaking as it is generally just that pasty black slime in that area that you'd get from dipstick drips every time you miss when replacing the dipstick etc.
Hard to really tell.
There is a fair amount of oil on the floor so I'm not sure how to best investigate further.

[euroslap]

You could give her a bit of a degreasing to help expose the leak.

[Last Triumph]

Thanks for your pm's -I can't reply by pm until my 5th post.

I'll drop the under tray tommorrow and take a peak.

[Last Triumph]

Had a good look under the car today in search of the oil leak(s).
Jacking up a big car in a single garage is job in itself!
Got the under tray off and wow - what a mess!



Fresh stuff and 9 years of gunk! I thoroughly cleaned it of and degreased it so it's now like new.

Then climbed under the car with the digi camera to take a few pics.

Problem is, the the under tray and the venturi and pooling effoct it causes means it is dificult to establish if oil has got on a part from above, or because it has been close to the under tray etc.

Once I'd wiped off the stuff that would get on my clothes, I took these pics...

Starting from the top - definately needs a rocker cover gasket.



I hope this is the source for the oil evidence seen eslewhere.

Nice and dry on the 'high / front' side...



However, bottom of the A/C mount is a mess...





How much of that was from the tray and how much from 'above' remains to be seen.

These next two pics show the bottom of the block where it meets the sump on the low (drivers) side of the engine. I hope this has come from the rocker cover / cam seal?





Much drier at the front end of the block / sump...



Interestingly, the boggest leak I found was from the sump drain!



I checked it was tight and cleaned the area off, and it carried on seaping out and dripping! I'd say a drip every 5 mins or so which explains the large amount of fresher oil on the under tray in the first pic. It was dry above this area too, so definately coming from the plug.

Shouldn't there be a washer in there?

Once I'd wiped as much of the crud and oil off everything that I could, I ran the engine for 10 mins and then had another look underneath.

To be honest, other than the drip from the sump plug, I couldn't seen anything obviously fresh.

.....which means that whilst there is obviously more than one leak. the main one causing at least a good chunk of the oil is easily fixed with a new sump plug and washer.

My hope is that the rocker cover and or cam seal is significant enough to drip down the block and along the join where the it meets the sump and then down the various mounts, arms, hoses etc and onto the A/C mount etc.

I desparately hope it isn't the sump / block gasket, as from underneath, it looks like the whole sumframe has to come off to get the sump off - not one for the home garage.

I suspect it isn't, as all four sides of the sump are dry, so hopefully the oil has come from the top end and is running along the lowest edge of the block.

Just to note, the dipstick funnel and tube are dry.

Please add any comments, suggestions and experiences.

My next job will be to pull the front end forward and do the rocker cover / cam seal and the cam belt along with that sump plug.

This with any luck will sort it all out, or at least leave me with weaps, rather than pools and drips.

[Frank.A]

It is recommended that a new drain plug complete with its captive washer is fitted at each oil change.

Best,
Frank

[Last Triumph]

It is recommended that a new drain plug complete with its captive washer is fitted at each oil change.

Best,
Frank

You say 'captive washer'..... is the plug in the picture with it's 'flange' correct, or is there a washer missing aswell as the flange?

[Frank.A]

The drain plug that I am familiar with is AWX TDI,so I may be mistaken regarding your 20v petrol.

The TDI plug is just a bolt without flange but it has a captive soft metal washer.

I may be wrong but it looks as if yours has a sealing washer missing.

Check at your dealer or maybe a forum member will shed some light on it.

Best,
Frank

[Last Triumph]

Some progress.
I noticed that the missing copper washer on the sump was causing the biggest leak which happily is now corrected.
The car no longer drips oil by just sitting there.
You can see here on the sump tray how bad it was leaking from the sump by it being fresh and wet, rather than the paste sludge that gathers from minor leasks.





Carefull investigation proves that the rocker cover was definately leaking too, so I replaced the rocker cover gasket today. I was really tempted to use silicone sealant to 'help' but was avvised against this by a VW dealer, a VW specialist and also an engineering friend - all because it's rubber. So I relented and fitted it dry as per instructions.
Here are four pics during progress - the leaks are obvious - especially on the cam chain tensioner area, and also near the cam belt lower cover where it has dripped down....








I was very thorough and methodical, surgically clean and went about it slowly.
I put it all back together and ran the motor for 10 mins. Nothing obvious so far, but I'll check again in the morning. Fingers crossed, this has cured 90%, if not all of the leaks.

[vwturbo]

if you dont mind me asking how much was the rocker gasget