Oil leak on Vitesse

[daverclasper]

Hi. A bit back I replaced the engine mounts. Did one side at a time, though in hindsight, it would have maybe made sense to loosen both sides?.

Anyway, after fitting the first one, I was jacking up the engine with a scissor jack under the sump to do the second, with a flat piece of wood to spread load. I had to go a bit higher on this side to get the mount to line up and the jack felt more strained.

There was a cracking noise and the engine dropped a bit. I assumed the wood had split, but no. Thought, "S>>>, what was that.

Jacked up again and fitted the mount.

Anyway, now a bit of an oil leak, showing on the floor, mainly towards the rear of engine.

Not had chance to jack up and investigate, though wondering what area it be coming from?.

Cheers, Dave     

[JohnD]

Obvious answer, given the history, is cracked sump!   Sorry!

 

[Nigel Clark]

It could also be that the sump flange has distorted from the load, or sump bolt(s) have pulled out, most likely from the alloy rear crank oil seal housing, its threads aren't strong and won't take much abuse.

Unfortunately, the obvious next step must be to remove the sump and check what's actually bent/stripped/damaged. Sorry not to offer a happier prognosis.

Nigel

[Pete Lewis]

or time for a clean up and a dust of talc   or baby power   or french chalk  whatever  the dust will show a trace where the oil is coming from

smells nice too 

Pete

[daverclasper]

Thanks. I assume it's ok to use the car for the time bieng?, and keep an eye on the leak getting worse.

Moral to this. Don't start some jobs, if your rushing and getting stressed. I had to pick my grandaughter up in the car, later in the day.

[JohnD]

Not if you value your driveway, other people's safety, the environment in general, oh., and your engine's health.

Starting will increase the crankcase pressure  and increase the oil leak if it's from there or if it's from the oil system itself, causing either a slow or rapid complete oil loss.

Sort it out, Dave!

JOhn

 

[Pete Lewis]

Yes    you need to know is it  a flange face /or a split 

splits   chemimetal or JB weld could work if you need a weld but cant 

Pete

 

[johny]

Its a strange one as who hasnt raised or supported the engine on the sump? It'll be interesting to see whats happened - if the load was too localised it should be pretty obvious but if not then it could be quite worrying! Certainly if repaired with epoxy the sump can never be used as a jacking point again but maybe thats not a bad thing....

[daverclasper]

Thanks. Been under car and cleaned a lot of old gunge (oil filter changes, previous rocker cover leaks,ect).

Sump and flang to block pretty clean now.

No obvious?, distortion of flange with sump in situ.

No sheared bolts (inc the two rear)

No obvious?, crack/distortion of sump

All the sump bolts took a bit of light hand torque (apart from one I couldn't get to).

Now to see if I can find any talc.

I did notice the rocker cover had collected a bit of oil at the rear, that also could have run down rear of engine.

Will give car a run tom, as guess if leaking from top area, will show up as the oil sloshes in the sump.

Edited May 29, 2021 by daverclasper

[Colin Lindsay]

18 hours ago, daverclasper said:

Anyway, after fitting the first one, I was jacking up the engine with a scissor jack under the sump to do the second, with a flat piece of wood to spread load. I had to go a bit higher on this side to get the mount to line up and the jack felt more strained.

There was a cracking noise and the engine dropped a bit. I assumed the wood had split, but no. Thought, "S>>>, what was that.

Have you checked your engine earth strap? Not the first time that I've jacked or lifted an engine and forgotten that bit... but it shears under sufficient pressure. It won't explain the engine dropping or an oil leak, or might not if you're jacking under the sump, but it's one place to look at for resistance to lifting; the other is the bellhousing against the bulkhead. 

[daverclasper]

Thanks.  Earth strap was ok

I think it was maybe the other mount causing the resistance. I can't remember, maybe I slackened it off a bit, though not enough?. As the jack was getting resistance, I remember thinking, this maybe not good, but carried on, as felt under pressure to have the car running asap.

[johny]

Its tough if your classic is needed for regular use cos we all know Murphys law says: when it doesnt matter it'll run perfectly and the reverse....

[Pete Lewis]

did you take the bracket and mount  off the engine in which case you only need to support  not a lift 

pete

 

[daverclasper]

The old mounts were sagging and sump almost touching the rack. To fit the new mounts, the engine needed raising. That was my understanding.

[Pete Lewis]

ok but next time use a decent bit of timber , bit of sawn down joist etc 

many have raised steadied  off the sump  without problems 

just if you try to swap a mounnt  without removing the bracket then youre into a serious raise thats not needed as you then  have to  clear the Vee  and turret flanges  etc 

Pete

[daverclasper]

Cheers Guys for your help.   Well, since the clean off and a 20 run yesterday, no drips showing on the floor, though no time to jack up and inspect properly.

So, doesn't seem anything drastic happening?, maybe just a bit of good old fashioned Triumph chassis rust prevention in the longer term.  

Edited May 31, 2021 by daverclasper