mmm oil on driveway

[Blue4Ice]

Well my first full day as an esprit owner has been a bit of up and down. Having triumph'd from sortng my boost problem I think I have an oil leak

Not detered by the problem I am going to fix it (or if I can't the garage can). It looks like its coming from the middle of the car. Is there anything from your knowledge that I should check first? Its almost like the sump plug may not have been tightened enough (I hope!) Havent had chance to get it up in the air yet but though one of you may know where I should check first

Ta again (you are going to hate me with all my questions!)

[Jonathan]

Middle of the car doesn't really narrow it down

Apart from the oil coolers ALL the hydraulics run down the middle !

Sump plug, gearbox and clutch slave cylinder would be the ones to check - if you can see where the drops are you can trace it upwards somehow. Check all the fluid levels to make sure nothing is amiss (including the clutch which is often overlooked).

[pitstoppete]

mega likely to be gearbox oil from the driveshafts/there poxy roll pins

get under and take squint

sumps plugs get mullered a bit, and theres a red fibre washer behind most of em that probly hardly gets changed.

i find with mine, if i do a short trip, it drips 10W/60, if do a long trip, its fresh clear gearbox oil it lobs out, when i park back up

[Blue4Ice]

Thanks chaps I will try and get under it as soon as poss as its making a mess of the driveway

The words gearbox oil and driveshafts sounds pricey though Lets hope its the little red washer!

[pitstoppete]

driveshafts seals not to tricky to do, but its gotta be worth getting them right, as your box oil is quite expensive, and you'll get complaints about the oil on the drive.....

also the pins need fitting properly with the correct jollop in there to prevent leaks. its all mentioned in the forum somewhere

[Blue4Ice]

Thanks pete just had a quick look around and couldnt find much but probably not looking in the right place. I will try and jack the car up and take off some of the undertray to see where it is coming from. If anyone knows the link to the drive shaft seals you would make me a happie chappie!

[fflyingdog]

Thanks pete just had a quick look around and couldnt find much but probably not looking in the right place. I will try and jack the car up and take off some of the undertray to see where it is coming from. If anyone knows the link to the drive shaft seals you would make me a happie chappie!   

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If its gearbox oil leaking, you can almost bet your bottom dollar its coming from the drive shafts bloody notorious for it .........i speak from experience,roll pins and seals.Infact its away at the moment for that very same reason (and the ahem 2nd gear crunchy noise,which is probaly the synchro) If its from underneath your tray then good luck theres loads of pipes up there,but it should be a relatively simple process of elimination and a big can of de-greaser.

Nick S4s

[Blue4Ice]

Seems to be a common consensus that its probably driveshaft seals so will be my first port of call. Any idea how much an independant lotus specialist would charge for such a job?

[lotus4s]

Seems to be a common consensus that its probably driveshaft seals so will be my first port of call. Any idea how much an independant lotus specialist would charge for such a job?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So you have an oil leak, what Lotus doesn't? Be glad if it's only one.

You said the middle of the car, driveshaft seals don't leak in the middle. They will drip right from where the driveshafts go into the tranny and maybe blow further back on the car from driving but either way it's at the rear.

Plenty of other places to look starting with the cam towers front and rear seals, front main seal, rear main seal (very common), turbo oil lines as well as the other places already mentioned. Get under there and clean up as much as you can with degreaser, go for a drive and then crawl back under to find the fresh drips.

Good luck!

Jim

[Simon350S]

So you have an oil leak, what Lotus doesn't?   Be glad if it's only one.

You said the middle of the car, driveshaft seals don't leak in the middle. They will drip right from where the driveshafts go into the tranny and maybe blow further back on the car from driving but either way it's at the rear.

Plenty of other places to look starting with the cam towers front and rear seals, front main seal, rear main seal (very common), turbo oil lines as well as the other places already mentioned. Get under there and clean up as much as you can with degreaser, go for a drive and then crawl back under to find the fresh drips.

Good luck!

Jim

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree with it not being drive shaft related, this would be very easy to spot and as you say Jim would not be in the middle of the car.

As for the oil leaking from cam tower seals, front and rear, crank seals etc etc etc.....

Mine looks like its leaking from all of the above more likely to be one of these being your problem, very cheap to fix parts wise, only a few pounds, but may require engine out, very expensive labour unless yo do it yourself as i'm planning on doing.

Good luck whatever it may be.

[Blue4Ice]

Thanks for the help guys, I will have to get under it and see where its coming from. I am not liking the sound of that engine out malarky, lets hope it can be done in situ!

[markt]

The Prophet of Doom here thinks it's the rear main oil seal...

That's whats happened to my G Car - Gearbox out and clutch contaminated with oil... Plus leaking just about everywhere else as mentioned on this topic. My garage floor's a mess and my car left little puddles everywhere it went like a little puppy...

Not a bad idea to get them (leaks) all sorted at the same time and hope that repairs will last a few thousand miles

[CNH]

A basic check is put paper under the car and find out what color it is.

Also you can find that the smell of fluid is easy to tell.

[pitstoppete]

i very much suggest that if a driveshaft seal is leaking, it either,

a, gets lobbed about plenty if theres a big leak, (had clear oil spots on the ht leads a lot with a N/S drive shaft oil leak)

b, dribbles down the towards the bottom of the box, from which ever side and collects on the bottom flange of the box, then running towards the sump area, finally dripping off very much in the centre line of the car.

this i have observed many times after a long thrash, by lying underneath on the garage floor with an inspection lamp.

some supposedly educated twats at work have suggested that it's strange that i said I lie underneath the back of my car to hear it cool down, to see it drip its oils etc, to switch the light off to see the glowing red bits etc, they seem have a sad fasination with giving there car to complete twats to get very little work/repairs done to them for lots of money, and have no idea whatsoever what is going on under there engine bay.It's all about finding out whats occuring engine wise. if its leaking, it aint good. if have done all u can to stop it leaking, fair enough, keep it topped up, and put a tray under it on the drive.

Edited October 18, 2005 by pitstoppete

[Blue4Ice]

It is leaking centre line of the car, in line with the rear of the engine but as you say it could still be leaking elsewhere.

Do you think it could leak if the wrong type of oil is used? Reason why I ask is that previous owner was a small trader who dealt in sports cars (he had a couple of TVRs, a porsche etc when I looked at the Esprit) and as suched used a "normal" garage to do the oil change. The filter used is not a genuine lotus filter so I assume that he has used the noraml oil which he uses for other cars too. If the oil was too thin (say a 5W/30) could this leak?

[markt]

Is the clutch slipping?

If the oil's too thin, it will leak like a sieve... The oil issue has been well covered in various topics... Try the search facility - helped me a lot do do some diagnosis (and not sound like a complete prat when taking to my mechanic...)

Or you could use my philosophy of British Cars - If it ain't leaking oil, there's something wrong with it... or there's no oil in the sump!

[Blue4Ice]

I dont think the clutch is slipping. To he honest though I havent had the chance to drive it properly as the journey home (about 250 miles) I had the boost issue and since fixing that I have only taken it on a test drive which was sat mostly in traffic. It slips into gear very well so I am inclined to believe that the clutch is ok and I havent experienced the revs shooting up and not going anywhere syndrome yet

I will do a search for "oil" on the forums and see what i can learn

[CarlC]

Im with PitStopPete on this one. I've spent quite a while trying to track down an oil leak in the centre of the centre line of the car. It is far from obvious that it was the drive shafts that were leaking because the line the leak takes from the seals is only visable when you get right under the car. I had to de-Gunk the under side of the car clean it all up and try and trace it. In my case both my seals are leaking.

IIRC ive seen quotes of about

[EspritFactFile]

The first thing you need to determine is what kind of oil is leaking. If it is predominantly clear, it is likely tranny fluid (or coolant). If it is dark, it is most likely motor oil.

Tranny oil leaks most commonly from the driveshafts although it can drip out the front tranny seal and seep out the bellhousing.

Engine oil could be from the cam towers, turbo, sandwich plate, or the front or rear main seal. We just did the rear main seal in my car with the engine in situ. We just removed the tranny to get access to it.

In the period of 3 days I have removed the tranny in my car twice.