Well, just got a report back from the mechanic who has been looking at the car this morning. The opinion is that the oil leak is the rear main oil seal. A mix of gold and red oil was found. Oil is blowing back through the starter motor and onto gearbox bellhousing. He thinks the job should take a day tops but is not in a position to do the job.

 

Checked rocker covers etc and definatley no leaks there.

 

Had to get the report third hand as I am at work, but I hope this makes a level of sense to someone.

 

Any advise on how much this would cost to get done?

 

Jeff, is this the kind of thing you could do on a saturday?

 

TIA

 

Regards,

 

Brent

auto or manual?? red oil = ATF from the auto box or PAS. gold oil could be manual gearbox oil!! engine oil, unless very fresh & clean is usually brown/gold.

 

so could be rear main oil seal, front gearbox seal (auto/manual) or PAS fluid running down!!

 

sounds like more diagnosis needed to me ;)

 

but rear main/front box seal is gearbox out & a day is more than enough. (if its a manual dont forget it may have contaminated the clutch)

 

HTH

Its a Jap import auto and also had an oil change at the weekend. The money after looking at twinturbo.net is on the rear main seal.

 

Cheers Paul.

 

Having spoke to the mechanic now, its appears to be making its way out of a breather pipe in the starter motor. The thought is its pasing from one component to another as they spin and finaly getting trapped there and exiting. The car is thought to be drivable with regular fluid checks. I trust this guys advice and am interested to know how much this work would cost.

 

Regards,

 

Brent

Many people wont like this but you can buy an additive that can "fix" leaks when they are because of an oil seal failing. I gather it gently "attacks" the seal, making it grow slightly and making it softer again.

I am not saying this is a fix for good, but for £3-£5 it is worth a try if only to keep the oil off your drive until you can get it fixed properly. Also, when you have put it in the engine, and IF it fixes it, you know it is the engine that is leaking.......