Hello, I took a little video of the oil leak at the back of my crankshaft, doesn't look like it's coming from the seal , any ideas on what's leaking, and how to fix it?

cheers

Seal, methinks. That it's coming from behind pretty much confirms.

new seal on, leak exactly the same, the old seal looked OK as well I'm stumped.

Just a thought, seems like the sump seal isn't too good round there either, could that make the oil leak out of those bolt holes like that?

I've never done one, but it's possible.

I'm pretty sure the stuff FIAT use is more a PU than a silicone.

That is one weird problem!!!

Sorry couldn't help, but i don't think sump could cause a leak like that, as the oil is not that high up.

You sure you haven't over filled with oil?

Ming

I thought that was normal when you removed the bolts? My old engine didn't leak a drop until I pulled the fly wheel without draining the oil, then it emptied it's load all over the garage floor. IIRC the holes are open on the other side of the flange into the sump?

You may of had a leak from the seal before but that would be my guess on the leak now. When I put my new flywheel on I cleaned all the holes with brake cleaner then used lock n seal on the bolts before re-fitting.

The oil is that high up because of the angle of the engine/car as it is. Refitting with some sealer on the bolts is definitely a thought, do halfords do lock n seal?

Yup:

http://reviews.halfords.com/4028/526608/reviews.htm (edit: although it sais discontinued, it's just threadlock really I'm sure they will have some)

But to make sure it bonds you'll have to drain the oil until it's below the holes and then clean them before aplication otherwise it won't stick to the oily surfaces.

right, just nipped out and put the flywheel bolts back in on their own, hand tight, with a little nip up. Oil back in, and it's stopped peeing out the bolt holes but it's still leaking at the sump seam

so, I don't want to take the sump off again, one of the corner nuts is sheared, could I just bodge the leak with a load of silicone sealer on the outside of the seam?

bungler said:

could I just bodge the leak with a load of silicone sealer on the outside of the seam?

Click to expand...

I don't think anyone on this forum is going to suggest you do that, sorry while you've most of it apart it needs to be done properly.

I can appreciate it's an absolute pig to do the sump while the engines in the car. I'd suggest draining the oil, get everything spotlessly clean, repair the nut if possible, refit the sump with some decent engine friendly RTV and then leave it over night to set. If you dump the oil in straight away there is a much higher chance of it leaking as it can push the fresh sealant out the way (these are not a tight fit). Also it can break loose and end up floating around in the sump. Don't be stingy with the sealant, don't be too keen with it either you don't want it floating round your engine. I always draw a nice circle around the holes, nice bead on the flat sections and plenty on the two curved areas at either end. Some people put the sealant on both surfaces, personally I have found this unnecessary but It's not a bad thing as long as you use it sparingly.

I think there might even be a guide on this in the guides section of the forum.