E30 Zone

Got a pretty serious oil leak on my newly purchased touring, topping it up with about 2 litres every couple of days and it's making a real mess in the road outside my house!

I have tried searching but to no avail. I have also steam cleaned the bay but can't see where it's coming from?! I believe it may be right at the back of the engine or underneath somewhere?

I'm hoping to start with the oil filter being the easiest job and then possibly have a look at the sump gasket at the weekend.

If anyone has had a similar issue or could steer me in the right direction it would be very helpful! Thanks

If it is at the back of the engine and its a lot then its probably the sump. Do you park facing up a hill?

maggspower wrote:If it is at the back of the engine and its a lot then its probably the sump. Do you park facing up a hill?

Park facing slightly down hill but it leaves a puddle wherever I seem to go!

Well don't park facing up

The back of the sump is favorite. The gasket seems to go brittle and hard then gets pushed out, followed by the oil.

Tricky but doable job.

maggspower wrote:Well don't park facing up

The back of the sump is favorite. The gasket seems to go brittle and hard then gets pushed out, followed by the oil.

Tricky but doable job.

That's great thanks, I'll give it a go at the weekend

There's an alloy piece at the back of the sump, held in place by two sets of bolts at right angles to each other, which fills the gap between the bottom of the engine and the bottom of the gearbox bell housing, and usually conceals the exact site of the leak.
Note that the sump can be dropped a little, but can't be removed without either removing the oil pump (working blind), which sits inside the sump, raising the engine, or dropping the cross member.

Brianmoooore wrote:There's an alloy piece at the back of the sump, held in place by two sets of bolts at right angles to each other, which fills the gap between the bottom of the engine and the bottom of the gearbox bell housing, and usually conceals the exact site of the leak.
Note that the sump can be dropped a little, but can't be removed without either removing the oil pump (working blind), which sits inside the sump, raising the engine, or dropping the cross member.

Sounds like a bit of a pain, what's the best way then?

Going by the amount of oil its leaking i would check the oil pressure switch.they crack and oil is pushed up the plastic pipe around the switch wire and exits under the inlet manifold.

Regiment9ine wrote:

Brianmoooore wrote:There's an alloy piece at the back of the sump, held in place by two sets of bolts at right angles to each other, which fills the gap between the bottom of the engine and the bottom of the gearbox bell housing, and usually conceals the exact site of the leak.
Note that the sump can be dropped a little, but can't be removed without either removing the oil pump (working blind), which sits inside the sump, raising the engine, or dropping the cross member.

Sounds like a bit of a pain, what's the best way then?

I favour, drain, removing the sump securing bolts, then undo the three 13mm bolts holding the oil pump on. A bit of jiggling will have it free. There is an earth, and oil level sensor wire on the near side to deal with too.

Scrape off old gasket, use grease to hold the new one to the sump and refit.

When you put it back together, make sure the pencil drive is there in place as it drives the oil pump, or you will be looking for a new engine.

wellard wrote:Going by the amount of oil its leaking i would check the oil pressure switch.they crack and oil is pushed up the plastic pipe around the switch wire and exits under the inlet manifold.

Oil pressure switch is under the exhaust side, but yes a good point.

This can be seen leaking visibly while the engine is running, if it is faulty.

my moneys on the sump gasket..mine leaked like a female dog but a new gasket sorted it...i ended up lifting the engine to clear the crossmember...not a pleasant job.