Leak + Oil = scratch head.

[Haizum74]

So, after looking under the car while sorting the oil out I notice on the right side a lot of oil clinging to the bodywork right below the turbo. So, I leave the car for a week parked up and no oil patches on the floor. However she is still losing power ever now and again. One minute she is off the next time she aint. I decided to give her big licks and headed into the red in second, afterwards a real strong burning smell like rubber.

Last MOT had an advisary for oil leak (before I bought it) and puzzled that if there is one why no damp patches?

Any ideas?

[LiamT4]

The oil could be leaking from an oil feed pipe for the turbo.
The thing is with oil is that it doesn't take much of it to spread over a large area, just a slight leak will look a lot worse under the car. Keep checking the dipstick, see how much its loosing.

Do all the dash lights come on when you turn the ignition and then go out? (wondering if any bulbs have been removed) Although you've had a code reader and it was fine wasn't it.

Does it happen when running on all types of petrol (95 and 99)?

[Haizum74]

The oil could be leaking from an oil feed pipe for the turbo.
The thing is with oil is that it doesn't take much of it to spread over a large area, just a slight leak will look a lot worse under the car. Keep checking the dipstick, see how much its loosing.

Do all the dash lights come on when you turn the ignition and then go out? (wondering if any bulbs have been removed) Although you've had a code reader and it was fine wasn't it.

Does it happen when running on all types of petrol (95 and 99)?


To be honest not sure which bulbs would light up and which wouldnt lol. Yeh, no codes at all on it and it might do it more on 95 but not really thought about that.

[T5frankie]

yeah the oil return pipe would only leak when engine is running

[Jamest5r]

Its got to be an oil feed problem somewhere as by the sounds of it it is only leaking when under boost so check your oil feed joints and oil rtn seals.

[Haizum74]

Ok, so on the way to York Raceway I decided to give her a bit of a lick and a large plume of white smoke came out the back. Didnt happen again (engine was up to temp) until yesterday when I pulled up to traffic lights and could see it in my wing mirror, stopped after I set off. Am I thinking head gasket?

[LiamT4]

Hows the oil and coolant?
What color is the smoke?
Is the engine overheating?

[Haizum74]

Hows the oil and coolant?
What color is the smoke?
Is the engine overheating?

Will check tonight.

Smoke is White.

No it isnt.


I wouldnt be too bothered but I cant do anything with the car until end of July and dont want it knackering up while driving it until then lol.

[AndysR]

Could be a couple of things causing that, first thing to ascertain is if the white smoke is actually smoke or condensation. If it's condensation then it could have an internal coolant leak into the bores if it's smoke, burning oil, then it could be turbo or valve stem oil seals.

[Haizum74]

Ok, what do I need to check to see if its coolant?

[AndysR]

Loosing coolant with no external signs of leakage, over pressurising coolant system and over heating.

[LiamT4]

Check the condition of the oil. Make sure you check under the filler cap though and not jjust the dipstick as creamy oil on the dipstick can be caused by condensation.

I wish i'd never pointed this car out for you now :frown:

[Haizum74]

Check the condition of the oil. Make sure you check under the filler cap though and not jjust the dipstick as creamy oil on the dipstick can be caused by condensation.

I wish i'd never pointed this car out for you now :frown:

Hey dont say that dude, she is still a keeper, if it needs fixing it will be done slowly but surely and it could be a lot worse, engine could have fallen out and car split down the middle lol. I did say to ya she hadnt been looked after before. She just needs some TLC and I least I will be learning more about the mechanics side of things as I am ****e when it comes to that lol. If it costs it costs, am not one of those who thinks.
"Christ I only paid 'x' for her and I spent triple that, it wasnt worth it." Its the joy in seeing her put right I am looking forward to and now I been to a meet she has to have at least one run down the strip, even if its just to thrash yours lol :ices_rofl

[Haizum74]

Loosing coolant with no external signs of leakage, over pressurising coolant system and over heating.

Ok cheers, no over heating at all, temp gauge stays just below half way, will check coolant as topped up a few weeks ago as previous owner left it rather dry (including a lack of enough oil in the engine). There is a leak from where the turbo is but as I mentioned to Liam it doesnt leak when its standing, didnt drive it for nearly a week and checked underneath and nothing so assuming it could also be seals and pipes from turbo. As a non mechanically minded chap I am just assuming but from previous posts these are things to look out for.

[Haizum74]

Ok, coolant is fine, it hasnt dropped a load since I topped it up. Dipstick has no sludge or any milky substance on it (checked when engine cold though if that has any relevance. Not sure if you can see it that well.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27820890/IMG_20110603_172514.jpg

Pic of back end of engine near heat shield, bit of oil there

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27820890/IMG_20110603_172754.jpg

And lastly, I noticed this gap in pipe leading from radiator to back of engine, should it ideally be flush?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27820890/IMG_20110603_172938.jpg

[LiamT4]

Oil looks fine, best to do it cold as otherwise it wont give a true oil level reading. Is it the same under the filler cap?

All pipes should should have a close fit with no gaps.

If this car is smoking i would expect it to put up the engine light for emissions or at the least for it to store a fault code, the 2nd lambda (after the cat) should be picking up poor emissions and then warn you and store a code.

Strange thing is that your problem sounds very familiar to a friend of mines, sometimes lack of power and it would smoke sometimes, but others it would go fine.
His problem was the 1st lambda sensor was dodgy and it was causing the car to have fueling issues.
At first this isn't to bad but as he just ignored it, eventually this caused the headgasket to go.

The thing is with his car is that it the emissions light would come on when this happend and it had stored the fault code, it went to a garage and they found what the problem was.
Being the numpty that he was, he didn't want to pay what it would cost to fix it and just left it. Eventually it caused far worse problems.

[Haizum74]

Hmm, looks fine under the filler cap too. One thing I noticed when changing plugs was that 3 and 4 (if looking from left to right) had a small amount of oil on the threads. Spark plug chamber was clean as a whistle though. The only other thing I remember is spilling about a half pint of oil on the engine (this was after changing plugs), mopped most of it up but I cant imagine that would have any effect. I will try and record it on vid.

No lights up at all either and no codes.