Club 80-90 Forums

Hi All,

Im in a bit of a panic! A few weeks ago my T25 TD developed a rattle. Only at low revs, usually just as i was setting off. I had a look but couldnt find any obvious loose nuts or bottles so figured I would take it to the garage after pay day (things are very tight as they are for a lot of people!).

Today i noticed some oil on the boot lid and on looking underneath there was quite a bit of oil splattered about. I dont really know too much about engines but it looked as though a wide pipe going to the turbo (I think?) had a jubilee clip that was really loose and had oil all around. This pipe split into 3 if i remember right and all the clips were loose. So I tightened them and thought "That will do til I can get it in the garage".

As I was getting out I noticed the filler pipe that goes into the sump was also dripping. One of the bolts was really loose so I tried to tighten it. I got just past finger tight and it popped back out which dropped a load of oil. Cue running to find something to catch the increasing pool of evil that was enveloping my drive!

I tried a couple more times to tighten it and every time it popped again. Eventually I bit the bullet and decided that I would have to drain all the oil and I removed the bolt. It brought the inside of the thread hole out with it.

Which brings me to now. I'm in real trouble with the wife "I told you you should have left it alone" and kinda worried i just made something that wasn't too bad a whole lot worse and probably more expensive!!!!

Any advice is really, really appreciated!

Hi it sounds as if you are talking about your oil return pipe from the Turbo.



I would remove the sump plug just to ensure all the oil has drained out from the sump, if you can't get the sump retapped with a tap and die you may just need a new sump.

I think your lucky you found this when you did rather than it becoming loose whilst driving and dumping oil everywhere and then the engine seizing due to no oil (tell the wife that would be much more expensive).

He's talking about the two bolts that hold the filler pipe to the sump from what he says. I would take the sump off and put a bolt through from the inside, making a suitable surface for the head. I don't think that there is a lot of metal there to retap larger without weakening it too much. (If it is the left one the hole goes all the way through into the sump.) Someone else who has had this problem, or some more thoughts on it may be along later.