Club 80-90 Forums

Hi there.

Having used the tech advice in from this forum (and others) over the past 10 months has saved me loads in mechanics bills and helped keep my van on the road. So well done on such a great forum.

Now the sucking up is out of the way, I have a couple of questions that I just can't seem to find the answers for. I hope someone can help? My van is a (very nicely) converted 87 Transporter with a 1900 watercooled DG engine.

I've known for months the old girl was leaking but yesterday I finally got around to getting the engine steam washed. Had a crawl under the van and there it was staring me in the face. Now I have found the leak I have no idea what it's coming out of. Heres a couple of pics, can anyone enlighten me? It's located just above the drive shaft boot bit (excuse my lack of shop speak) on the drivers side. It looks like it could be the starter but why would this leak? I'm confused....

[IMG]http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa31 ... ngBit1.jpg[/img]

And another

[IMG:768:1024]http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa31 ... ngBit2.jpg[/img]


Here goes question number two. I found this bolt flapping about while I was under the van. What's it for? Is it important?

[IMG767]http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa31 ... olt2-1.jpg[/img]

And from a different angle.

[IMG]http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa31 ... ybolt1.jpg[/img]

And lastly I believe these next two pics show the remains of what was once my heat exchanger? Can someone confirm this please? Am I doing my van any harm driving it with the exchanger in such a state and is it an MOT failure? I presume it is but my fingers are crossed.

[IMG]http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa31 ... stbit1.jpg[/img]


[IMG]http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa31 ... stbit2.jpg[/img]

Many thanks in advance.

Hi

That looks like the bottom of the starter motor to me (although I might be mixed up) so I guess your leak must be trickling down from the top of the engine somewhere?

Don't know what the bolt is doing, is it part of the exhaust bracket or separate?

On a late DG I think that heat exchanger round the exhaust isn't normally used and can be disconnected without a problem. Anyone else confirm this?

Gary

Heat exchanger ducts warm air into the Air filter on start up.....take it off! Waste of space and materials unless you live in Siberia!

the oil round the starter suggests a gathering of oil in the bell housing,is it dripping from the bottom of the bellhousing too???

the bolt is part of the center bracket for the late exhaust sys

the heat exchanger, as said above, is pointless waste of time, remove it, stop that annoying rattle and tidy things up!!

Thanks for the quick replies.

Knowing I can just remove the exchanger is a weight off my mind. Thought I was going to have to fork out another £140 odd quid for another! I presume I can just remove the pipes that are connected to it too?

As for the leak, it seems to drip from the centre bracket bolt as well as from the starter motor. I've had a good look round and can't for the life of me see where it is originating from.

When we first got the van last year one of the oil sensors was allowing loads of oil out. So much so that there was a visible trail up my street and into the garage. Bit annoying as we had just picked it up from it's previous owner, however it had been lying unused for a few years so we expected some trouble. Could it be something similar causing this leak? I got a mechanic to fix that one but after getting the bill I decided I'd be doing as much as I could from then on.

The gent who did my krypton tuning earlier today thought it might be something to do with a flywheel oil gasket or something like that. Does this make any sense to anyone? I'm going down now to stick her up on the ramps again for another good look. It's been a few days since the steam wash so there should be an obvious trail by now.

yeah, almost sure from what you said so far it is running through the bellhousing from the seal behind the flywheel....... if its not dripping serious amouts of oil it should be ok....... if it is loads it may contaminate the clutch, so its a sooner the better kind of job really......

its not really a novice job, it involves dropping the box, removing the clutch and replacing the seal, but you should be able to do it with a little help and encouragement......imo

Just had a look and I think you've cracked it. The oil seems to be gathering at that exhaust bracket which is right below the bell housing.

I wish the mechanic who fitted the clutch in January had realised and said something. I'm sure it was leaking then too.

Had a look in the Haynes manual. It's a couple of 3 & 4 spanner jobs so I might have a stab at fixing it. One thing though - I really don't enjoy getting under the van when it's up on ramps. I keep having visions of them giving way and the van crashing down on my skull. Might have to go and 'borrow' some breeze blocks from a building site and use them instead.

I'll need to get my hands on something to support the box when I take it off. Apart from this are there any specialist tools I might need? As it is I have good set of sockets and spanners and not so good trolley jack .

Never never ever use hollow "cavity" blocks. Only solid ones.
Nigel

I couldn't manage to undo the flywheel bolts on mine after removing the gearbox, which does in itself take a couple of hours minimum, are you sure the crankshaft seal is leaking? and also does it make much of a difference in the current running of you van. you may find that you also cause other damage to your van at the sametime. I am not trying to scare you I NEEDED to take of my gearbox and bellhousing because my clutch would not let the van up a hill. and during this I did cause:

"the engine moved on the jacks and the metal water pipes seal went, which led to air in the water which led to a blown expansion tank (discovered after 5 months of losing waters mysteriously)"

"the jack / son not fully supporting the gearbox during removal which bent a stud which meant I need to grind the stud off which took two days and about £20 in tools to try and remove which sheared off anywya and needed drilling which slipped and went through the pushrobe tube which was fixed with araldite, and only drips a few drops a week two years later (touching wood)"

I also spent a long time trying to remove the allen bolts from the driveshafts which in the end I simply ground off and replaced with decent star headed bolts.

the clutch is fine I gave up trying to remove the flywheel and low and behold the seal hasn't leaked. I am lucky I guess.

please make sure you do not go through the hell I went through to do what should only take about 5-6 hours.

drill a small hole (6mm) at the lowest part of the bell housing to let any oil drain out. you will then know how much is leaking. as long as your not wading in deep water you will be OK. you dont want oil building up in the bell housing to the level where it contaminates the clutch plate.

Hey clartsonly, could much else have gone wrong for you? You couldn't script something like that, if it wasn't so cruel it would be funny. You tale has got me thinking though. Perhaps I'll leave it for now as the van is our only working vehicle at the mo (My Saab 9000 is causing me untold grief with TCS problems and a lack of diagnostic equipment anywhere in the country!). We are planning, finances permitting, to get a load of bodywork done over the winter so I think I'll wait until then. At least it'll be in some sort of workshop with proper equipment instead of my shared parking garage.

I think in the meantime I'll do the hole drilling thing and seal it back up when I get around to fixing the seal.

Thanks to everyone for the unbelievably quick responses and advice.

Sorry to bump an old thread but my question is related to that oil leak I have already asked about.

Came down to start the van this morning and found quite a bit of oil under the bell housing area. looks like the flywheel oilseal is really on it's way out. Being short on funds right now I want to know your opinions on the Forte oil seal conditioner or the Lucas equivalent. Has anyone ever tried either of them? Were they any good? Will it tide me over for a few weeks, perhaps a month until I can get a bit of cash together?

Many thanks
Conrad

conrad wrote: I want to know your opinions on the Forte oil seal conditioner or the Lucas equivalent. Has anyone ever tried either of them? Were they any good? Will it tide me over for a few weeks, perhaps a month until I can get a bit of cash together?

Many thanks
Conrad

put some in,, you have nowt to lose and lots to gain,,, and it works

clartsonly wrote:
"the engine moved on the jacks and the metal water pipes seal went, which led to air in the water which led to a blown expansion tank
please make sure you do not go through the hell I went through to do what should only take about 5-6 hours.

I made a bridgeing bar which spanned the engine bay front to back with a bit of studding and chain so I could support the engine by that handy lifting hole on the top. Remember the seven "P"'s
Cheers
Smiffy

Tried the Lucas oil seal conditioner stuff. It actually worked (sort of)! Here's the results.

Monday - Found too much oil under the van (a very big tea cup full at least)
Tuesday - Stuck in the Lucas stuff (£10)
Wednesday - Only a drop of oil underneath in the morning
Thursday - Just a few more drops of oil underneath
Friday - Slightly more oil underneath

Haven't checked today but I suspect there is slightly more again.

I suppose that seal is just too wrecked for the conditioner to work properly but for a quick fix I'd say it's pretty impressive. If I'd known about the stuff a few months ago it might have done the trick - lesson learned.

Booked the van into a mechanics on Monday. Was going to try it myself but I just don't have enough jacks, breeze blocks, axle stands etc. I'm also working longer hours over the next couple of weeks and don't have the time, It's our daily driver right now and I don't want it to be off the road for any longer than is necessary.