Oil Leak

[alpinemauve]

The coupe has a pretty bad oil leak, and has done for some time, judging by the fact EVERYTHING is covered in oil around the engine bay.
Great for saving the rot - but pretty hard to find the source of the leak.

I have been underneath and suspect the sump needs coming off and a new gasket fitted for starters - anywhere else I should be looking?

Also the car has too much oil in it, after the guy I bought it from 'filled it up' on the day I picked it up.  So I do need to take some out - could this also be contributing to the leak?

Any clues from anyone?

[Richard B]

If there is excess oil then it will be pressurizing the crank case. The oil will then find the easiest route out.

Try draining it down first before getting too carried away; although once a leak has started, it might not want to stop.

[heraldcoupe]

The rear crankshaft oil seal is a scroll type, it relies on the rotation of the engine to provide any kind of seal. This is why Heralds leak when parked facing uphill. If the oil is substantially high, it may be above the level of the scroll, so you'll have a continuous leak.
Cheers,
Bill.

[Clive]

You may well need to clean up the undersude to see where it is coming from (or have you already done that?) Front oil seals can leak, and spray oil around the engine bay. Sump may just be a bit loose and need tweaking up. Fuel pump, rocker gasket etc etc etc. You need to trace it first really. And drain the excess oil.

[Deleted User]

Did the PO fill it up with horrid thin stuff too? The engine is designed for 20W50, anything thinner (like most easily available engine oil now) will leak out more easily, all over the place. Unless you're certain that the correct viscosity has been used, I'd change the oil once you've found the source of the leak. And put some washing powder on that nice clean garage floor where it's marked it's terratory! :)

[Nick Moore]

heraldcoupe wrote:

The rear crankshaft oil seal is a scroll type, it relies on the rotation of the engine to provide any kind of seal. This is why Heralds leak when parked facing uphill. If the oil is substantially high, it may be above the level of the scroll, so you'll have a continuous leak.
Cheers,
Bill.

Funny, the gearbox mainshaft seal is also a scroll, and leaks if the car's parked facing downhill!

[heraldcoupe]

Avoid hills......

[Pete Lewis]

dip sticks are often wrong so drain out the sump add the specified amount less 1 litre insert stick and check the low mark, add the remainder check the high mark
if they are wrong just remark it to suit  (our vit 6 was 2litres overfull by the levels
on the dipstick )  worth a check,,,,,,   peter