Massive oil leak.

1
Morning all. Last night i took the van for a short drive(no more than 1 km) When i left the concrete drive under the motor was dry of any oil leaks as usual. A few minutes later i stopped and a passer by pointed out a huge oil leak under the car. I drove straight home keeping a close eye on the oil light. I followed a trail of oil right back to my house. This morning i put 1.5 L OF OIL to top it up. Thats 1.5 litres in two km. I've been under the car this morning and the leak(steady flow) appears to be up behind the oil cooler behind the oil filter. Has anyone experienced such a dramatic instant oil leak. Any ideas would be appreciated before i start pulling things off. Thanks. Bill.
2
Sounds like a seal has just died Bill.

My 71 lowlight did the same thing with the rear main seal. One minute its fine - the next it was dumping oil everywhere.

Everything is fixable.

Give the engine a degrease and see where it starts weeping from.

Cheers,

Skot




On 15/09/2011 8:38 AM, Bill wrote:
 

Morning all. Last night i took the van for a short drive(no more than 1 km) When i left the concrete drive under the motor was dry of any oil leaks as usual. A few minutes later i stopped and a passer by pointed out a huge oil leak under the car. I drove straight home keeping a close eye on the oil light. I followed a trail of oil right back to my house. This morning i put 1.5 L OF OIL to top it up. Thats 1.5 litres in two km. I've been under the car this morning and the leak(steady flow) appears to be up behind the oil cooler behind the oil filter. Has anyone experienced such a dramatic instant oil leak. Any ideas would be appreciated before i start pulling things off. Thanks. Bill.


3
Hey Bill, Have you done an oil change recently? If so it might be the big o/ring behind the oil cooler. Removing the old filter can disturb a hard old o/ring. Also make sure the old filter did not leave its seal behind! In any case washing it down and running it is the only way to properly diagnose. Greg E

From: Bill <marg_bill@westnet.com.au>
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, 15 September 2011 8:38 AM
Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Massive oil leak.

 
Morning all. Last night i took the van for a short drive(no more than 1 km) When i left the concrete drive under the motor was dry of any oil leaks as usual. A few minutes later i stopped and a passer by pointed out a huge oil leak under the car. I drove straight home keeping a close eye on the oil light. I followed a trail of oil right back to my house. This morning i put 1.5 L OF OIL to top it up. Thats 1.5 litres in two km. I've been under the car this morning and the leak(steady flow) appears to be up behind the oil cooler behind the oil filter. Has anyone experienced such a dramatic instant oil leak. Any ideas would be appreciated before i start pulling things off. Thanks. Bill.



4
Scott, Greg. Thanks for the suggestions. I'm pretty sure it's not the main seal,it looks pretty dry but could be. Idid an oil change a couple of months ago (1000k's) I'M going out now to degrease and further inspect. What surprised me the most was the huge quantity of the leak,as if something burst. I would have thought an o ring or seal would give a bit of warning. Will report when i find it. Thanks Bill.

--- In Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com, greg esposito <gregespo73@...> wrote:
>
> Hey Bill, Have you done an oil change recently? If so it might be the big o/ring behind the oil cooler. Removing the old filter can disturb a hard old o/ring. Also make sure the old filter did not leave its seal behind! In any case washing it down and running it is the only way to properly diagnose. Greg E
>
>
> From: Bill <marg_bill@...>
> To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, 15 September 2011 8:38 AM
> Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Massive oil leak.
>
>
> Â
>
> Morning all. Last night i took the van for a short drive(no more than 1 km) When i left the concrete drive under the motor was dry of any oil leaks as usual. A few minutes later i stopped and a passer by pointed out a huge oil leak under the car. I drove straight home keeping a close eye on the oil light. I followed a trail of oil right back to my house. This morning i put 1.5 L OF OIL to top it up. Thats 1.5 litres in two km. I've been under the car this morning and the leak(steady flow) appears to be up behind the oil cooler behind the oil filter. Has anyone experienced such a dramatic instant oil leak. Any ideas would be appreciated before i start pulling things off. Thanks. Bill.
>
5
sure sounds like a classic case of oil cooler seal not sealing.
I'd take that whole area apart..
starting with checking that the oil cooler nut is properly tightened.
those need to be checked once in a while when changing an oil filter.
 
very rare ..and I doubt this is it ..
a stuck oil pressure relief valve can result in excessive cold oil pressure ..in a really bad case it can blast right past the oil filter seal...though that's extremely rare.
 
I'd check both oil pressure switches..
and everything to do with oil cooler and oil filter and their seals and oil cooler nut tightness.
 
in every case of 'stacking' things on a spin-on oil filter pipe ( spigot I think someone on this  list might have called it ) ........there is risk of things getting loose...
and if not found..
risk of oil leak there.
 
here's another one too ..
car dealerships have even lost engines from this mistake, on newish cars..
every time you remove a spin -on oil filter..
LOOK to make sure the rubber seal/gasket came off with the old filter.
then LOOK at the engine block ( oil cooler surface in this case  ) to make sure there is not an old oil filter gasket still there.
if anyone carelessly replaces a spin-on oil filter, and an old extra gasket is left in there..
the two seals work just well enough for it to go about 45 minutes, get warm,
and pump out all the oil, and ruin the engine. It's been known to happen.
     *always* check that only one oil filter gasket is there.....
and the oil cooler nut is well tightened.
Scott
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 3:43 PM
Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Massive oil leak.

 

Sounds like a seal has just died Bill.

My 71 lowlight did the same thing with the rear main seal. One minute its fine - the next it was dumping oil everywhere.

Everything is fixable.

Give the engine a degrease and see where it starts weeping from.

Cheers,

Skot




On 15/09/2011 8:38 AM, Bill wrote:

 

Morning all. Last night i took the van for a short drive(no more than 1 km) When i left the concrete drive under the motor was dry of any oil leaks as usual. A few minutes later i stopped and a passer by pointed out a huge oil leak under the car. I drove straight home keeping a close eye on the oil light. I followed a trail of oil right back to my house. This morning i put 1.5 L OF OIL to top it up. Thats 1.5 litres in two km. I've been under the car this morning and the leak(steady flow) appears to be up behind the oil cooler behind the oil filter. Has anyone experienced such a dramatic instant oil leak. Any ideas would be appreciated before i start pulling things off. Thanks. Bill.


6
I'd just remove the oil filter ..
make sure only one seal is present there.
then check the oil cooler nut.
that will take all of 7 minutes max.
( people sometimes think the engine oil will all drain out when the oil filter is removed..
it doesn't of course , but be ready to catch some spillage )
 
I have basically never had an oil cooler seal fail.
they get old and tired yes...but it's not like they're fine one day and leaking like crazy the next day.
 
if it's in that area ..
taking it apart should reveal something.
Front crankshaft seals .....
they also don't go from 'fine' to 'leaking copiously' .  Very unlikely that it's.
 
there is a better method to find leaks than cleaning everything ..
ever notice how when you drive in lots of dust,
any oil leaks are pretty  apparent ?
 
you just do the same thing with baby powder, or talcum powder..
you spray down the engine with that ...then run it and watch for the leak.
 
and ..the one you describe ..............you should be able to see that one at idle pretty easily I imagine anyway.
 
we await your report !
Scott
turbovans
----- Original Message -----
From: Bill
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 4:20 PM
Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Re: Massive oil leak.

 

Scott, Greg. Thanks for the suggestions. I'm pretty sure it's not the main seal,it looks pretty dry but could be. Idid an oil change a couple of months ago (1000k's) I'M going out now to degrease and further inspect. What surprised me the most was the huge quantity of the leak,as if something burst. I would have thought an o ring or seal would give a bit of warning. Will report when i find it. Thanks Bill.

--- In Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com, greg esposito <gregespo73@...> wrote:
>
> Hey Bill, Have you done an oil change recently? If so it might be the big o/ring behind the oil cooler. Removing the old filter can disturb a hard old o/ring. Also make sure the old filter did not leave its seal behind! In any case washing it down and running it is the only way to properly diagnose. Greg E
>
>
> From: Bill <marg_bill@...>
> To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, 15 September 2011 8:38 AM
> Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Massive oil leak.
>
>
>  
>
> Morning all. Last night i took the van for a short drive(no more than 1 km) When i left the concrete drive under the motor was dry of any oil leaks as usual. A few minutes later i stopped and a passer by pointed out a huge oil leak under the car. I drove straight home keeping a close eye on the oil light. I followed a trail of oil right back to my house. This morning i put 1.5 L OF OIL to top it up. Thats 1.5 litres in two km. I've been under the car this morning and the leak(steady flow) appears to be up behind the oil cooler behind the oil filter. Has anyone experienced such a dramatic instant oil leak. Any ideas would be appreciated before i start pulling things off. Thanks. Bill.
>

7
Scott,Scott, Greg. i've removed the oil filter. No old gasket present and the 25mm nut securing the oil cooler is nice and tight. Replaced the oil filter with a new one all nice and clean surfaces and pre oiled. Did a test run and oil still pouring out somewhere behind the oil cooler. I can see a clear flow of oil but can't get a line of sight to the exact spot. A friend is coming over with a tilt truck and we'll take it to his hoist where we can get a good go at it. Working in the street sux. Will report back. Bill.
8

greg
do you have a aftermarket oil cooler installed they have a adaptor unit fitted to the oil filter poition with outlet and inlet ports the filter screws onto it, check the fitting outlet pipes and hoses, i had a incident with mine through bad brazing of the ports to the adaptor ring
bob
bob 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2011 8:56 AM
Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Massive oil leak.

 

Hey Bill, Have you done an oil change recently? If so it might be the big o/ring behind the oil cooler. Removing the old filter can disturb a hard old o/ring. Also make sure the old filter did not leave its seal behind! In any case washing it down and running it is the only way to properly diagnose. Greg E

From: Bill <marg_bill@westnet.com.au>
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, 15 September 2011 8:38 AM
Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Massive oil leak.

 
Morning all. Last night i took the van for a short drive(no more than 1 km) When i left the concrete drive under the motor was dry of any oil leaks as usual. A few minutes later i stopped and a passer by pointed out a huge oil leak under the car. I drove straight home keeping a close eye on the oil light. I followed a trail of oil right back to my house. This morning i put 1.5 L OF OIL to top it up. Thats 1.5 litres in two km. I've been under the car this morning and the leak(steady flow) appears to be up behind the oil cooler behind the oil filter. Has anyone experienced such a dramatic instant oil leak. Any ideas would be appreciated before i start pulling things off. Thanks. Bill.



9
Bob. I'm fairly sure it's a genuine oil cooler. I'll put a new one on anyway as they do fail with age generally leaking coolant into the oil.Thanks Bob. Bill

--- In Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com, "Bob Dale" <rcdale@...> wrote:
>
> greg
> do you have a aftermarket oil cooler installed they have a adaptor unit fitted to the oil filter poition with outlet and inlet ports the filter screws onto it, check the fitting outlet pipes and hoses, i had a incident with mine through bad brazing of the ports to the adaptor ring
> bob
> bob
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: greg esposito
> To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2011 8:56 AM
> Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Massive oil leak.
>
>
>
>
> Hey Bill, Have you done an oil change recently? If so it might be the big o/ring behind the oil cooler. Removing the old filter can disturb a hard old o/ring. Also make sure the old filter did not leave its seal behind! In any case washing it down and running it is the only way to properly diagnose. Greg E
>
>
> From: Bill <marg_bill@...>
> To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, 15 September 2011 8:38 AM
> Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Massive oil leak.
>
>
>
> Morning all. Last night i took the van for a short drive(no more than 1 km) When i left the concrete drive under the motor was dry of any oil leaks as usual. A few minutes later i stopped and a passer by pointed out a huge oil leak under the car. I drove straight home keeping a close eye on the oil light. I followed a trail of oil right back to my house. This morning i put 1.5 L OF OIL to top it up. Thats 1.5 litres in two km. I've been under the car this morning and the leak(steady flow) appears to be up behind the oil cooler behind the oil filter. Has anyone experienced such a dramatic instant oil leak. Any ideas would be appreciated before i start pulling things off. Thanks. Bill.
>
10
Make sure that you get a new seal. They only cost about $2.

While you're at it, replace the 2 hoses. These are the ones that cause trouble and they are not expensive. They are a bugger to replace with the oil cooler on.



> Bill <marg_bill@westnet.com.au> wrote:
>
> Bob. I'm fairly sure it's a genuine oil cooler. I'll put a new one on
> anyway as they do fail with age generally leaking coolant into the
> oil.Thanks Bob. Bill
>
> --- In Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com, "Bob Dale" <rcdale@...>
> wrote:
> >
> > greg
> > do you have a aftermarket oil cooler installed they have a adaptor
> unit fitted to the oil filter poition with outlet and inlet ports the
> filter screws onto it, check the fitting outlet pipes and hoses, i had a
> incident with mine through bad brazing of the ports to the adaptor ring
> > bob
> > bob
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: greg esposito
> > To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2011 8:56 AM
> > Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Massive oil leak.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Hey Bill, Have you done an oil change recently? If so it might be
> the big o/ring behind the oil cooler. Removing the old filter can
> disturb a hard old o/ring. Also make sure the old filter did not leave
> its seal behind! In any case washing it down and running it is the only
> way to properly diagnose. Greg E
> >
> >
> > From: Bill <marg_bill@...>
> > To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Thursday, 15 September 2011 8:38 AM
> > Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Massive oil leak.
> >
> >
> >
> > Morning all. Last night i took the van for a short drive(no more
> than 1 km) When i left the concrete drive under the motor was dry of any
> oil leaks as usual. A few minutes later i stopped and a passer by
> pointed out a huge oil leak under the car. I drove straight home keeping
> a close eye on the oil light. I followed a trail of oil right back to my
> house. This morning i put 1.5 L OF OIL to top it up. Thats 1.5 litres in
> two km. I've been under the car this morning and the leak(steady flow)
> appears to be up behind the oil cooler behind the oil filter. Has anyone
> experienced such a dramatic instant oil leak. Any ideas would be
> appreciated before i start pulling things off. Thanks. Bill.
> >
11
Hi all. Mystery solved. The oil leak was coming from the rear oil pressure switch. You can't see it behind the heat shield and muffler. Cant beleave how much oil was coming from where the lead attaches to the switch. Would add one of these to your outback spares kit along with the o ring behind the oil cooler. Thanks all for your help' While i was under there i found a weeping connector junction(christmas tree). Anybody see any problems fabricating one out of aluminium as far as elelectrolisis is concerned. The outlets are 2x25mm,1x16mm,1x38mm. All readily available from aluminium suppliers. Regards Bill.

--- In Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com, "Bill" <marg_bill@...> wrote:
>
> Morning all. Last night i took the van for a short drive(no more than 1 km) When i left the concrete drive under the motor was dry of any oil leaks as usual. A few minutes later i stopped and a passer by pointed out a huge oil leak under the car. I drove straight home keeping a close eye on the oil light. I followed a trail of oil right back to my house. This morning i put 1.5 L OF OIL to top it up. Thats 1.5 litres in two km. I've been under the car this morning and the leak(steady flow) appears to be up behind the oil cooler behind the oil filter. Has anyone experienced such a dramatic instant oil leak. Any ideas would be appreciated before i start pulling things off. Thanks. Bill.
>
12
Bill,

It's almost unbelievable how close the fan belt routinely passes the top of that switch. A loose or a ricocheting broken fan belt has been known to snap the top off that switch, causing a sudden and severe loss of engine oil.

Re "Xmas Tree", I thought it was NLA but Bus Depot lists it here .... http://www.busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=251121442A . Ask the question.

Or you could try repairing the "Christmas Tree" with "JB Weld", available from Bursons Auto parts store.

Or buy another used one off TheSamba, they do come up on occasion.

Or else buy the S/S one from: http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_926_1135/connectorsjunctions___see_description.......html . Seems to be out of stock at the moment.

Never heard of anyone making one in aluminium, given the radiator is aluminium, it should not present any additional problems re metal mix.

Cheers.

Ken

To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
From: marg_bill@westnet.com.au
Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2011 08:00:28 +0000
Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Re: Massive oil leak.

 
Hi all. Mystery solved. The oil leak was coming from the rear oil pressure switch. You can't see it behind the heat shield and muffler. Cant beleave how much oil was coming from where the lead attaches to the switch. Would add one of these to your outback spares kit along with the o ring behind the oil cooler. Thanks all for your help' While i was under there i found a weeping connector junction(christmas tree). Anybody see any problems fabricating one out of aluminium as far as elelectrolisis is concerned. The outlets are 2x25mm,1x16mm,1x38mm. All readily available from aluminium suppliers. Regards Bill.

--- In Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com, "Bill" <marg_bill@...> wrote:
>
> Morning all. Last night i took the van for a short drive(no more than 1 km) When i left the concrete drive under the motor was dry of any oil leaks as usual. A few minutes later i stopped and a passer by pointed out a huge oil leak under the car. I drove straight home keeping a close eye on the oil light. I followed a trail of oil right back to my house. This morning i put 1.5 L OF OIL to top it up. Thats 1.5 litres in two km. I've been under the car this morning and the leak(steady flow) appears to be up behind the oil cooler behind the oil filter. Has anyone experienced such a dramatic instant oil leak. Any ideas would be appreciated before i start pulling things off. Thanks. Bill.
>


13
Thanks Ken for all that info. I'll probably jb weld it to get me back on the road and then organise a more permanent solution. Bill

--- In Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com, Ken Garratt <unclekenz@...> wrote:
>
>
> Bill,
> It's almost unbelievable how close the fan belt routinely passes the top of that switch. A loose or a ricocheting broken fan belt has been known to snap the top off that switch, causing a sudden and severe loss of engine oil.
> Re "Xmas Tree", I thought it was NLA but Bus Depot lists it here .... http://www.busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=251121442A . Ask the question.
> Or you could try repairing the "Christmas Tree" with "JB Weld", available from Bursons Auto parts store.
> Or buy another used one off TheSamba, they do come up on occasion.
> Or else buy the S/S one from: http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_926_1135/connectorsjunctions___see_description.......html . Seems to be out of stock at the moment.
> Never heard of anyone making one in aluminium, given the radiator is aluminium, it should not present any additional problems re metal mix.
> Cheers.
> Ken
> To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
> From: marg_bill@...
> Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2011 08:00:28 +0000
> Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Re: Massive oil leak.
>
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> Hi all. Mystery solved. The oil leak was coming from the rear oil pressure switch. You can't see it behind the heat shield and muffler. Cant beleave how much oil was coming from where the lead attaches to the switch. Would add one of these to your outback spares kit along with the o ring behind the oil cooler. Thanks all for your help' While i was under there i found a weeping connector junction(christmas tree). Anybody see any problems fabricating one out of aluminium as far as elelectrolisis is concerned. The outlets are 2x25mm,1x16mm,1x38mm. All readily available from aluminium suppliers. Regards Bill.
>
>
>
> --- In Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com, "Bill" <marg_bill@> wrote:
>
> >
>
> > Morning all. Last night i took the van for a short drive(no more than 1 km) When i left the concrete drive under the motor was dry of any oil leaks as usual. A few minutes later i stopped and a passer by pointed out a huge oil leak under the car. I drove straight home keeping a close eye on the oil light. I followed a trail of oil right back to my house. This morning i put 1.5 L OF OIL to top it up. Thats 1.5 litres in two km. I've been under the car this morning and the leak(steady flow) appears to be up behind the oil cooler behind the oil filter. Has anyone experienced such a dramatic instant oil leak. Any ideas would be appreciated before i start pulling things off. Thanks. Bill.
>
> >
>
14
Ken. THANKS for guiding me to the second hand stainless steel "christmas tree"(connector junction) for sale in Anchorage alaska. I'VE had some very amusing email exchanges with Nick the nice fella who is sending me the junction. It seems all syncro owners are a bit touched. Bill

--- In Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com, "Bill" <marg_bill@...> wrote:
>
> Hi all. Mystery solved. The oil leak was coming from the rear oil pressure switch. You can't see it behind the heat shield and muffler. Cant beleave how much oil was coming from where the lead attaches to the switch. Would add one of these to your outback spares kit along with the o ring behind the oil cooler. Thanks all for your help' While i was under there i found a weeping connector junction(christmas tree). Anybody see any problems fabricating one out of aluminium as far as elelectrolisis is concerned. The outlets are 2x25mm,1x16mm,1x38mm. All readily available from aluminium suppliers. Regards Bill.
>
> --- In Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com, "Bill" <marg_bill@> wrote:
> >
> > Morning all. Last night i took the van for a short drive(no more than 1 km) When i left the concrete drive under the motor was dry of any oil leaks as usual. A few minutes later i stopped and a passer by pointed out a huge oil leak under the car. I drove straight home keeping a close eye on the oil light. I followed a trail of oil right back to my house. This morning i put 1.5 L OF OIL to top it up. Thats 1.5 litres in two km. I've been under the car this morning and the leak(steady flow) appears to be up behind the oil cooler behind the oil filter. Has anyone experienced such a dramatic instant oil leak. Any ideas would be appreciated before i start pulling things off. Thanks. Bill.
> >
>