Pics: Removed front difuser and found oil leaks all around?

[dimi_108]

Tonight after a 100km drive through the hills, i let the car rest for a half hour. Irwin and I had noticed a tiny patch of fresh oil, the size of a coin underneath my car.
Upon further inspection, i removed the whole uncer-car difuser and to my surprise, found oil leaking under the car and also a dark black oil sitting on the the outside of one of the turbos.
The car runs well, no white smoke blowing or no loss of performance (not from what i notice, the car still runs very well).
Now, the oil that's sitting on the turbo is dark black. The oil leaking around the other parts of the under car seems to be a transparent brown. It's not ATF as i smelled it and it smells nothing like the ATF - it's actually got no smell at all?

Basically, i'd like to know if oil sitting around the turbo means it's all over. And i'd also like to know what that oil is leaking on the other part. Is that a torque converter seal gone in the transmission? It doesn't smell like ATF though...

I'd really appreciate some help and if anyone here has had the same problem as this. If you have, do let me know what's happened here.
Please see attached pictures.

I've also posted this up on CVR4 to see if anyone over there has experienced the same thing or knows what this is.

Once again, the car drives very well and i have not noticed anything different about its performance since it first landed here 6 weeks ago.

I'm preparing for the worst here.

(In one picture you'll see the dark oil from the turbo on my finger and you'll also see the "transparent brown" oil on my finger as well, just to show the difference)

Oil sitting on the outside of the turbo

Oil from the other oil leak under the car

 

[SiliconAngel]

Dimi that's a lot of oil...

Unfortunately anyone who looks at those photos will only be guessing (albeit somewhat educated). The best way to pinpoint oil leaks is to find their origin. Jack the car up and put it on stands, take your intake snorkel, airbox and engine cover off so you can get a good look at the top of the engine and spray every bit of it with degreaser, hose it down (preferably with a high-pressure gun) and then get in with some rags and wipe every available surface down. Give it some time to dry off (at least a couple of hours) in case you have a bit of water somewhere it shouldn't be - while you're waiting, put everything back together and check your fluid levels. If they seem ok, take it for a 20min drive, put it back on stands and get underneath with a good torch / work light, and see if you can spot any new oil.

At a guess, I'd say you may have a leaky turbo seal and that second leak looks like it could be either engine or gearbox oil. But it could be leaking down / being thrown up from somewhere - it's too hard to tell when it's that dirty. If it is gearbox oil (or you want to be conservative in case it is), it might be a good idea to check the level if you can, or at least top it up before driving it anywhere.

Take heart, dude - it's almost certainly only seals or gaskets that have gone. While inconvenient and time-consuming having to dismantle everything, they're not expensive to replace

 

[dimi_108]

Thanks Trev, appreciate the support.

I'm hoping to be able to drive the car for another two weeks until i'll be able to take a day off to drop it into the workshop and get it sorted.
Being a TC seal, i know it'll be okay to drive temporarily as long as the levels are good and spare ATF is on hand. Now with the oil on the turbo housing issue, if it's the turbo seal, is the car driveable? I certainly won't drive it if i run a risk in cooking the turbo because the seal is gone

 

[SiliconAngel]

I doubt you'll cook the turbo dude - as well as the oil lubricating the bearings they're also water cooled. If you determine that leak is definitely coming from the turbo you can always take it off and take a look - the front turbo only takes about an hour to remove The rear is a LOT more fiddly!

 

[bradc]

Most of the guys on cvr4 said TC seal, thats what I think it is likely to be as well coming from that area.

The main thing is to keep an eye on engine and gearbox oil levels and make sure you don't let either drop very much.

 

[minik1971]

Well when I had my head under my car the other night changing belts I noticed my starter motor area looks very similar to those pics. My oil is old not fresh but prior to me purchasing the car the torque converter seal had been done so it kinda makes sense. I'd do what silicon said and give it all a good clean, I need to do the same. It makes checking those things much easier.

 

[Guest]

the oil looks red to me,

best case, a crack in the power steering cooler
or
worst case TC seal,

the oil on the turbo, if you lucky a leaky oil feed, possibly a leaky rocker cover gasket

 

[naughtika]

to me the oil looks reddish as well.. so probably TC Seal like everyone else have said..

about the oil on the turbo.. when it's cold.. degrease, let it dry up then give it a couple of days then check it again.. if you see alot of oil deposits again in that area where the turbo is.. then you'd know there is a consistent oil leak on that area.. but if there isn't you'll be glad that its less $$$ to spend..

could it be possible that the oil came out from the intake? after having that 'SPIRITED' run to the mountains with the boys last month, when i had my bonnet opened so i can let it cool down, i noticed there was a fresh oil leak from the rear turbo/intake area, managed to track it down and it came out of the metal & silicon joiner.. so it could also be similar to that...

 

[dimi_108]

Thanks a lot for your help and suggestions guys.
Yeah Chris, it could be. I've wiped it down and i'll check if it's happening again. Thanks bro.

I checked this morning and it hasn't leaked much overnight, just a couple of drops.
I've degreased it and blasted it with water and it's looking really clean now. I'll just have to wait and see where that leak is seeping from.

best case, a crack in the power steering cooler

Carsten, could this be the case? As my steering feels very heavy and i have driven Irwin's car and his steering is much more "light" and free. Mine is noticeably heavier than when i first got the car.
It's just weird because the red/brown oil leaking does not have any kind of ATF smell to it! I also checked the power steering fluid and it's at max level.

 

[Guest]

the oil on the turbo is probably blow by in the intake system that is leaking out, as the intake pipe onto your front turbo is only just hanging onto the compressor housing...

 

[dimi_108]

Thanks Mitch, i hope it is just blow by.

Pics update. Take a look, it's not ATF (as you can see on the last pic, i've put some of the leaking oil on paper).

I've degreased and blasted the underneath of the car with a gernie. Drove it around 30kms this morning after the clean and there was nothing at all. After around 80kms of driving, the leak has slowly just started to trickle out. Here is exactly where it is coming from. Looks like engine oil to me. It's a dirty brown oil.

 

[Guest]

mmmmm I still think that it would be ATF even tho it is brown ATF fluid will pickup dirt carbon and any other grime on it way out of the bell housing. I would be hoping it was atf not engine oil beacuse if it is engine oil you will need to replace the rear main thats not cheap if you get it done properly. You could be looking at 800-900 for a rear main seal whilst your there you should if money persist get the trans serviced and all other seals done on the trans as it will need to be pulled out to do the rear main. But all this bassed on the pics and could changed once a mech sees it in the flesh.



Edit:- on closer looks the starter has what looks like a fresh oil stain as well. Is this normal guys??

 

[Guest]

looks like dirty ATF to me, however the SP3 fluid in these cars has a very distinct smell...

it's either going to be a torque converter seal, or a rear main.
either way, its box out, and replace the seal (the 2 are within a few inches of each other) so i'd be replacing both.

 

[dimi_108]

Thanks fellas. Yeah good idea mitch. Shouldn't cost me any extra in labour to have the other done at the same time should it?
I should be budgeting around $1000 for these seals to be replaced right?

I'll still need to drive the car for 2 weeks until i can get it done. From now until it gets dropped off into the workshop, i'll keep an eye on the transmission fluid levels.

 

[Guest]

nope, its exactly the same process to replace either seal, onces just the input seal on the box, the other is the crank oil seal on the engine.

i'd be getting a written quote for labour, it seems some people have been getting labour quotes well over 1k.

if i can remove the box by MYSELF in my driveway in under a day, a workshop should shit it in.

 

[dimi_108]

Yeah for sure. But you know how workshops are. Most of them tell you it will be ready in 2 days and you get it back in 2 weeks. It's all good though.

I'm going to ring Hills Motorsport and Meek Automotive tomorrow for a quote and i'll let you guys know how much i was told.

 

[SiliconAngel]

Having just replaced my rear main, I recon you'd be better off spending half that on the tools you'll need and doing it yourself. While time consuming, its not a particularly difficult job And yes, with the new photos I reckon that's exactly what is leaking.

Also noticed the big chip in the bottom of your tranny where some jockstrap put a prybar I'd be sealing that up if I were you Dimi - you don't want muck splashing up inside your transmission!

 

[naughtika]

i was wondering if what that was.. are there like 3 chipped metals?

 

[Guest]

lol, thats no chip.
that's how it's cast

 

[dimi_108]

Got a quote this morning $920 for the rear man seal and torque converter seal to be replaced by Hills Motorsport in Castle Hill.
Booked it in for for 2 weeks from now. Mark said they'll start work on it on the Monday and I can pick it up on Tuesday morning.
I'm happy with the quote. Hopefully i'm not hit with any nasty surprises like "your box needs a rebuild"