TDCI oil leak and towing?

[Stroller133]

We are due to tow our caravan 280 miles to Cornwall at the weekend.

We are (were) due to take my 2005 C-max 2.0TDCi, but noticed an oil leak tonight. Thought it was just a drop, but potentially it might be worse as it could be held by the undertray.

I'm sure with older cars just keeping it topped up might be ok, but I might be way off but I seem to have the impression that modern cars don't generally leak as much as cars used to, I seem to remember growing up every other drive had oil patches! I'm concerned the leak might indicate a problem & my other concern is the engine will be working harder whilst towing so could start pushing the oil out even quicker?

 

Any thoughts/advice.

[Mally]

Yes just check the oil and your recovery membership.

Have a nice trip.

[cpjitservices]

2.0 TDCI Oil Leak ? 
 

Fitted from Factory!

 

Mines leaked since I got my 2.0 TDCI Mondeo, It's quite a bad one. But it never seems to loose any. I have recently serviced it and it seems to still not be loosing any.

 

These are dirty engines....

[sierraman]

They all leak at the base of where the bellhousing meets the sump. It's standard.

 

I'd whip the undertray off see where it's coming from. Likely it'll only do it when hot, most old stuff leaks a little bit, cars rarely have oil literally pissing out.

[Stroller133]

My wife has managed to book it it to be looked at later today. The car is on 162k, and we've had it since 40k and never had oil on the drive until now. I've also never had to top up oil between services but last night the level was only just on the bottom of the stick. It's not gushing out, but I'm parking it on the street this week as the caravan is on the drive and a patch about £coin sized is their overnight. It probably will be ok, but I don't want to be on the side of the M5 with 3 young children waiting for a breakdown truck all day. I've got AutoAid cover that claims to cover caravans, but again not keen to on finding out how good the cover is!

[cpjitservices]

My wife has managed to book it it to be looked at later today. The car is on 162k, and we've had it since 40k and never had oil on the drive until now. I've also never had to top up oil between services but last night the level was only just on the bottom of the stick. It's not gushing out, but I'm parking it on the street this week as the caravan is on the drive and a patch about £coin sized is their overnight. It probably will be ok, but I don't want to be on the side of the M5 with 3 young children waiting for a breakdown truck all day. I've got AutoAid cover that claims to cover caravans, but again not keen to on finding out how good the cover is!

You'll probs be fine, the TDCI is fitted with an oil leak from factory dont think ive ever seen on that doesn't leak. Goes for most old cars really.

 

Doubt it will get any worse - I do a 120 mile round trip on a weekend and mine leaks. Just keep an eye on the oil level.

[Mally]

Problem with a garage is they are unlikely to say its OK in case it isn't and you blame them.

With us of course it's different

[cpjitservices]

Problem with a garage is they are unlikely to say its OK in case it isn't and you blame them.

With us of course it's different

And they may see £££££££££££££££££££

[sierraman]

Take a picture if you can and might be able to tell you?

 

See if you can take the undertray off, easy job.

 

If the bottom of the engine that is, not the driveway.

[Stroller133]

It is a cracked sump. The garage have silicone sealed it and said just keep an eye on it.

[Mally]

That's a proper autoshite garage.

[Stroller133]

That's a proper autoshite garage.

Yes, they also put a blanking plate on the EGR valve and when the 125A fuse on the starter blew they just braised the cable back together!

[sierraman]

Hopefully it will work. You'd need the crack to be free of oil though to have any hope of sealing. I'd carry some JB Weld in case you need to repair it again in the trip, you can always drain the oil and dry the area out to effect a repair once you are there. Good luck anyway!

[DodgeRover]

Feck, are these alloy sumped then? I would take tools to drop the oil, a can of carb clean and JB weld or similar chemical metal just to be sure.

Unless by silicon they mean sticking a plate over the crack with tiger seal I can't see that lasting too long.

 

Keep a check on the oil level when you stop for pee breaks.

[matty879]

Yes, they also put a blanking plate on the EGR valve and when the 125A fuse on the starter blew they just braised the cable back together!

it will most likely throw a fault code with the egr blanked off,the eml will come and go,nothing to worry about with that though,i have run 10000+ miles like that,i would be more concerned about what cracked the sump,as they are pretty thick.

[GoGently]

Drive it Hard...When things get hot they expand & the dribbling  just might stop

 

 

[Stroller133]

it will most likely throw a fault code with the egr blanked off,the eml will come and go,nothing to worry about with that though,i have run 10000+ miles like that,i would be more concerned about what cracked the sump,as they are pretty thick.

Those repairs weren't all just yesterday, only the sump. The EGR was done about 4/5 years ago. It's strange the EML will sometimes go out for weeks at a time, but is on most of the time.

[sierraman]

Probably it's on because the EGR is completely blanked, to avoid the light coming on you need a small hole about 1/4 inch to restrict the EGR as opposed to blanking it completely. You could do that on pre Euro 4 diesels like the earlier TDCI or the TDDI.

[Stroller133]

Well we got here! The caravan is splattered with a mixture or rain and oil. Not sure if it just from what was already underneath the car though, as it doesn't seem to have lost any oil.