Sudden oil leak on Vauxhall Omega V6
Paulus
I'm in deparation here... I really need some help, I don't know where to
go from here.
I was driving through birmingham on Friday, in traffic, engine was quite
hot, no where near the red on the gauge though, no fans kicking in.
And there was suddenly smoke coming from under then bonnet, so I pulled
over, turned off the engine, and poped the bonnet...
There was quite a large amount of oil over the bottom of the engine, and
pourig out. However there is still the majority of the oil in the engine.
The engine was running fine til I turned it off for fear of causing problems
as I was unsure how much oil was in it.
Had it recovered to a garage in Cannock Staffordshire.
A garage have taken the cam belt off and associated tensioners etc, and
cannot see where the oil has come from.
I'm now left with a car stripped and I'm no better off, and no closer to
knowing what's wrong with it.
Has any one got any idea what might casue this 3.0 V6 engine to ditch a
load of oil suddenly.
I've got a new Cam kit to re assemble it, but no one in the area will do
it, as they fear they will be liable for the fault if it happens again.
Please help if you have any thoughs..
Thanks
Paul
Rob Graham
can't find the leak, surely they would be prepared to reassemble the engine
if you signed a disclaimer absolving them from any repercussions if it
happened again.
Rob Graham
Anthony Britt
(timing end).
Was the cambelt cover contaminated internally with oil? Or has it worked
its way in from outside? Sometimes rocker cover gaskets can go and dump oil
everywhere. This would seem more likely, as the smoke would be caused by
the oil getting onto the exhaust, which would be difficult (but not
impossible) from a leaking crank oil seal.
Where in general was the oil pouring out from?
--
Anthony
Remove eight from email to reply.
Paulus
Yes.
>Or has it worked
> its way in from outside? Sometimes rocker cover gaskets can go and dump
oil
> everywhere.
No... there's no oil above the crankshafts at all, everything above the
cylinder head is nice n clean, plus I had the head gaskets changed not many
miles ago.
> Where in general was the oil pouring out from?
Seemed to be from the front of the engine, behind the cam belt.
There's a wheel dead centre right at the bottom of the engine at the front,
which the belt goes round, not sure what it is, but this is nice and clean.
the most seems to be over the top of the sump, where it protrudes out.
The guy said something about a possibility of the oil pressure sensor
leaking... Is this likely to lose a lot of oil over a very short period of
time, so as to form a puddle? Not all the oil has left the engine, but a
large qty, most is still inside, but you'd never think it by the size of the
puddle.
Come to think about it, I did an oil change about 2 weeks ago, and when
I started the engine it took ages for the "oil lack" indication on the
display to go out. There's a possibility that I may have put too much oil in
too(Not masses, only used 1 X 5 litre can), as I kept putting it in, cos
this was on the display. Not thought of that before. I used Halfords 5W40
fully synthetic oil.
Many thanks... I really appreciate your advice, I'm really in total
desperation in this.
Paul.
Anthony Britt
the crankshaft pulley, which I assume is the wheel you described in your
last post.
If the engine was overfilled with oil, then it is likely that the oil has
forced its way out past the crank oil seal. It is rare for oil pressure
switches just to start leaking - they usually have to suffer some form of
damage first. If they do leak, then they do so badly as they are mounted on
the main pressure gallery! As the oil was inside the cambelt cover, then I
doubt it would be the oil pressure switch leaking as most of the oil would
be around the front/sump area of the engine.
The oil capacity on these engine, IIRC, is about 4.5 litres, so putting 5
litres in will take it well over the max mark.
Was the ignition switched on whilst the oil was draining out? If it was
then this is the only way that the 'oil lack' warning will come up. It can
take a few minutes to go back out once the level is corrected.
Paulus
> forced its way out past the crank oil seal. It is rare for oil pressure
> switches just to start leaking - they usually have to suffer some form of
> damage first. If they do leak, then they do so badly as they are mounted
on
> the main pressure gallery! As the oil was inside the cambelt cover, then
I
> doubt it would be the oil pressure switch leaking as most of the oil would
> be around the front/sump area of the engine.
This is where it is largly.
> The oil capacity on these engine, IIRC, is about 4.5 litres, so putting 5
> litres in will take it well over the max mark.
>
> Was the ignition switched on whilst the oil was draining out? If it was
> then this is the only way that the 'oil lack' warning will come up. It
can
> take a few minutes to go back out once the level is corrected.
Yes...
The garage are now telling me that there may be a crack in the oil pump,
and they want to replace it. One of the cam belt tensioners bearing are
knakers and belt was running off to one side, engine was running ok, but
they say this is what has caused it.
Thanks, your advice is appreciated.
Paul.
Paulus
synthetic oil, that when it got wiute hot, it simply forced the oil out, and
there is no fault at all with the oil pump, and the dodgy tensioner is not
related?
And is it likely that if I have the the new cam belt kit fitted etc, that
the engine will run fine?
Thanks...
Paul.
Anthony Britt
and run the engine with the covers off to see if there are any more leaks.
It can be dodgy to do this, but may be the only way of checking where the
oil is coming from. Problem is if the oil sprays out over the new belt,
although I would think it would be OK to run the car briefly with the old
one in place.
I have not known of oil pumps on the v6 to crack. I am not saying it cannot
happen, but is usually the crank seal, or more rarely the oil pump gasket.
Hope you get it sorted cheaply!!
HTH
Paulus
You've been a great help. This is a total minefield. Most people just
want to charge me £1000's to change everything in sight, without
guaranteeing it'll fix anything.
I've heard that the oil pressure in these can be increased by a blocked
engine breather too... is this true? Would it be worth getting it changed?
Could I test it easily?
I suppose if this was the case it would add to the pressure of having
too much oil in the engine.
Really appreciate your assistance.
Paul.
Anthony Britt
inside the engine to build up to the point that it escapes through the
weakest part of the engine - usually oil seals or gaskets. Any oil mist in
the air gets blown out at the same time. If this is coupled with an
excessively high oil level, then straight oil can be blown out, causing a
bit of a mess!
Unless your engine has done obscene mileage, or has had neglected oil
changes in the past, I would very much doubt that there would be a blockage
in the breather system. I haven't seen a V6 with blocked breathers before,
and some of those I have looked at have had 150K+ on them.
You can tell if the crnkcase is pressurising by running the engine for a
short while, switching off, and the pulling the dipstick out. Any release
of pressure indicates a blocked breather.
Paulus
I'll get someone to reassemble the car, with the new Cam belt tensioners,
and the old belt, and run it up to temperature to see if it leaks anything.
If not, will just get him to put the new belt on, and re-assemble, and see
how it goes.
Will do the test thing with the dip-stick to see if there is a blocked
breather too.
Your advice has been greatly apprecitated.
Many Thanks
Paul.