Just discovered a small leak from the front of my 300tdi. The oil is leaking onto the axle at the front - suspect either front of the sump gasket or front crankshaft oil seal(if it has one)!!!
Remember reading somewhere that there is an oil seal that is changed when the timing belt is done.
Any thoughts before I get dirty???
We can't guess - you'll have to get dirty. And when you've found your leak, find mine!
If this is your first oil leak, you've done well, very very well. Gordon>
Maybe it's me - got a Rangie and a 110 and neither of them have EVER leaked oil - but they are V8s - I do NOT like diesels.....
Hi Vince,
If it's the front crankshaft seal, the oil will be coming from the inspection hole in the bottom of the timing cover. If that is the case, you should get it fixed quickly, as it will get on the timing belt and possibly damage that.
Hope it's just the sump gasket - mine has leaked from day one from there!
Graham Carter Harare Zimbabwe
Thanks for that - will check it out later!!!
Bloody hell - just noticed your address - are things as bad as they say over there - or worse???
Such a shame used to be such a lovely country.
Right, I've just been through this pain with my ex-300tdi disco. I did the sump gasket twice, the front crankshaft oil seal, the lift pump gasket, replaced the water pump gaskets because I though it was perhaps water mixing with oil residue. After all the expense it turned out to be the gasket BEHIND the timing cover casing between that and the block. It leaks out of the corner on the nearside at the bottom and drips directly on the front axle. At speed it flies back showering the exhaust and the nearside of the sump.
Now you can bodge it by drying it right out with a cold engine and slapping a load of sealant on it (the black sump stuff). Loosen the timing case bolts around in that corner first. It might help the stuff seep into the gap. Or, strip it all off (timing belt and gears with front cover and casing) and replace the gasket. The bodge was ok for about 4 months.
Hi Vince
It's our Independence day here, so we've had a day off work. I had some freinds around from the 4x4 club and the birding club, and we had a braii (barbeque). Super relaxing day, with plenty of Castle lager and steak being consumed. About a dozen of us are going to Mana Pools, a World Heritage site on the banks of the Zambezi in 10 days time - great place for seeing lions, hyaenas (leave a cool box out overnight and they'll take it, even if it does just(!) contain beers), wild dog elephant, eland etc. I love my
1997 Disco 300Tdi, and recently took part in the SA 4x4 Ecochallenge (seeOn the down side, back to work tomorrow. At current rates, $1,000,000 Zimbabwe is worth about 3 quid! The largest banknote is $50,000, so to carry 1 pound, you need 6 notes, but those are in short supply, so you probably are more likely to have 16 $20,000 notes. My house was bought in
2000 for 2.5 million, is now worth somewhere about 6 billion! Inflation of 900% at official rates is hairy - if you have any cash, you spend it. The only reason that I can type this is that I have my own generator, as electricity has been off for about 2.5 hours. Up until the last couple of weeks, you could not buy fuel at a filling station unless you have paid in forex - now there are a couple selling in local currency. No NHS, and visits to the doctor just doubled in price. The signs of things not working are becoming clearer every day.So there you have two answers to your question! Yes it is bad, but you can still ahve a great time.
Cheers! Graham Carter Harare Zimbabwe gcarter(at)mweb(dot)co(dot)zw
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