P38A Rear Main Oil Seal Leaking?

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swac

Active Member
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148
Location
walsall
Since changing to higher viscosity oil as suggested by the good people of this forum my oil consumption had improved markedly, however I had been driving the old girl fairly easy for the past month. This morning I had to go up to South Yorkshire from the Midlands so she's had a good high speed run for a few hundred miles. Anyway I checked the oil on my return and she's used a bit, not down to minimum but probably about half a litre down. I walked around the back of the car and obviously the tailgate is filthy so the oil droplets all over it are quite obvious. I'm pretty sure that the leak is from the rear main, presubably this is a gearbox out job and although I'm fairly handy with a spanner I don,t really fancy doing it on my drive. Can anybody recommend someone in the West Midlands who would happily undertake the work (not too expensive).
 
oil leaking from the engine wont end up on the tailgate o_O
Where do you think that it's come from them? The guy who runs the garage next door says that's where it's come from. It's due to turbulence at speed apparently, that's why cars that go up and down the motorways at this time of year have a barely legible rear plate, (sounded plausible to me anyway).:confused:
 
Where do you think that it's come from them? The guy who runs the garage next door says that's where it's come from. It's due to turbulence at speed apparently, that's why cars that go up and down the motorways at this time of year have a barely legible rear plate, (sounded plausible to me anyway).:confused:

Exhaust ....
 
it just seems a bit far fetched. road grime gets picked up by the wheels and thrown up, turbulence then boils it round and some will stick to the back of the car, including any oil/diesel on the road.
as dippy said, exhaust will also end up on the back of the car, but generally in the immediate vicinity.
lots of landys have engine oil leaks, never seen it end up on the back of the car though, unless its haemorrhaging. any leak would be *very* obvious underneath
 
it just seems a bit far fetched. road grime gets picked up by the wheels and thrown up, turbulence then boils it round and some will stick to the back of the car, including any oil/diesel on the road.
as dippy said, exhaust will also end up on the back of the car, but generally in the immediate vicinity.
lots of landys have engine oil leaks, never seen it end up on the back of the car though, unless its haemorrhaging. any leak would be *very* obvious underneath

Yeah, any engine oil leak from any car can be windblown back along the underside, but you would see evidence of it and it would be a fair amount lost on the dipstick ...
 
it just seems a bit far fetched. road grime gets picked up by the wheels and thrown up, turbulence then boils it round and some will stick to the back of the car, including any oil/diesel on the road.
as dippy said, exhaust will also end up on the back of the car, but generally in the immediate vicinity.
lots of landys have engine oil leaks, never seen it end up on the back of the car though, unless its haemorrhaging. any leak would be *very* obvious underneath
 
it just seems a bit far fetched. road grime gets picked up by the wheels and thrown up, turbulence then boils it round and some will stick to the back of the car, including any oil/diesel on the road.
as dippy said, exhaust will also end up on the back of the car, but generally in the immediate vicinity.
lots of landys have engine oil leaks, never seen it end up on the back of the car though, unless its haemorrhaging. any leak would be *very* obvious underneath

That's what the guy at the garage said, "if it was coming out of the exhausts it would all over the underside of the bumper near the pipes, and there is not a sign of it there". It starts probably about a foot in from each side of the car and is uniformily distributed about the centre line, with a little more in the centre and getting less towards the sides.
 
That's what the guy at the garage said, "if it was coming out of the exhausts it would all over the underside of the bumper near the pipes, and there is not a sign of it there". It starts probably about a foot in from each side of the car and is uniformily distributed about the centre line, with a little more in the centre and getting less towards the sides.

The vortices that happen around the back of a vehicle are quite amazing ...
 
That's what the guy at the garage said, "if it was coming out of the exhausts it would all over the underside of the bumper near the pipes, and there is not a sign of it there". It starts probably about a foot in from each side of the car and is uniformily distributed about the centre line, with a little more in the centre and getting less towards the sides.

If you can see it all along underneath then just follow it back. If you're lucky it might be the o-ring on the dip-stick (although I am struggling to remember what the v8 looks like) or sump leaking. If you have another sort of luck it is the rear crank seal.
 
That's what I feared. When it was up on the ramp for it's MOT I was invited to inspect it and it seems to be leaking from between the engine and transmission. On the MOT certificate, and this was only a month ago, it was described as an oil leak but not excessive and they are a very rigorous testing station. It doesn't drop oil on the drive but I suppose that is because of where it's leaking from, it needs to be moving to leak and the faster it goes the more it leaks. :(
 
It may have been leaking for some time. Get your self a garden sprayer filled with petrol and clean it all down. Then run it for a few days and check everyday for the results. If there had been a leak for some time and it's been undetected the oil creeps everywhere.
 
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It may have been leaking for some time. Get your self a garden sprayer filled with petrol and clean it all down. Then run it for a few days and check everyday for the results. If there had been a leak for some time and it's been undetected the oil creeps everywhere.
A garden sprayer filled with petrol you say, some body put a pic of swan vestas quick lol !
 
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