CDTi Oil Leak @ 5300 km :(

[digifish]

So it starts with the warranty repairs already :(

http://www.digifishmusic.com/public/CDTiOILLEAK.JPG

I like to crawl around my cars avery couple of months with an inspection light, this was the second time I have done it...didn't need to look far.

[J]

Ouch. It's not too serious, is it?

Won't turn me off looking for one, though :)

Jeff

[digifish]

Ouch. It's not too serious, is it?

Won't turn me off looking for one, though :)

Jeff

Most likely the cam cover or something similar was not torqued in the factory correctly.

It's a hassle tho, I bet -

1. they will tighten everything down and clean it and tell me to keep an eye on it.

2. It won't fix it.

3. I'll have to come back and they will have it for a day, then they won't have the parts they need...and on and on it will go :(

such is life.

digifish

[DirtyHarry]

get a refund for the car and buy a lada.

[mintaka]

Damn it Digifish, you had to make my day.

I've just looked in the same area of my engine and sure enough, it's wet with oil and dirty.

Bet we get some BS story about it being spilled oil from the last service (Mine is just on 18,000km, had a service about 2 months ago.)

Let us know what Holden say, but I'll most likely hold off until the next service. It doesn't seem to bad on mine just now.

Mintaka

[digifish]

Damn it Digifish, you had to make my day.

I've just looked in the same area of my engine and sure enough, it's wet with oil and dirty.

Bet we get some BS story about it being spilled oil from the last service (Mine is just on 18,000km, had a service about 2 months ago.)

Let us know what Holden say, but I'll most likely hold off until the next service. It doesn't seem to bad on mine just now.

Mintaka

I have been a bit busy, I'll try to get in tomorrow and see what they say. I took the cover off and there is no way the oil could get from the fill-point to here (I think).

I was sort of hoping others would check theirs after seeing this. :P

I'll definitely keep you informed of what they say.

digifish

[digifish]

OK yesterday the dealer looked and couldn't work out exactly where it was coming from so degreased the engine and put some UV flourescent dye in the oil and have asked me to drive it around (keeping an eye on it) and they will inspect it when I start to see oil. Seemed to think it was the vacuum pump (the large silver thing on the end of the engine in the pic above).

I have my own UV inspection light...so...I'll start searching myself tonight.

sort of as expected. I wonder if it was an oil spill from the 3K service (when I had them change the oil? ;) )

digifish

[bornwild]

The services from Holden and Ford are just a joke...after I had my 3k one done, I found cigarette buds in the engine bay........the guy who did it has personally taken it out and apologised, I threatened with.....well........an offer they couldn't refuse, plus my 15k service will be for free.

[digifish]

The services from Holden and Ford are just a joke...after I had my 3k one done, I found cigarette buds in the engine bay........the guy who did it has personally taken it out and apologised, I threatened with.....well........an offer they couldn't refuse, plus my 15k service will be for free.

Well, I did find the cap of a degreaser can in mine, and had to get them to clean some parts they missed.

I think the problem is that most dealerships are not particularly nice places to work, so they don't attract the best staff nor retain the good ones.

digifish

[digifish]

OK, this dye stuff is quite impressive, it is leaking...this area looks completely clean/dry now under normal light...

:D

http://www.digifishmusic.com/public/CDTi-OilLeak-Flouro.JPG

...you can certainly see where it went in...

http://www.digifishmusic.com/public/oil-filler.jpg

[Red AH SRI T]

Thats amazing!!!!!!

[Alix]

I was sort of hoping others would check theirs after seeing this. :P

I checked briefly on the weekend - nothing on mine.

Mind you, with about 4200 on the clock, I've got maybe 1000kms to go before it happens - right? :p

[poita]

thats awesome dude, its like teh whole csi thing
some funny looking stains there :P

[SIMid]

some funny looking stains there :P

Is it a common prob Poita? *LOL*

[JasonGilholme]

thats really cool.

Can you get this additive at your local auto shops??

Can you even buy it from holden dealers???

[mintaka]

Bl**dy Hell, wish I had that stuff when I was a foreman in the Bus workshops (oil leaks were the bane of my life then)

Thanks for the update, Digifish, keep it up.

Mintaka

[digifish]

thats really cool.

Can you get this additive at your local auto shops??

Can you even buy it from holden dealers???

It's

http://www.spectroline.com/hvacr/hvac_dyes_oil-glo44.html

http://www.spectroline.com/hvacr/images/hvac_dyes_oil-glo44.jpg
http://www.spectroline.com/hvacr/hvac_howitworks.html

My car is booked in for round-2 tomorrow...where they will start to fix the leak and need to order in gasgets, so will delay several more days, or make me come back again! :P

Seems no dealer is very well prepared for the diesel engines...first no suitable oils, then no filters etc...

digifish

[dieselhead]

don't scare me now digifish... should i start looking for parts already? i'm 5 months away from the 15,000km service :)

[digifish]

don't scare me now digifish... should i start looking for parts already? i'm 5 months away from the 15,000km service :)

You should certainly make sure they have the parts in stock about a week before you are due to get your service.

digifish

[dieselhead]

your oil leak, how bad is it? have you noticed some significant drop in level?

[digifish]

your oil leak, how bad is it? have you noticed some significant drop in level?

Not bad, just making a mess of the engine as shown in the first pic. It's probably leaking a teaspoon a week. It seems to be coming from the vacuum pump.

You just don't expect brand new engines to be leaking oil :mad:

digifish.

[dieselhead]

mine has 4,500km and not a drop leaked. just another proof that tuning is good for the engine! higher power and torque outputs result in higher oil pressure, that in turn pushes and seals all cracks :)

just kiddin'... you're right, brand new engines shouldn't leak oil or anything else, no matter how insignificant the quantity...
i have not seen similar problems related to this engine on UK and other European Astra forums, so it's not all lost. however, i feel for you digifish, it's not pleasant to have your car sitting at the dealer...

[digifish]

i have not seen similar problems related to this engine on UK and other European Astra forums, so it's not all lost.

Well there was one other in this thread :)

digifish

[Bill_G]

Oil leaks aside, I'm not overly impressed by the quality of the welding on the T-piece on what appears to be a coolant pipe at the left of digifish's original photo either. It's probably secure enough, but aesthetically it looks like crap.

[mintaka]

Digifish,

I must say that so far, the local dealer here has been good with parts, but then again they only had to do a basic service on mine.

And I can back up that at least somebody else has a leak. But mine doesn't seem as bad as Digifish's.

Mintaka.

[digifish]

Short update...

Still weeping oil after round 2.

1. Torque up all the bolts (I had thought they did this in round 1 so had a grumpy session with the service staff).
2. Clean the engine
3. Drive for a day and inspect with a light again...

http://www.digifishmusic.com/public/images/CDTi-Leak2.jpg

It's not as bad as it was...but still there. So now the dealer will need to take it away for a couple of days apparently. Not a simple job to pull the top of this engine apart.

Good news is they have offered a loan car etc.

digifish

[entice]

i'd be demanding a loan car!
I think there is a policy in that if it's off the road for a specified amount of time for a w'ty issue, they have to provide you with a loan car.

Don't for a second think they are doing you a "favour" with the loan car... you paid good money for your car, and it's meant to be driven.. not back for them to tinker with

[digifish]

i'd be demanding a loan car!


They were offering.

I didn't think they were doing me a favour.

digifish

[digifish]

Phew, this has gone on a bit...but oner culprit has been spotted...this is a highly magnified region between the oil-filler body and the vacuum pump...[edit: another was the front-right cam gasket]

http://www.digifishmusic.com/public/images/cdti-squirt.jpg

...notice the oil spray, so definitely the vacuum pump gasket, the issue is that this on the other side of the pump hiding in a crevice (up-hill) from where the main oil has been appearing. I also note the score mark dissapearing behind the pump, I wonder if that's the cause of the failure?

Note to CDTi owners - Holden probably need to import the part, not sure Holden are up to speed on spares for these engines yet :(, this will be visit #4.

digifish

[pred8r]

Pics not working :(

EDIT: Wooo spooky they are working again....

[digifish]

Pics not working :(

Working here.

[digifish]

I realised I never completed this thread.

It the leak turned out to be from 2 places, the vacuum pump gasket AND the front-right hand-side cam-cover gasket. The Holden dealer ended up pulling the cam covers off putting a new gasket on + used good quality gadget goo and it's been clean and leak free for over a year now.

About the cam-cover, it's a design flaw in the cam cover + assembly IMO, there is very little width to the gasket / cover in the front-right corner and they assemble with a gasket design (all metal) that is prone to leaking. If they wiped some gasket goo at the point of assembly (or used a gasket that had laminated goo on it) these problems would be gone.

digifish

[Wraith]

That's exactly what a good mechanic would do in any case like this anyway, so good point...

Whenever I or my coz (who's a mechanic) do any gasket replacement work, we always use proper or specialised gasket sealant on all corners an 'iffy' fitting areas and where there are no gaskets to make sure there is an air tight seal and no leaks !

It does cause more work the next time, because you need to spend extra time to clean it all up properly, but at least it holds off leakage for a whole lot longer or it never leaks at all :)

[sooty]

Does this mean i'm going to lose my car for a few days?
Ugh...so not what i needed:(
Hopefully mine is the exact same problem as it has the same symptoms
Thanks for finishing this off mate, i'll print it off and go to holden and see what they say

[sooty]

i'll print it off and go to holden and see what they say

"Duh *scratches head* we'll have to book it in to have a look at it to see what the problem is...":rolleyes:

[Wraith]

"Duh *scratches head* we'll have to book it in to have a look at it to see what the problem is...":rolleyes:

Was going to say - don't know if that's a good idea - they might ask you "what sealant exactly do we need to get/use here sir" ??? :D

[entice]

or... now sir.. tell me about that green box.....

[Wraith]

or... now sir.. tell me about that green box.....

Hahahaha good one :D

BTW where have you been sir ??? long time no hear :)

[sooty]

or... now sir.. tell me about that green box.....

What green box???:confused: There was no greenbox attatched when it went into see them...;)

[entice]

sorry to hijack thread....

ahh.. Hibernating...
new addition to the family now 6 weeks old.. chews up all time that isnt otherwise allocated to work or eating.. even chews up some sleeping time!!

That, and been looking long and hard at an SS-V Sportswagon.. for how much longer will we be able to have cars like those????


anyway, i'd think twice about printing this thread... best to show and mention "you have heard from friends that....."

[sooty]

anyway, i'd think twice about printing this thread... best to show and mention "you have heard from friends that....."

I just copied and pasted the bits of the thread that were appropriate, and put them in word so there's no address either. They looked at them like...."OOO...glowing pretty colours :D :D "

[digifish]

Does this mean i'm going to lose my car for a few days?
Ugh...so not what i needed:(
Hopefully mine is the exact same problem as it has the same symptoms
Thanks for finishing this off mate, i'll print it off and go to holden and see what they say

Provided they have all the parts in it should be 1 day. They will need to replace quite a lot of clips / hoses and things need to be replaced with new once removed, there is a lot of tubing to remove from the fuel injection etc, quite a fiddly - but straightforward job.

digifish

[Wraith]

sorry to hijack thread....

ahh.. Hibernating...
new addition to the family now 6 weeks old.. chews up all time that isnt otherwise allocated to work or eating.. even chews up some sleeping time!!

That, and been looking long and hard at an SS-V Sportswagon.. for how much longer will we be able to have cars like those????


anyway, i'd think twice about printing this thread... best to show and mention "you have heard from friends that....."

Apologies also to D145 for venturing off topic again, BUT big congratulations to you and your newborn, well done :)

New sport wagon is very nice, one of my neighbours (2 doors up) got one immediately after release, white example, looks very nice and very practical too :)

Oh as long as we the general public keep forking out at the bowzers, we'll keep getting cars like that, no problems...as a matter of fact here in Aust. V8 and other categories of hi-po car sales have yet to significantly slow down, despite the constant and massive hike in fuel prices...GMH V8's are still selling better now than at any time through the '90's !!!

[sooty]

Apologies also to D145 for venturing off topic again,

I'll let it slip just this once Ange :p :spam: