Problem With Oil Leaking Between The Trans And Engine? - Page 3

JCL · #21 03-02-2007, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by noncom23

I thought front seal is between engine and tranny. Rear seal, tranny and drive train. If that is true, whats so funny?

Vin thought that you meant the front seal of the engine. You were talking front seal of the transmission. Quite logical IMO.

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JCL · #22 03-02-2007, 04:57 PM

Bimmerdude:

I think you should relax. They may or may not have got the rear seal wrong. You don't know yet. Whatever it actually is, they are far more likely to be able to determine it than we can on this board. You have a warranty. What is all the drama?

The rear seal was the original diagnosis. It may have been leaking and been diagnosed correctly, but it may not have been the only leak. Also, it might still be leaking, depending on the condition of the crank where it contacts the seal, and the quality of the repair. Or, maybe it was never the problem. You are assuming the latter, but that is not necessarily a safe assumption.

If it is showing higher up, it could be thrown there, or it could be leaking there. If it has been leaking for a while, the area will all be oily and it won't be obvious where it is coming from. Using the dye sounds very logical to me, not sure why you wouldn't want to know for sure prior to randomly replacing seals and gaskets. Let them do it.

If many parts have been replaced, and there is a leak, it is more likely that it is a leak from prior workmanship than a part defect IMO. We can tell you what parts are likely to leak (oil breather, cam seals, etc) but not about the work that was done previously since we just don't know.

You say it is oil, but many posters here are questioning whether it really is, since other fluids can pick up oil as they drip down and often appear to be oil. We just want to be sure, and I don't know how you know for sure it is oil.

I would suspect the head gasket, or valve cover gaskets. You can't test for either, you have to find out where it is leaking. There is also the possibility that there is enough oil around the rear of the engine that you are seeing residual drips, and not a continuing leak. I don't know how long it has gone on for but that is a possibility.

My final advice is to let the mechanic do the search. If you don't trust them at all, then simply take your vehicle away, that is your choice. You do risk creating liability in that case, however, if one mechanic left something undone and another shop finds it. Who pays? Likely you unless/until they accept responsibility.

Good luck

Jeff

supersteve · #23 03-02-2007, 05:21 PM

It could still be the rear main seal. I had a Toyota Tacoma that took multiple trips back to the steeler to get fixed correctly. The mechs changed the rear main twice before they called in tech service. I guess it didn't hurt that I was also suggesting the lemon law may apply if they didn't get it right.

What happened was the mechs where driving the seal in too far crushing the seal. Tech service told them to leave about a 1/16" of a shoulder on the seal to ensure it wasn't bottoming out. Leak fixed.

It could also be the oil separator or one of it's several oil lines. On the 4.4 there is a rats nest of hoses on the back of the engine.

Good luck.

noncom23 · #24 03-02-2007, 05:34 PM

Thx.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCL

Vin thought that you meant the front seal of the engine. You were talking front seal of the transmission. Quite logical IMO.

vinuneuro · #25 03-02-2007, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCL

Vin thought that you meant the front seal of the engine. You were talking front seal of the transmission. Quite logical IMO.

Yes

BimmerDude · #26 03-02-2007, 07:13 PM

Thanks to everyone, again I have changed the oil sep, and breather hoses. I just spoke to dealer. They said that it is coming from three possibilities.

1) Could be a galley plug.
2) Oil check valve.
3) Maybe when the engine block was made, air bubbles may have happened and with time the oil could leak and cause a crack.

What do you guy's think about this? I'm covered with all of these items but still can't seem to picture the galley plug. Either way, I will know on Monday to see what it truly is.

vinuneuro · #27 03-02-2007, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BimmerDude

Thanks to everyone, again I have changed the oil sep, and breather hoses. I just spoke to dealer. They said that it is coming from three possibilities.

1) Could be a galley plug.
2) Oil check valve.
3) Maybe when the engine block was made, air bubbles may have happened and with time the oil could leak and cause a crack.

What do you guy's think about this? I'm covered with all of these items but still can't seem to picture the galley plug. Either way, I will know on Monday to see what it truly is.

Galley plug..it's a freeze plug. It's a hole that's used during the manufacturing process. Then blocked off at the end with this plug. Very unlikely.

Bad block? Again, very unlikely. Doubt it would only surface after 80k miles.

This really shouldn't be taking this long..get your vehicle to another dealer/tech.

JCL · #28 03-03-2007, 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BimmerDude

Thanks to everyone, again I have changed the oil sep, and breather hoses. I just spoke to dealer. They said that it is coming from three possibilities.

1) Could be a galley plug.
2) Oil check valve.
3) Maybe when the engine block was made, air bubbles may have happened and with time the oil could leak and cause a crack.

What do you guy's think about this? I'm covered with all of these items but still can't seem to picture the galley plug. Either way, I will know on Monday to see what it truly is.

Could be (1) or (2), but a porous block casting, while possible, doesn't seem likely to me. I have seen it, but it isn't common. Whatever it is, I would give them a chance to fix it. That is what your warranty is for.

I wouldn't call (1) a freeze plug, which is generally a plug in the casting that has antifreeze behind it, not oil. A core plug is part of the casting process, and in theory when the coolant freezes it can push out the core plug, but coolant plugs aren't the same as oil galley plugs.

vinuneuro · #29 03-03-2007, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCL

Could be (1) or (2), but a porous block casting, while possible, doesn't seem likely to me. I have seen it, but it isn't common. Whatever it is, I would give them a chance to fix it. That is what your warranty is for.

I wouldn't call (1) a freeze plug, which is generally a plug in the casting that has antifreeze behind it, not oil. A core plug is part of the casting process, and in theory when the coolant freezes it can push out the core plug, but coolant plugs aren't the same as oil galley plugs.

You are absolutely right. I should've known that. One of the downsides of only having assembly production experience and not casting/forging.

Aren't almost all the core plugs, freeze plugs though?

EDIT- *sigh* answer found on wiki: "Most of the plugs to be found on an engine are actually to plug the holes where sand cores have been held. Freeze plug is a misnomer for core plug or expansion plug.."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeze_plug

BimmerDude · #30 03-03-2007, 03:07 AM

Thanks everyone for all your info. JCL, I'm going to take your advice and let them do what they do. So far I really can't complain they have been pretty quick and honest with me. My car really has had some small oil leaks at every place you can think of. I'll just give it some time. They did tell me they would have this ready by tue. or wed. of next week. I will post the results... Thanks again...

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