My crossflow has decided to drip oil onto the newly paved driveway...

It's not a lot - after all, an oil drip is a standard accessory for a crossflow - and certainly no risk to motorbikes (before anyone says anything) - but when I first rebuilt the engine it was totally drip-free. Then I scraped over a speed bump... and the occasional drip appeared.

Now the oil seems to be coming from halfway up the side of the bell-housing, on the engine side under the exhaust manifold. It's also gathering underneath the rim of the bell-housing. My guess is that the rear crank seal has started to go, and the flywheel's flinging it about. Fortunately the clutch doesn't seem to have been affected so far.

I'm also certain it's not the gearbox front seal, as the oil level in the box hasn't dripped since I filled it a few weeks back (but the engine oil has, a little).

So it looks like the engine's got to come out.

Any recommendations for somewhere that would sell a bottom-end gasket & oil seal set for a crossflow, at sensible prices?
And any ideas for getting grubby engine oil off block paving?

Bummer!

I've always bought gasket sets from the local motorfactor - usually good quality and inexpensive. For individual gaskets Burton Power have pretty much everything, but at a price!

Is it block paving? If so, the best solution might be to pry up and replace the affected blocks. Trying to clean it might just disperse it and make it worse.

Wynn's make an engine oil treatment that softens up your oil seals which can become hardened.
I've used it before, worked very well, you could try that first

The Wynn's stuff sounds tempting as the engine only has a slight leak - but I'm always wary about that sort of stuff. I know they're a big name, but it does smack of snake oil...

TBH, I can whip the engine out, replace all the seals and gaskets around the crank and sump, then put it all back in the car within a day. Crossflows are petrol-powered Meccano, when all is said and done. Just need motivation to bite the bullet and get on with it...

Sigh...

The seal stuff worked for a friend of mine on a motorbike engine. For the oil I use some biological washing liquid poured on neat and scrubbed in them left a while before rinsing off. You could give the whole drive a light coat of oil to camouflage it.

quote:

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Originally posted by Peteff
You could give the whole drive a light coat of oil to camouflage it.

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Gunk (Halfords etc.) worked well for me on the driveway if you want to use proper stuff (this was a Deepwater Horizon scale leak when I knocked over a bucket with 2 drained car loads worth in it! ).

However, changing the oil last week I spilt a little of the old stuff (from girlfriend's diesel so pretty black and horrible) and being both skint and lazy I didn't go and buy Gunk. I used quite a lot of Fairy liquid and spent a while working it in with a wire brush. (working inwards so as not to spread it!).
Hosed it down and it looks absoloutely fine. (Main problem is it's cleaner there than the rest of the drive! ).

Your new drive will be clean so it shouldn't show.


As for sucking eggs:
Dont forget to brush new kiln dry block paving sand into the cracks where you've hosed it out!




Cheers,
Jame

put a little red diesel in your oil
does the same thing as the wynn stuff and swells the seals

Another vote for washing powder (as that is what we use) mixed into a paste. Evil stuff, keep it well away from your hands! It has a good bash at tarmac, let alone an oil stain.