ZD30 mystery oil leak

[chule]

Hi guys,

Some assistance in locating a mystery oil leak would be greatly appreciated. I'm getting a small amount of oil accumulating on top of the inlet manifold (between manifold and engine block). I replaced the rocker cover gasket a couple of weeks ago thinking this was the problem. After degreasing the area, oil appeared in the same spot a few days later.

????any ideas????

Cheers, Mark.

 

[joshman]

a pic would help a massive amount.

have you done the EGR mod? that'll produce a bit of oil/exhaust leak around the EGR pipework. also, do oyu have a catch can installed? installing one will stop the oil from the PCV going into your air intake.

 

[chule]

sorry joshman no pic.

egr mod done however the leak isn't coming from where the blanc plate was installed.
catch can is installed also.

My earlier description probably wasn't very accurate - the oil that is accumulating is pooling on the intake manifold where it curls back around to join onto the engine block - underneath where the swirl/shut-off solinoids are located.

There are 4 oil lines (?) that feed into the engine block from that side also - could they be leaking from this area?

 

[joshman]

i'm still trying to picture the exact spot in my head. if you can follow my description... from the top of the turbo, you've got a small piece of hose, then a manufactured 90deg bend (now we're ontop of the engine block), then another bit of hose and into the throttle body. the throttle body is purely the short section where the intake gets split in two. then into the intake manifold, which is what the EGR pipe joins into, and it curls back down onto the side of the engine block.

in my head, i'm picturing the oil pooling on the top of the throttle body, in the depression of the split.

if thats the case, then i'd be looking at your turbo, and catch can. i've found that the oil would seep out from between hose and throttle body and coat all the bits.

 

[chule]

thanks mate - no that's not the spot.

Where the intake manifold curls back around and connects to the engine block - The top surface of that part of the intake is where the oil is accumulating - not in the split of the throttle body. If you look at the space directly below where the throttle body split is (under the throttle body and on top of the intake manifold where it bolts to the block) in those several recesses is where i'm finding oil.

I'm getting confused reading this myself. Hope this helps - thanks for your persistance.

 

[joshman]

Ah Kay, I'm with you now. If I've got time in the morning I'll pop my good and have a look around and maybe take a photo or two of the area. I'll let you know what my untrained eyes see.

It's not coolant is it? And you already checked the intake manifold gasket?

 

[Flynndog]

Hey Chule, I had a similar leak repaired last week. Turned out to be the injector seals for the cylinders (number 2) had gone. It started small about 12 months or more ago and eventually got to the point where it was slowly dripping overnight.
Sounds very close to what you may have.

 

[chule]

Hey Chule, I had a similar leak repaired last week. Turned out to be the injector seals for the cylinders (number 2) had gone. It started small about 12 months or more ago and eventually got to the point where it was slowly dripping overnight.
Sounds very close to what you may have.

Thanks Flynndog - I did at one stage Think it was a diesel leak but the consistancy of the leak was more like oil. Something I'll definately be mentioning to the mechanic when I take her in - thanks for the tip.

 

[chule]

Hey Chule, I had a similar leak repaired last week. Turned out to be the injector seals for the cylinders (number 2) had gone. It started small about 12 months or more ago and eventually got to the point where it was slowly dripping overnight.
Sounds very close to what you may have.

You got it Flynndog!

After having the injectors cleaned I found the seals were the cause of the leak. In fact, the leak substantially increased after the clean which made it easier to identify. The Nav is getting fixed as we speak. Thanks again for your input.

Cheers.