Scottish Elises

You know how sometimes you can smell oil leaks. Not because you are burning loads but because maybe you are burning a little bit, maybe it's a drip getting too close to your exhaust.

Well I could smell oil driving home today, I thought at first it was just spills or splashes from all the work that's been done. But there is a fair bit on the undertray, and it's dripping off an undertray bolt which seem to me to be too much for a spill, say when it was being filled.

Anyway took teh tray off for a look see and well look. See.

Is that a driveshaft? It looks like it is coming out from where it meets the gearbox?

Any advice as always welcome, indeed begged for.

(Car just back after 6.5 months off road. New block, new head.)





I think those are gear linkages. The oil's kinda plentiful. Isn't it supposed to be inside the engine/'box?

Incidentally my plans of my first early morning, Lotus with the roof down, drive to work this year have been dashed.

Instead I get to drive a bloody Vauxhall Insignia. If one of the gurus is reading this and has a view on whether it can driven or not I'd appreciate it, I'll check in the morning...

Pete is it gear oil or engine oil?

You should be able to tell the difference by the smell. Gear oil smells pretty awful.

If its gear oil it is most likely the driveshaft oil seal. They quite often leak if the shafts have been out as they are easily damaged when the shaft is removed or refitted.

If its engine oil it will be either the sump to block seal or the main crankshaft seal that is leaking. The sump is a fairly quick fix, the crank seal is a gearbox out job.

HTH

Dan

p.s. I'd say its still driveable but I wouldn't go touring Europe with it like that IYSWIM.

You are some chap. Gearbox oil would be my guess, my Ascona used to leak it and the smell seems kinda familiar.

Fairly straightforward repair then. Although it looks like a lot, in reality it probably hasn't lost that much oil so its not like the gearbox is gonna seize up. Needs sorting asap though.

HTH

Dan

Pete, feel for you mate. Hang in there.

Tip. If going for a drive...weather tomorrow morning is likely to be better than later in the day. The T in the Park'ers are gonna get WET tomorrow night

Probably gearbox oil.

Could be overfilled gearbox - I had that problem when we put andy's race car back together - filled it on a slope (unwittingly) and then drove round to Lawrence's to do the corner weighting only to discover bings of gearbox oil pi$$ing out of it whilst it was on the level once hot.

I agree with Dan it'll be fine to drive to work and back.

Cheers,
Robin

When you get round to sorting it bear in mind you will need a type "B" gearbox seal. They are the ones with the metal supports as apposed to all rubber type "A" seals.
Easy to change, 2 bolts and 1 nut, pop the drive shaft and replace the seal. Hour tops .

Mikie711 wrote:When you get round to sorting it bear in mind you will need a type "B" gearbox seal. They are the ones with the metal supports as apposed to all rubber type "A" seals.
Easy to change, 2 bolts and 1 nut, pop the drive shaft and replace the seal. Hour tops .

It's that sort of optimistic time scale that ends with me in the garage at 2am chain smoking cigarettes and swearing at my bleeding hands.

Got a new gearbox output seal round here somewhere.

I've got one too.

Dan