tycho
Part of things
Posts: 151
|
|
|
|
|
OK, Bloke in work has just bought an A reg Mk1 Golf. Paid £300 for it.
To me it seems like the worst car swap ever as he sold a P plate Mitsubishi colt to buy it.
The bodywork seems mostly sound, apart from the fact that the previous owner didn't seem to grasp the point of jacking points & the inner/outer sill lip is bent all over the place (& a bend to the outer sill near the front wheel arch shaped like a jack head).
The main point in this post is to ask where we should start looking for a wicked oil leak.
It seems to be spraying out the back of the engine & is flowing along the driveshaft/s & fouling the calipers & discs rendering it undriveable. The car is missing a dipstick but as this faces forward & there is no oil spray in that direction I don't think that is where it is coming from.
To start I have advised him to buy a dipstick, fill it with the right amount of oil & clean the engine bay of oil to try to isolate the leak.
It doesn't leak (much) oil when stationary) only on the move. It also gets through plenty of water too but there is no muck under the rocker cover or oil in the header tank.
I think it is pretty much a lemon. Any suggestions?
|
| |
|
|
|
|
tycho
Part of things
Posts: 151
|
|
|
|
|
Oh, I Think the Engine is from a Mk2 & the rad is from "a car". It also appears to have about 2 coats of maroon paint over the original white. The guy who bought it isn;t shure what colour is listed in the V5C
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What size engine is it. ?? As the 1.1 and 1.3 lumps are very different to the 1.6/1.6/1.8 lumps normally found in them.  |
| |
|
|
tycho
Part of things
Posts: 151
|
|
Jan 29, 2009 10:13:19 GMT
|
|
He has been told it is a 1.3l engine.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 29, 2009 10:17:14 GMT
|
|
dizzy on the rhs of head = small block
dizzy down the front, cap facing up = big block
get the engine bay cleaned up first.
|
| |
|
|
tycho
Part of things
Posts: 151
|
|
Jan 29, 2009 10:40:14 GMT
|
|
Small block then, dizzy is on the rhs of the head.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 29, 2009 15:59:47 GMT
|
|
Depends if it's using gearbox oil or just engine oil?
If there's oil spraying out down the back, my guess would be the oil breather, which is very prone to getting gunged up on those engines. If it's the rocker cover gasket the oil would gather on top of the inlet manifold.
|
| |
1967 Morris Traveller 1971 Series IIA Land Rover 1991 Golf GL 4+e 1992 Corrado G60 1986 E28 BMW 528i |
|
|
|
|
Jan 29, 2009 16:47:20 GMT
|
|
check the crankshaft oil seal mate,common on the mk1 and mk2 engines done quiete a few now,would explain oil all over driveshaft etc,cheers adam
|
| |
|
|
dan95x
Part of things
Posts: 361
|
|
Jan 29, 2009 16:52:00 GMT
|
|
It sounds distinctly like the same problem I had with my Mk1 Golf (although that was the 1.8) If it is, then it is either the camshaft, crankshaft or intermediate shaft oil seal. Over time they wear a groove into the actual shaft, so the seal stops sealing properly some of the time as it moves in and out of the groove. they only really leak when the engine has oil pressure and is driving along, and as you say, it sprays absolutely everywhere, as the motion of the pulleys and air blowing through the engine bay spreads it all over the engine and drivers side brake disc!
The seals are peanuts to buy, but it is a bit of a pig of a job, as you have to get the pulleys off etc. When I did mine, it worked for a while, and certainly made it better, but as it was the actual shaft that had a groove worn into it, at the end of the day, it will always leak. I would love to suggest an easy solution, but before I had to solve it long term, my brother bought the car off me and junked the engine for a 2 litre instead.
On the plus side, scene tax on a Mk1 Golf should mean that if the body is fundamentally sound, If he cant sort it/doesnt want to pay the labour on such a relatively long job, at least he might get his money/most of it back!
[EDIT ^^ Beaten to it with lengthy reply!]
|
| |
Last Edit: Jan 29, 2009 16:57:41 GMT by dan95x
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 29, 2009 19:30:06 GMT
|
|
1.3 engines can usually be picked up for under a ton,
i flogged my last one to a lad on here for £50.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
tycho
Part of things
Posts: 151
|
|
Jan 29, 2009 23:40:32 GMT
|
|
Thanks for the info. Have passed it onto the owner. I think he is looking for a new engine at the moment now.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I would check the breather before doing an engine swap... you're looking for a little round metal thing with a pipe coming off it... they're a jolly pain in the backside to swap but patience, the special tool (shaped like a letter "C" and a hammer will do it (chisel it out  ). We used to routinely change these as they would rust from the outside and then leak. Get a torch down the back of the engine, if it's all too gunky then clean it with solvent and then observe where the leak is coming from... your explanation sounds like oil is dripping onto something that is then throwing it about... it'd be plausible that it would run down a driveshaft when stationary and then be thrown as the shaft turns. It's not guaranteed to be the breather, but that would be the first place I'd be looking on a 1.3, along with the rocker gasket... but as previously mentioned it wouldn't run down the back until the manifold was flowing over with oil. It's many years since I was a VAG mechanic but those were typical causes of leaks back then, and the engines I was working on in 1991 were essentially the same as they'd been since the late 70's. Sounds like a bit of a shed, but then people do love to pay a fortune for Mk1 Golfs, they're good cars but I've never got the reverence... suppose they defined their era, each to their own. Prefer Scirocco's meself  Just my tuppence worth, but I'd be cleaning and diagnosing before pulling what could be a perfectly sound engine... |
| |
Last Edit: Jan 30, 2009 0:46:51 GMT by fire3500
|
|
tycho
Part of things
Posts: 151
|
|
|
|
|
Yeh, true. My preference would be clean & then look. But I'm only posting to help out a bloke I work with.
I own a Land Rover, a Citroen & a Renault. Land Rovers seem to employ a system of sump oil leakage to protect the aft chassis. Doesn't seem to ever make it as far as the rear x-member as me & my brother are looking at changing 2 in the near future.
|
| |
Last Edit: Jan 30, 2009 3:03:37 GMT by tycho
|
|
tycho
Part of things
Posts: 151
|
|
|
|
|
Have suggested to the owner that he buy a few tins of Brake Cleaner from our finest asian hypermart (Rajainis to fellow Bristolians) as it is better than general degreaser, & then start looking for leaks.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ha! Very true, my series 2a is on its 3rd rear crossmember! I've replaced all the rear tub outriggers since I've had it. Perhaps some kind of spray bar arrangement from the transfer box would work?  |
| |
1967 Morris Traveller 1971 Series IIA Land Rover 1991 Golf GL 4+e 1992 Corrado G60 1986 E28 BMW 528i |
|
).
