out of the frying pan.. massive oil leak woes :(

[foshizzle]

Well as you may have noticed i just got a clio which i thought was a bit of a bargain. IT had a blowing exhaust, which i repaired today.

Anyway i went for a drive after doing the exhaust just to make sure it was ok, and after 10 mins of driving i headed home to see blue smoke out the back window. I was a bit worried it was burning oil.

Anyway i lifted the bonnet at home and it turned out to be oil burning off on my downpipe. Oil was splattered all over the side of the battery, inside the bonnet, all over the crossmember and gearbox, and anything below (cv boot etc).

It doesnt seem to be leaking from anywhere on idle, leading me to believe it was only shooting out when under pressure. I have also noticed that even though i have topped the oil back up and used the dipstick to test it, the in car gauge when you turn the ignition on has stopped working.

Does this have a sensor somewhere? Are there any common places for all this oil to come out of? Its a 1..4 8v spi.

Is it worth taking it to a garage tomorrow of them to find it? How can i find where its coming from? Im knackered without a car and its just kicked me in the teeth after spending all day on it repairing the exhaust :(:(

[foshizzle]

Anyone? are there any oil sensors or anything on the n/s of the engine?

[white16valver]

Possibly dumb question, but...

Is the oil cap definitely on and screwed up properly?

[white16valver]

And is the dipstick there and fully in?

[foshizzle]

Yeah, i checked the two when i got in. Its only really coated the gearbox and gearbox side of the engine.

Dipstick is fully in, breather is connected to a catch tank and the oil cap had no oil round it.

[white16valver]

Is the oil filter secure?

Should be hand tight I believe, but not loose so it can just fall off lol

[foshizzle]

The dipsticks a little loose actually, oil filters secure as is the cap.

Ive given it a clean, ill run it a little tomorrow see if it comes up the dipstick.

Surely it shouldnt do that..

[schakal]

check all the breather pipes for blockage ,
if they are blocked up the pressure will get the oil
out from the weakest point of the system .

ideally have to look at it in daylight and
see where the oil is actually coming from :wink: :P

[MAXIBOY]

oil pressure switch on the back of the block...

[foshizzle]

When you say all of the breather pipes, how many are there? I have two. I get the distinct impression that my main breather pipe was blocked.

[foshizzle]

Largest breather pipe was blocked, vent on the catch tank was bunged off!

Could this have cause a gasket somewhere else to burst?

[BRUN]

wouldnt think so mate, if you have sorted it now just take it easy for a bit see how it goes

[foshizzle]

Hope not. Ive unblocked the breather and ordered another catch tank as i think this one is paggered.

IT might have all come shooting out of the dipstick if the breather was totally blocked off. Ill give it a good clean out and see if it stays ok.

[white16valver]

Well done :)