New oil leak

I had lifted the rear of my car last week to check the torque values of the rear suspension. After that operation was completed, I noticed oil leaks in my driveway. This oil was too thick to be engine oil, so I knew it was transaxle oil:


This was a very difficult image to capture due to limited visibility. It appears to be originating from a crankcase vent with the metal washer saturated with oil.


Removing this part was more startling, as this washer doesn't even appear to look like an automotive part. It looks like someone added it after the fact. It doen't even fit properly as noted by the impression left on the washer. The rubber seal on the vent was damaged by this mis-sized metal washer.


Here is a closeup view and as you can see this is some sort of a joke! This "added" washer is the wrong size and shouldn't have been there to begin with. The Workshop manual has no mention of this part (the crankcase vent), although you can see it in a few drawings.


I solved this by adding a small O-ring and removing the metal washer. Now the transaxle vent looks and works properly.

The tray below the engine-transaxle had been slowly collecting transaxle oil and when I finally went to lift the rear of the car, it gave it time to slowly run out of the front of the pan onto the driveway!

I power-washed everything and it has been nice, clean and dry ever since.

HOW STRANGE!

It's best to view for this defect when dark, using a flashlight, since any oil on the outside of the case lights up for easy observation. You could also see the oil in the lower belly pan. Probably about 20-30 drops.

Jay

UPDATE: 4-2-06 Just as I had thought that I had solved my leak problem, it's back again. It was just a matter of driving for a few hours for the oil to reappear. I am working on a design fix and will report to you when I have something that really works! Jay

No, never touched anything. Car was purchased new, with just a few miles on it. Jay

Engine bay light

SuperB said:

Engine bay light, I must have missed that thread? I want one of those for sure. I've got a camping flashlight the hooks over the engine compartment latches. Works well but not real pretty at car shows.

Click to expand...

http://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5439&postcount=1



Here's another view of the engine bay light. I'm still working out some pre-production technical issues. The glow reminds me of a real nuclear reactor core (hopefully a stable one!). Hope this helps, Jay

More leaks...

saber said:

I have the same issue and I posted about it under "interesting observation" last week. In short, I have a leak from this vent too. I took everything apart and traced the leak to the breather. I did not have an extra washer. I plan to will add a half inch extension to correct this problem. I also powerwashed the oily coating out of the belly pan which I think my have been getting on the rear tires.

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Saber,

Can you tell if the oil is coming from the slot that's cut into the round head, or is it coming out from the contact region between the breather and the transaxle case? On mine, there was no evidence of it coming from the slotted vent. I will check again today. Yes, I power-washed the belly pan also, since it was full of gunk.

Make sure that you transaxle is NOT overfilled, as that could be a source of your problem!

Jay

Overfilled?

saber said:

Jay,
It look like the leak is at slot and not the treads. I could be wrong but I will monitor it closely next time I drive it. I have not had it out since I clean up the oil. I thought someone posted the same problem earlier

Click to expand...

saber,

Could your trans be overfilled?

I remember about a decade ago, I just had an oil change done to my DeLorean (this was at a "DeLorean service center," usually I NEVER let any mechanic touch my cars) and I was cruising though the hot desert (Death Valley). My engine was running hotter than normal. Usually the coolant runs about 100 degrees hotter than the outside air, however this was not the case (it was more like 115-120 hotter!). I pulled over to side of the road, let things cool down a bit. I checked the oil level and it was about 2 quarts overfilled! I had get under the car and drain some out, until it approached the FULL mark on the dipstick. After that, the engine was fine!

Moral of this story: I never trust anyone's work...

Actually, it's post-processing that helps me!

Pipelion said:

Jay,

Sorry you had a leak.

You're a pretty good shooter, well done on all your photos. Thanks.

Allan

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Allan,

Thanks for the nice comments. I use a Sony DSC-F717 with Neat Image, PTLens, FM Intellisharpen and Hypersnap. Also, I am badly color-blind, just in case you see some wild colors come from one of my images some day! Jay

Image processing

biffom said:

Jay,

Are you then using photoshop to administer the image corrections?

Thanks,

Carl.

Click to expand...

Hi Carl,

Actually, I use Photoshop more as a "shell" program to operate PTLens and Neat Image. Once you install these plug-in programs, it's then easier to use since you can run them all from Photoshop. Actually, I really don't know how to use Photoshop.

PTLens is awesome, I will send you some before and after images to appreciate it's power.

Jay

still leaks a little bit...

VPC said:

Jay,

Is the leak fixed ?

Thanks,
Vince

Click to expand...

Hi Vince,

No, please view this post:
http://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=985

Thanks,

Jay