Oil Leak

[sarahbedford92]

I recently had a new gearbox fitted into my van, it came back from the garage a week or two ago.
I noticed last night that there is an oil leak coming from the back of the van, my neighbour, who is pretty good with cars/vans etc, thought it was the seal between the gearbox and the engine. He didn't seem to think that it was a huge problem and didn't need an immediate fix (i am meant to be going away in the van in three weeks!) but after speaking to a mechanic he recommended, the mechanic thinks it's the crankshaft oil seal and to fix it the entire engine will need to be removed. I haven't had a chance to take it to the mechanic for him to look at yet, I'm going just off my neighbour looking at the engine last night and what the mechanic told me this morning over the phone.

E D I T - My engine is a two litre air cooled engine, twin carb
A couple of questions:

1) does anyone know roughly the cost of having this done. I've already spent way more than I anticipated on my van this year and don't fancy another huge expense.
2) does it sound like a job that needs doing ASAP or could it wait until I have returned from my trip?

Thank you.

[CJH]

A mechanic ought to be able to tell the source of the oil just from the smell - gearbox oil smells quite different from engine oil. If it's just the crankshaft oil seal letting engine oil seep out, this can be accessed by removing the gearbox, rather than the engine - a much simpler job, and you already know what your garage charges in labour to remove and refit a gearbox

Whether it can wait depends a bit on how much is coming out. Oil from either the crankshaft seal or the gearbox seal has the potential to get onto the clutch friction plate, which can lead to clutch slip or clutch judder. A small amount of contamination will burn off in general use. But if it's a faster leak, it ought to be attended to, regardless of whether it's engine or gearbox oil, but especially if it's gearbox oil since keeping the gearbox oil topped up while you're away isn't a simple job, whereas topping up engine oil is.

E D I T: I realise that I've jumped to a conclusion about your engine type, but you don't say what type of engine you have.

[sarahbedford92]

A mechanic ought to be able to tell the source of the oil just from the smell - gearbox oil smells quite different from engine oil. If it's just the crankshaft oil seal letting engine oil seep out, this can be accessed by removing the gearbox, rather than the engine - a much simpler job, and you already know what your garage charges in labour to remove and refit a gearbox

Whether it can wait depends a bit on how much is coming out. Oil from either the crankshaft seal or the gearbox seal has the potential to get onto the clutch friction plate, which can lead to clutch slip or clutch judder. A small amount of contamination will burn off in general use. But if it's a faster leak, it ought to be attended to, regardless of whether it's engine or gearbox oil, but especially if it's gearbox oil since keeping the gearbox oil topped up while you're away isn't a simple job, whereas topping up engine oil is.

Thank you.

It's not much of a leak at all really. It's been sat for a week outside my house and I only just noticed it last night, the patch was maybe the size of a hand print at most.
I'm waiting for the mechanic to get back to me about whether I can take it in for him to look at.

Do you have any idea what the likely cause is? Would it be a bad job done by the guys who put the gearbox in? Or is it just bad luck that its happened just after?

[CJH]

I think I may have added my 'E D I T' to my reply while you were replying. Can you tell us what sort of engine you have?

As to what caused the leak, if you're certain that it wasn't there before the gearbox replacement, then logically it would seem more likely to be the seal in that gearbox, and personally I'd be a bit more worried about that than a crankshaft seal leak. Was the gearbox a refurb, or just a working second hand one? It's difficult to see how swapping the gearbox could damage the crankshaft seal, as it's protected behind the flywheel, unless the garage removed the flywheel at the same time to adjust the end float - with the gearbox out that would have been a sensible time to do that if it was needed.

Again, all this is based on my assumption that you've got a petrol engine.

[sarahbedford92]

Sorry! My engine is a twin carb air cooled engine 2 litre. Petrol.

[CJH]

Sorry! My engine is a twin carb air cooled engine 2 litre. Petrol.

Ok. And the gearbox? Did it come with any sort of guarantee?

If your mechanic says it's gearbox oil, I think I would get back to the people who fitted the gearbox and ask them to fix it. If your mechanic says it's engine oil, then I'm afraid that's probably just coincidence/bad luck, but you can probably live with it for now. But plan to fix it when budget allows. Check and adjust the end float at the same time.

[sarahbedford92]

It was a second-hand unit that he sourced for me.

A development has occurred, I tried to start the engine just now to see how it starts and it is making an awful grinding sound!!

It's a good job I love my van or I'd be close to losing my mind with how much it has cost me so far!!