oil leaking??

[peggysgirl]

I noticed on the back of my Vanagon on the outside, there is quite abit of oil spatter. It appears to be coming out of the exhaust? What does this mean?

[rsxsr]

How well easily does it start. If oil is getting into the exhaust, it is getting by the rings or valve guides. If it is starting fine, you may get away for a long time without doing anything but keeping an eye on the oil level and washing the back of the van occasionally.

[peggysgirl]

It starts fine and runs great..I was just curious as to what was happening..thanks

[rsxsr]

Anne, I am wondering if you have an oil leak? A tiny leak will leave oil spots all over the back of the van at highway speeds. There is a pretty good edy of air behind the vanagon that some how lets the oil drops land on the back of the van instead of the ground. Put a peice of clean cardboard under the engine when you get a chance and see if you get some drips. It might be something as simple as a valve cover gasket seaping oil. mark

[peggysgirl]

actually, I have seen a small bit of oil on the ground after it sits a while its only a little bit bigger than a 50 cent piece..should I be concerned?

[rsxsr]

A properly sealed diesel engine should not leak. When was the last time the timing belt was changed? If it was a while ago say 60,000 miles, this would be a good time to replace it and have the front engine seals replaced. In order to set the cam timing, the valve cover would also need to be removed. Replacing these seals and the Valve cover gasket would eliminate those as possible leaks. You also should locate your oil pressure switch. They can leak and are under pressure. You should look around the oil filter flange or on the back of the cylinder head for the switch. It is about the size of a large lug nut with a single wire connector. They are cheap and easy to replace. There are other places, like the oil pan, the oil filler tube, and the rear crankshaft seal. You may want to get some engine degreaser and clean the engine off. It will make it easier to find the actual leak. Again, as long as you keep the oil level full and it is not a pressure switch, you will only have an oily mess.

[bobrabcd]

I had a similar oil mess on the back of my '82 Diesel Westfalia. It was partly caused by a loose oil dipstick that had a shrunken "O" ring. Strangely oil splashes all the way to the top and out. It was hard to find a replacement "O" ring with the right dimensions so i made a sleeve ring from some flexible see-through fuel line that made a tight fit between the dipstick and the filler tube cap. That leak was gone, but some oil still got on the back door and there were small drips on the ground. Finally traced it to a cracked oil filler tube bolt hole where one of the two bolts held it to the engine. Could not find a replacement filler tube so off to Ace Hardware it was. I removed the filler tube from the engine and thoroughly cleaned the outside surface with a degreaser and roughened the surface with some course sandpaper. Then I applied some Super Epoxy for Industrial/home/hobbiest/marine/auto/farm use. Also replaced the gasket between the filler tube and engine. Had to make one out of stuff from AutoZone. Results - no more leaks and a clean rear window.