Have spotted a small oil leak under the car. The oil seems to be dripping off the bottom of the gearbox and not from the sump so not sure where it is coming from? Have tried to look from above but can't spot anything obvious. Any ideas where I should be looking for the source of the problem?
Does it drip when stationary regardless of whether you have driven the car or does it only drip for a short time after driving the car? Have you just done an oil change, it looks very clean? As you know, oil leaks can be very hard to find.
That does look a bit watery for just oil what does it feel like on your fingers/ smell like ? you don't have a coolant leak mixing with oil from above the gearbox housing on the end of the block/head ie black plastic coolant outlet or metal pipe and associated hoses otherwise possible cam cover leak mixing together.
I think it drips regardless. Both engine and gearbox have fresh oil in them as I changed both about 3 months back. The more I poke around the more I suspect it is gearbox oil.
You are correct, there is definitely a slight coolant leak from the flange on the side of the head. The fluid under the gearbox is definitely oil though. I suspect there might be coolant and gearbox oil collecting under the gearbox but from different leaks. I need to try and see where the oil is seeping from but it’s really hard to look behind the block. Might try torque the bear box plug again but 99% sure that the leak it is somewhere else on the box.
So after having another rummage around under the car it looks like it might be leaking from the green seal on the long driveshaft side. Proper noob question, but I'm assuming it is possible that a leak from this seal would result in gearbox oil getting spun up all over the gearbox?
If it feels like oil it must be gearbox oil as engine oil would defo be blackening after 3 months use. Smell it as they smell completely different too. Before you start replacing the driveshaft seals which ain’t no picnic, check around where the speedo drive cable leaves the box. There should be a rubber gasket/seal which rots and cracks. Could be from there, esp if you’ve over filled it on the last change?
its definitely gearbox oil. When I refilled it I put in 2l as per the manual, but when I drained it there was only 1.5l in it. Not sure if the extra 500ml is now causing troubles? It does seem to be weeping from a few places, including from the plug just under the clutch cable mount. Drive shaft seals seem to be the worst effected area though.
If at all possible, I would try and get a power washer into all those areas (cover electronics) and degreaser where you can’t in order to get a good look at where it’s coming from - it may have been the overfill that caused this and potentially it may settle down (fingers crossed) Bloody oil just travels everywhere and it would (in my opinion) be good to clean everything and get a baseline from there to locate the source
Yes it desperately needs a deep clean in the engine bay. The plan is to pull the whole motor and box out over winter and do exactly that while I tidy up the bay and fit a new subframe. Hopefully none of the leaks are major, and I can address them while the box is out. What I really want to avoid is missing the issue while the box is out and then having to pull it all out again at a later stage.
you never get all the old oil out unless box is out and tipped in all directions. take the filler plug out on the end next to the green cap and let any excess drain before refitting cap
