Mightbe the vacuum pump shuffles out the oil, this dripples on to the diff an ends at the deepest part of it?

Any pix available? :whistling:

 

Pics. The ground spots are just from since I've been home, about 3 hours.

It looks like it's leaking above the oil filter and then dripping down that and being blown around. The heater box is covered as well as all the wires/hoses in front of that.

 

Your vacuum pump looks pretty oily. I would start there and follow the trail.

 

Vacuum pump is definitely a common leak and it will leave a ton of oil on the ground. The plus side is that it helps rust prevention!

 

When temps are back into the double digits at home I plan on swapping mine out. I think mine is the cause of my oil leak too.

 

With an oil leak, always go forward to where things are dry. If its dripping from the filter I'd suspect something in that immediate area. A leaking vacuum pump wouldn't have oil dripping from the filter. Warning light sensors are a frequent failure item, especially in high temps. 300 tdi engine right ? When you say you have good oil pressure do you have a separate gauge or just the light on the binnacle ?

 

300 tdi. I have a madman so I have EGT, oil temp, oil pressure, coolant. Which means I have lots of senders near that area for the oil. When I was under it I was wondering if a sensor was leaking. It seems to be near the oil filter and then the fan is blowing it all over. Like the little hose coolant leak I had that looked like a flood a while ago.

Is your dipstick tub fully seated? If it has walked up it can give a false low reading causing an overfill situation.

And to piggyback on Dougs comment, the best way to hunt down oil links is to pressure wash it clean, then follow the oil.

-Jeff

When I checked it I pulled the dipstick, cleaned it, then seated it to pull it again to check it. I'll wash the area with a pressure washer and brake cleaner and see what I come up with.

It's just below full now- not over the full line when I check it so I would assume that it's not overfilled. If it is overfilled it might just leak it's way to normal at this rate.

 

Check the cyclone breather seal where it enters the head. This can be a source of leaking oil which travels down behind the vacuum pump and onto the oil filter.

 

Cyclone breather is clean. The leak has slowed way down since I cleaned up a majority of the mess. The oil filter has some oil running down the side of it still and the sender above the filter appears to be dripping. I'm wondering of my sender has failed- gauge says overpressure with just the ignition on and the motor not running.

 

I think I've narrowed the leak on this side of the motor down to either the oil filter head gasket or the baffle plate gasket. Assuming I have those names correct.

Now, I have a small leak- more like a weep on the other side. Ideas on where to start with this? Hoping to order all my seals at once.

AND now I have an increase in EGT, especially up hill and pulling a trailer. All of this seems to have started at the same time. Slight loss of power with the increase in EGT. Normally the EGT tops out at 1000 and now getting close to 1200. Plus she has an increase in black smoke under load. My trailer is covered on the exhaust side with sooty oil. She wasn't doing this before the oil leak/me adding oil to the engine.

 

I removed the oil filter housing. It was way more time consuming than I am sure it needed to be, and a mess of course. As I clean it up and re-install it with a new gasket I have a few questions.

There is what appears to be a layer of something on the side of the motor, I am assuming it's the previous gasket but it's really smooth and almost plastic like. I am planning to scrape that off so that the new gasket sits between two clean, metal surfaces. Is that correct?

When reassembling the senders on the housing do I need to use lactite or anything like that? Should I be using the medium lactite on all my fittings?

Finally, above the oil filter housing sits the baffle plate that the crankcase breather attaches to. How do I remove that to change the gasket there too? The IP bracket mounts over it, can I remove the baffle without having to loosen anything related to the IP?

Thanks,
Alex

 

Yes metal to metal for the gasket.
While locktight may seal, it is to lock threads on critical bolts like those that hold the flywheel on.
DO NOT use it on anything that threads into aluminum, like a sensor.
When you try and remove say a sensor that was locktighted in place, it will either break the sensor or rip the threads out of the softer aluminum.
Sensors typically use copper or aluminum crush washers to seal that can be replaced.
Those with tapered threads can benefit from silicone sealer.

Answer this question, Alex: Why did the British never build any manned space ships?

 

many senders/sensors take their ground from the contact made by the threads. don't put anything on the threads, only the copper crush rings as Robert the Davis said above.

 

Removed the manifold- this is what the gasket looked like. I don't see any areas where it was torn. Plan is to clean it all up, out on the new gasket without any sealant and then tighten it all up.

Anything concerning with this photo or my plan?

 

Putting it all back together and I can't remember how the oil cooler lines were run. Unfortunately, I can't find a photo of how they were set up. I have an after market oil cooler and lines.

Does it matter how they are run? It seems like it's just a circular system or is there a specific outlet and inlet?