Astra J Cdti Oil Leak

piperm87

i All,

My other halfs Vauxhall Astra 1.7 Cdti has developed a oil leak .

I was having a look yesterday after telling her not to use it and i've noticed a oil drip coming from the intercooler intake pipe at the top as it fits on to the engine. I can't see signs of it coming from anywhere else but have got it going into the garage tonight to get it looked at (was booked into MOT tomorrow tomorrow funnily enough)

The oil has been leaking and collecting on the sump cover and dripping off overnight (sloped drive) i've taken that off and there hasn't been any signs of oil over night (probably because the engine hasn't running)

My main concern is if it is coming from the boost pipe - it obviously means there's oil getting to the turbo and i am worried about it going on a runaway on the way to the garage tonight which is a 2 mile drive.

I've attached some photo's of the offending but surely if there's alot of oil coming from there it can't get a good sign???

AdrianC

Oil IN the post-turbo plumbing shouldn't be getting out... If it does, then so would pressurised air.

So is the oil coming from inside the plumbing, or is it getting onto the outside from somewhere else and running down to a low point where it drips from?

Oil in the post-turbo plumbing is most likely to be leaking seals within the turbo itself. Take that pipe off, and have a good look.

jefferson89

piperm87 said:

i All,

My other halfs Vauxhall Astra 1.7 Cdti has developed a oil leak .

I was having a look yesterday after telling her not to use it and i've noticed a oil drip coming from the intercooler intake pipe at the top as it fits on to the engine. I can't see signs of it coming from anywhere else but have got it going into the garage tonight to get it looked at (was booked into MOT tomorrow tomorrow funnily enough)

The oil has been leaking and collecting on the sump cover and dripping off overnight (sloped drive) i've taken that off and there hasn't been any signs of oil over night (probably because the engine hasn't running)

My main concern is if it is coming from the boost pipe - it obviously means there's oil getting to the turbo and i am worried about it going on a runaway on the way to the garage tonight which is a 2 mile drive.

I've attached some photo's of the offending but surely if there's alot of oil coming from there it can't get a good sign???

Hey Pal just wondering if you ever got your problem sorted for your oil leak at the intercooler pipe?

Goudy

Diesels tend to get oil in the intercooler and pipe work, it's not always down to worn turbo seals.

All ICE cars these days vent their crankcase pressure out into the air intake.

As the pistons go up and down, the pressure under them (oil side) needs to vent, so somewhere off the engine will be a pipe that connects to the air intake as the idea is to send these gases to combustion.

Now diesels run far higher compression than petrols which increases this pressure oil side under the pistons, this tends to throw out a bit more oil into the air intake side than a petrol would.

Also, as the engine gets older and more worn, more combustion also gets past the rings causing more pressure oil side particularly when cold.

There is often a gauze, baffle or on bigger diesel engines some sort of oil splitter that helps stop some of the oil or seperate the oil from the gases.

What tends to happen is over years and years a little oil finds it's way into the air intake side and pools at the lowest point which is usually the bottom pipe or intercooler but as this crank breather pipe in plumbed into the air intake before the turbo, the oily gasses can make the air intake side of the turbo look oily.

It's often just a case of cleaning it all out, checking the clips, the pipework for splits and checking the gauze/baffle.

Engine oil and heat tends to degrade the rubber pipework or the clips holding the pipework on rust away and you start to get airleaks from the intake side that also drips oil.

If there's oil further up, it possible the small crankcase to air intake pipe has split, again old engine oil and heat causes these hoses to degrade over the years so it can crack and split and drip out.