So, it looks like there's an oil leak somewhere on my car (had it two days and I'm already breaking it 
). After driving the underside of
the sump and most things behind it are misted with oil. I've not had a chance to look at it properly yet, but judging by the location, I think it
might just be leaking at the oil filter.
Are there any known oil leak locations on these engines? Crank end seal or oil pump are the only obvious possibilities that spring to my mind.
from what i remember the sumps where well known for leaking. i seem to remember on mine swapping the 2 cork gaskets and plate to one from the 8 valve engine which used a one piece rubber gasket. a small modification to the plate was needed for clearance.
Thanks, I'll check that out. Need to clean everything up first else I'll have no chance 
i have just sorted mine out this week
exact same area wasnt sure if it was sump or oil filter
turned out to be the front crank seal
not to bad a job to do
i was told to check the spacer the seal runs on is prone for wear
but all i did was turn the spacer round didnt show wear and put in new seal on crank and cams
touch wood all good so far and it would have shown up by now before this
regards stuart
Rear crank shaft oil seal!!! Ive had 4 engines in my Tiger and only one didnt leak.
The sump can also be a pain if its been bumped/nudged. I banged mine last week as it bottomed out on a bumpy road and had to take the sump of and
reseal it as it was throwing oil all over the place.
Rear as in the flywheel end? I'm pretty it's not that from where the oil is, if anything cranky it's the front seal.
quote:
Originally posted by jaik
Rear as in the flywheel end? I'm pretty it's not that from where the oil is, if anything cranky it's the front seal.
I replaced rear crank seal when engine was out
But it was my front that was leaking where you are talking about
Stuart
I gave the underside a clean up and ran it for 15 minutes… not a drop. Looking at where the oil is I'm thinking it's the front edge of the
sump that's the culprit. I'll be recruiting a friend who's a little better with the spanners than I am to help me get to the bottom of
it
Oops, almost forgot. When I took the timing belt cover off I noticed it's been rubbing on a pulley.
Looks like it's done all the rubbing it's going to but I'm a bit intrigued as to why the clearance wasn't right, it seemed to be
fitted with all the right bits.
Ye mine was same wouldn't leak when idling
I even took the front pulley off and drove round the block still wouldn't show
but I was convinced it wasn't the sump gasket
And it has paid off done a couple o good runs and all dry ;-)
Stuart
quote:
Originally posted by jaik
Oops, almost forgot. When I took the timing belt cover off I noticed it's been rubbing on a pulley.
Looks like it's done all the rubbing it's going to but I'm a bit intrigued as to why the clearance wasn't right, it seemed to be fitted with all the right bits.
Well, I don't like to rush these things 
I finally got round to taking the sump off and replacing the gasket this evening. There may be another
leak elsewhere on the engine, but given the condition of the top gasket (there are two sandwiching a baffle plate on the XE) I'd be very
surprised if I've not fixed one.
I've replaced the baffle plate with one from an 8v C20NE engine as recommended by the Vauxhall forums, as they come with rubber gaskets moulded
on which are meant to be much better than the naff cork ones the XE uses. It needs modifying a little as there's a tab that would interfere with
the ARP rod bolt heads if left alone, but it just needs flattening down, then the whole lot fitting with slightly shorter bolts.
I only finished torqueing everything up at 11pm, so I'll wait 'til tomorrow to get some oil in and see how quickly it all ends up on the
floor