V6 Major Oil leak

[Beastlee]

Friend of mine's daughter bought a 51 plate 2.5 Elegance Estate on Monday and brought it over to Germany. It had been looked over by someone who was conisdered a competent mechanic before they bought it and it seemed OK on the way over. Due to the distance they took turns with the driving and both drivers gave it beans all the way.
Yesterday however they were just dribing home and the car started smoking badly, thankfully they were only round the corner from their home. When they parked up they found large amounts of oil coming from what they think is the sump. I've not seen int myself and the owner knows where to put petrol in and that's about his car knowledge so I can't be certiain. It is an Autobox so I'm wondering if the box is the problem.
Anybody got any ideas what could be the issue? Will know more myself in the morning.

[bradc]

First thing to do would be to check the colour of the oil. Did they bump the sump into anything that they remember?

[Beastlee]

yeah, I'll be checking for red or black/gold/brown. Will be looking for any damage underneath, judging by what they have said there seems to be no impact but there's a lot of oil.

[Beastlee]

Well, what a mess! It's most definitely engine oil pouring out, and I mean pouring, but without getting it on a ramp I can't spot exactly where. Looks to be right above the drain plug. The biggest issue though was the fact the sump looks like a melted ashtray. Anyone seen this before?


It was bought a couple of weeks ago and has done 4K miles since then but it was only on Thursday that it actually started losing the oil. There's evidence of previous speedbump damage but it looks too old to have been relevant here, not ot mention the fact the oil is coming from up the abck of the sump.
The oil is very black so I doubt it's been changed in a long time, however everythign else seems to have been reasonably well looked after and the car is in excellent condition otherwise.

Anyone know the price for a sump and how much work woul dbe needed to swap it over? The owner's wife is having a baby on Wed and it's the whole reason the boght the car, I need to get ehm up and running ASAP.

Thanks
Lee

[andydckent]

If the oil is old at least it suggests that this was not a known problem before the car was sold?!

[Beastlee]

If the oil is old at least it suggests that this was not a known problem before the car was sold?!

Very true, hadn't thought of it like that, the stuff was really black. The guy who has says there was no oil loss at all until this happened on Thursday, at least no evidence of it on driveways etc.

Aparently the seller is a genuine guy who even gave them 2 weeks warranty, just a shame it was 4 weeks before it was brought over here.

[Turbo_Steve]

Just how much oil is coming out, Lee?
I'd suggest buying some cheapie rubbish oil (like 15Litres) and refilling. If it's losing it at a serious rate (and it sounds like it's coming out as fast as it goes in) this should help show you where the leak is.

If it's coming out at any kind of rate without the engine running, it's going to have to be a hole in the sump.

[Beastlee]

If you imagine doing an oil change it's like the point where the flow has dropped off and it's dripping out. It's probably one large blob every 10 secs.
Our biggest issue is gettng it moved to somewhere that we can get underneath it. No matter waht it looks like the sump is severely screwed!

[psbarham]

it sounds like the sump has rotted out, if this is the case and it was me i would go to the German equivalent of halfrauds and get some new oil, some thinners, a wire brush and one of those fibreglass kits.
drop whats left of the oil out of the sump, clean it up with the wire brush and thinners to remove the oil and loose rust, then once its spotless cover the fecker with the fibre glass and cross fingers that it holds all the way back to england

[Beastlee]

hehe, it will be a few years before it goes back to England LOL They are an Army family and live on the camp up the road from us.

I've told them to speak to ADAC (German AA) and get ti taken to a garage I know, in the meanwhile they need to order a new sump from Mitsi.

[Davezj]

you could always join the AA or equivalent if they do european recovery to home. you can't use them on the day of joining but it sound like you have a few days to play with. so it might be possible to get it back on a recovery truck. or a fleet of recovery trucks.

just a thought.

[Beastlee]

Sorry Dave, not sure if I made it clear the car is outside of their house in Germany and is staying in Germany, just like mine. Their issue is that they need it fixed so that they can drive to and from Hospital once Cassie has the baby on Wednesday.

I'd have ordered them a new sump and done the work myself this week but it's the start of a new school term so I can't take the time off. We just need to get it moved to the local garage but I think they only have basic ADAC cover which won't move them from home.

[Davezj]

I see what you mean now.

push it round the corner or if there is a minimum distance from house tow it the 1 mile ish from house. Make the call to ADAC, that's what they are there for.

[Beastlee]

I see what you mean now.

push it round the corner or if there is a minimum distance from house tow it the 1 mile ish from house. Make the call to ADAC, that's what they are there for.

hehe, the garage is about 2 miles away. I reckon they'll just tow it there anyway, only issue is it's an auto and they can't run the engine to get the oil pump running

[Davezj]

ADAC will have a front wheel lift thing on there truck for just this thing if you ask for it.

[bradc]

Removing the sump isn't too hard at all, it's just really bloody messy! It shouldn't be too hard to find a sump over there though, considering how many V6's are in Germany.

[Beastlee]

Actually there's no-where-near as many of them as you would think. I've only seen 4 others in the whole time I've been here.

[elnevio]

Lee - once again, happy to bring anything necessary to Nurburg.

[Beastlee]

Hehe, thanks buddy but this will have to be done this week or they'll be teaching baby to walk at 2 days old LOL

[Turbo_Steve]

How different is the V6 sump from the VR4?