Forum:
My 89 sportrak EL is leaking oil into the rad and not into the engine. A knowledgable friend says its from the gear box,will cost many £100's to repair and as the car is old, scrap it. I know very little and find it hard to find my way around the manual let alone the real mechanics. I didnt even think the gearbox was linked to the cooling system. Apart from this the Sportrak seems to be in good nick and and hasn't even done 70,000 miles.Id hate to scrap her if its not essential. Can anyone give advice?
If you are getting oil in the
If you are getting oil in the radiator the chances are you have a blown head gasket or worse still a crack in the head. Its more likely to be a blown gasket.If you dont intend doing it yourself you could face a fairly hefty garage bill...a few hours work..probably in the region of £150-200.
If the rest of the car is ok then I would say its well worth getting it done.
Dont drive your car too much with a blown head gasket or you could do some serious damage..get it done as quickly as possible.
Thanks for your help Mike. I'
Thanks for your help Mike. I'll have a go. Changing the head gasket seems to be a less scarey option than trying to get at the gearbox. Trouble is,I'm still confused as to why no water is showing on the oil filler cap and why the oil which has ended up in the radiator filler bottle has that distinctive smell of gear oil. I've also noticed its getting harder to change gear when the engine is warm although it selects all gears easily when cold or when the engine is not running. I'll keep you posted.
George ..usually the tell tai
George ..usually the tell tail sign of blown head gasket is mayonaise in the radiator..it often collects on the bottom of the rad cap. You will also notice you are going through coolant pretty quickly.The gear box oil could not possibly find its way in to the engine..thats impossible..
Thats funny about the gears cause you would normally expect to be able to select them easier as the box warmed up...not the other way round.
Check the level of you gear box oil.
Thanks again Mike. There is n
Thanks again Mike. There is no mayonaise and I dont seem to be losing any water. I'll check the gear oil level if I can find the nut. It is a bit oily under there (not enough to drip) so I should have checked that anyway.
Check before you spend!
Your friend sounds a liability. No oil can get from the gearbox to the coolant unless someone poured it directly into the radiator. Do you know the history of the car?
Before you remove the cylinder head check be that the oil [probably synthetic if it smells like gearoil] has not come from some other repair work ...ie. has the thermostat or water pump might have been exchanged so that oil has contaminated the coolant.
Thanks for your reply Mace. T
Thanks for your reply Mace. Trouble is my friend is a highly competent car mechanic. I couldn't understand the link between the gearbox and radiator either but just put that down to my ignorance. This mechanic is normally REALLY good. There has been no other repair work. Its difficult to ask my friendly mechanic again; he doesnt suffer fools gladly. I wondered if there could possibly be a gasket leak between the gearbox and engine and then engine to the coolant system. Both you and Mike think its not the gearbox so its starting to look much more hopeful!
Go annoy your m8.
The gearbox is beneath the car below the passenger footwell and the nearest coolant is on the other side of the clutch - no chance! If no engine repair has been done the likely cause is a leaking head gasket.
Thanks again Mace. I'll drain
Thanks again Mace. I'll drain the rad and see if more oil appears.If so I'll check the head gasket. In the mean time I'll check the gear oil level, but thats a bit scarey. It seems from other problem posting if I unscrew the wrong plug I'm in trouble. I think the plug is half way up the gearbox on the drivers side and I imagine the oil is EP90?
George if you are going to ch
George if you are going to check the gear box oil level be VERY VERY CAREFUL YOU DONT UNDO THE WRONG NUT.
The gear box filler nut is on the drivers side of the box (assuming yours is a right hand drive car) ..there is a similar nut on the passenger side DO NOT UNDO THIS NUT...its a nut that hold a selector fork in place.If you undo it you will lose 5th gear.
oil in rad /oil cooler
Thanks once again for your help. Been looking through my workshop manual and I see that there is an oil cooler which is a link between the oil and water. Bearing in mind there is no mayo and that Im not losing water I wonder if anyone knows if it is possible for the oil cooler to leak into the rad. If so has anyone removed one and are there any hidden problems waiting to nobble me?
Check if its got an oil coole
Check if its got an oil cooler!!!!!! Not all Spotraks have one fitted. If it has then it could be the culprit.:)