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dripping oil
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 3:06 pm
by lancyman
I appear to have oil dripping from underneath my bongo.
Any suggestions?
Re: dripping oil
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 3:27 pm
by horus01
recently had to have crank seal and cam seals changed due to oil leak.Had to put her up on ramps and remove the plastic tray that protects the engine underbelly befofe i could locate just where oil appeared to be leaking from.(98 V6).Me thinks you will have to lift the seats back and get a torch out to investigate from top and bottom of engine-good luck with it

Re: dripping oil
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 4:42 pm
by lancyman
Leak seems to be coming from quite high up. Hard to tell. One day of ownership and it all goes wrong.
Re: dripping oil
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 5:40 pm
by mentaliss
lancyman wrote:Leak seems to be coming from quite high up. Hard to tell. One day of ownership and it all goes wrong.
Open up the drivers side engine compartment look to the front of the side of the engine around the camshaft chain cover see if its wet if it is it will be the sensor cover gasket (3 bolts)
Re: dripping oil
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 6:04 pm
by horus01
don't know if it helps-but did you buy private or dealer? When i bought mine from dealer he explained that even private sellers have to provide so much warranty per thousand spent-may be worth looking into.
Re: dripping oil
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 6:07 pm
by philpdr
Could just be the oil filter,fairly common problem,leaking oil tends to pool in the plastic undertray making it difficult to spot the origin of the leak.After the last service mine had the oil filter changed twice as the supplied filters weren't seating properly.
Re: dripping oil
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 6:20 pm
by lancyman
Re: dripping oil
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 6:27 pm
by Driver+Passengers
Possibly rocker cover gasket between the cylinder head and the rocker cover at the top of the engine - some try nipping up the bolts with success.
Re: dripping oil
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 6:31 pm
by lancyman
Could the rocker cover come loose?
Re: dripping oil
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 6:34 pm
by Driver+Passengers
lancyman wrote:Could the rocker cover come loose?
Probably unlikely - there's about a dozen bolts holding it down, though it's not held flat against the cylinder head (at least mine's not - there's a few mm gap where the gasket is visible). Very light torque to snug cover down onto little stand-offs between it and the cylinder head, putting just enough compression on the rubber gasket all round to form a seal. If it is leaking from this point, a little nip might be all that's needed to keep the seal. New gaskets are only a tenner or so,
if you needed one.
Try wiping stuff down and seeing what/where it comes back...
Edit: also in that area you have the inlet manifold possibly fed by the EGR (if fitted and not already blanked - pipe coming round the back of the engine from the exhaust manifold to an 'elbow' joint on the right of the inlet manifold). These joints are prone to oozing glunky oil and many remove and clean these parts and some blank the EGR system, too. Plenty on here about both, though a seeping EGR/manifold joint would be unlikely to cause oil to drip, though stuff does collect in the 'wells' in the engine block.
Re: dripping oil
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 6:56 pm
by Diplomat
Assuming that it's a diesel, there's a good chance it is probably fuel and not oil.
Have a look under the fuel pump under driver's seat (has four thin pipes coming out of the back, one going to each cylinder).
Frank
(edit) Mine has an oily area looking similar to yours but in fact looks worse than it is. Most Bongos, according to this forum are oily towards the front of the engine high up, I've chosen my words to give you an idea of where rather than what!
As with the pump, I'm talking about driver's side again.
Re: dripping oil
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 7:04 pm
by lancyman
It's a 2.5 diesel. Will see if I can fine the pump. I know nothing about engines.
Re: dripping oil
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 7:07 pm
by M 80NGO
Get some brake cleaner and a spray bottle, spray the dirty area with brake cleaner this will remove the grime off the engine block and make it easier for you to see exactly where the oil is coming from tho from the pic i think its rocker cover gasket.
Keep us posted

Re: dripping oil
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 7:22 pm
by lancyman
Is a rocker gasket cover job serious eg expensive?
Checked oil level and it was down low on the dipstick. However,
However oil reservoir looked fine?
Re: dripping oil
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 7:32 pm
by Driver+Passengers
lancyman wrote:Is a rocker gasket cover job serious eg expensive?
Checked oil level and it was down low on the dipstick. However,
However oil reservoir looked fine?
What are you looking at here?
No - it shouldn't be expensive and infact is quite easy if you're at all spanner-handy. I did my own (
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=52252&start=30#p526657 but note - there may be better threads to learn from!

To replace it, you'll need to get handy and remove the centre console section between the seats, which involves unmounting the gear shift, etc... Again, not hard.
If you've got warranty or indeed not, go down the route of taking it up with the seller first as tinkering might not be wise. Especially as this is not a diagnosis, and I'm not a mechanic.
