200tdi oil leak

Hello,
My 200tdi has always leaked oil from the front wading plug hole. I have had a bottle rigged up to it and have made do with just emptying it every couple of weeks.

I recently decided to replace the crankshaft and camshaft oil seals, along with polishing the pulleys where the seals run. I was really careful putting everything back together, but I still have a bad oil leak from somewhere.

For reference, I did a 50 mile trip today and lost 150ml of oil.

Does anyone have any other ideas? I’m wondering if the cyclone breather could have anything to do with it but I’m unsure. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

When you had the cover off to replace the seals, which one of them seemed to be the culprit of the leak? You may have to go back in there to assess where exactly its coming from the traces of oil that would have been left in the timing chest. Regardless, a leak there may result in premature timing belt failure so best to get it sorted. All the best with it.

Have you made sure that your crankcase vent system is clean and working correctly?

ifloochies said:

When you had the cover off to replace the seals, which one of them seemed to be the culprit of the leak? You may have to go back in there to assess where exactly its coming from the traces of oil that would have been left in the timing chest. Regardless, a leak there may result in premature timing belt failure so best to get it sorted. All the best with it.

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Once the case is open, it’s pretty difficult to tell where the leak is coming from as there is oil everywhere. I was considering taking the timing cover off and running the engine for a minute to try and see the leak - not sure if that is a great idea though.

Europa486 said:

Have you made sure that your crankcase vent system is clean and working correctly?

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Are you referring to the cyclone breather on top of the engine, or is there another breather that I am missing?

It is not recommended to run without coolant as temperatures rise very quickly around the combustion chamber, however I have done it a couple of times to check belt timing/running correct with no problem [ under 30 secs ]. You could just turn it over with stop solenoid wire off. After a good clean this could be enough to give away the leek.

david9393 said:

Once the case is open, it’s pretty difficult to tell where the leak is coming from as there is oil everywhere. I was considering taking the timing cover off and running the engine for a minute to try and see the leak - not sure if that is a great idea though.

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Yes that will work just fine, not for to long though.

Ps there are blank bungs in the chest for the oil galleries, maybe the leak is from one of them?

tottot said:

After a good clean this could be enough to give away the leek.

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I see what you did there - Leek...West Wales Coast...very good

Can't help there being a bit of Max Boyce in there.