WH CRD Shat Herself - Oil everwhere!

[Redbaron57]

Got 10km out of town yesterday when the oil light came on. Stopped & found the engine oil was all over the car and the ground, none in the engine any more.

Got a tow home and took the other car instead. No time to investigate.

What the heck happened? Didn't look like the filter o-ring. Looked like the oil came-out lower at the front passenger side. Is this what happens when the turbo seal goes? Does it fill the intercooler with oil and blow-out somewhere down there?

I'd appreciate any advice from you people experienced in Jeep failure modes. She has done 140,000km, probably 60% on the highway at the speed limit.

The bit that pissed me off the most was that I had to restart it for a few seconds to clear that damn "Service 4WD System" alarm before I could get the transfer case in neutral for the towing. The dealer at Pt. Augusta has done the update and agreed to look into a "goodwill" warranty claim for an actuator but I haven't quite got my report organised.

[Clarky]

There is an oil cooler under the inlet manifold (in front of the swirl motor).
If a seal went on it all the oil would be pumped out fairly quickly.



http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f67/3...70/index2.html

[Doc]

I know this may sound stupid did you check your oil at any stage recently

I speak from experience

I checked the oil on my WH CRD would have been 2 years ago topped it up went for a drive to Brisbane from Goldy parked at south-bank in the underground car park didn't think anymore about it (although my wife did say she could smell oil) got back to the car 3 hours later there was a massive pool of oil under the car and under the bonnet and everywhere

Turns out if the oil cap if not put on correct will leak oil heavily the cam chain is directly below it just pumps the oil out everywhere

Also had the car towed thinking it was something else

Bummer side effect of this it killed my alternator the later model jeeps have a snap in plastic cover for the alternator and the Mercedes ML cars with this engine have a rubber doohickey on the screw thread on the oil filler neck

I wrote a post on this at the time also gave the part numbers for the jeep snap in cap for the alternator and the rubber piece from Mercedes I have both fitted now alternator cost $1900 here in aus luckily I got one from the US for $400 the dollars was really strong at the time


And I recently did the same with my Renault trafic van a month ago checked the oil thought I screwed the cap on tight must have had the thread crossed a bit

It pumped 2 liters of oil out all over the back of the van in Sydney while I was on my way to Melbourne this time I learned from the jeep traced it back to the oil cap topped up the oil bought 2 cans of spray degreaser and degreased the van at the caltex while filling up the guy in the caltex didn't even flinch LOL

[Redbaron57]

The verdict - I failed to notice I rolled the o-ring into the wrong groove as I screwed-in the filter cap, after changing the oil filter a while back. I didn't use enough lube and care. It blew out after 2000 km.

When the o-ring entered properly it went easy and I could see that the final groove was clear. Don't know where my head was on the day I stuffed it up.

I have a history of this. In 1973 I blew the filter o-ring on a Nissan Cedric after I failed to fit it properly.

In conclusion: the WH Jeep is a damn fine vehicle. This owner is a mug!

Now comes the cleanup and checks for damage.

[GMEMUD]

Glad to see a good outcome.

[Redbaron57]

Originally Posted by GMEMUD

Glad to see a good outcome.

Thanks folks for your replies. I was a tad traumatised over the weekend wondering what the heck happened.

Everything seems to be back to normal after replacing the o-ring, draining the oil and refilling. Then off to the wash bay to clean-up. After the oil shower the underside of the vehicle looks like new!

There were still a couple litres of oil in the sump. Might explain why the oil light extinguished momentarily when I restarted for a few seconds to clear the "Service 4WD System" alarm. The oil pressure was low while it was squirting from the spot where the o-ring popped out but there would have been some flow through the engine still. I don't think there is any damage. Better luck than I deserve!

Assuming it makes it to the next service without blowing to bits I will have an oil sample analysed to confirm everything is normal.

[downunderdave]

Thanks Redbaron, I did the same thing today. About 6k from home, oil light, pulled over ASAP. Did the oil and filter where it stopped, having seen your post. 3 litres was left in the engine. Like you, I hope I've not damaged the engine. Such a stupid error. Have done 10 changes before. I see your post as several years old.