Zetec With Raceline Sump, Oil Leak

[speedtripledan]

Decided whilst the weather is poor to fix the oil leak, so for the 2nd time its engine out time , took me about 2hrs to take the engine out on my own, once out and sat on the work mate it was very obvious where the leak was

 

 

Stripped everything down and found the cause to be the raceline sump is a poor fit round the oil seal housing plate if you look at the pic there is a 3mm gap at the bottom compared to the sides. pretty rubbish considering what these sumps cost!

 

 

so the fix is going to be generous helping of black bob on reassemble and fingers crossed

 

only slight concern is the amount of oil that was above the point of the seal i,m hopping its just been splashed about, the other worry was when i took the top left bellhousing bolt out a drip of oil ran down the back of the engine

[Al Milton]

Dan, silly question I know but are/were the sump bolts tight?

 

One thing I noticed when fitting my Scholar sump was that it is really easy for the sump gasket to 'slip' out of the groove in the flange at the point of your leak, so as you suggest, i gooed mine in with instant gasket stuff squirted into the flange groove. Held the gasket in a treat.

 

A spare pair of hands to hold the sump in place helped as well while a couple of bolts were inserted (thanks Robin).

[Guest alfaGTA]

That looks like alot of oil..... any contamination with clutch?

[speedtripledan]

al the gasket was firmly in place when i dropped the sump off its just the shape of the sump itself leaves a gap at the bottom which the gasket cannot fully seal.

 

Keith the clutch is spot on nothing on the front of the flywheel, pressure plate or friction disc.

 

There was also a slight weep out of the front of sump so will seal the whole thing with black bob

[Al Milton]

Aha, then that does question the quality of the sump for what you pay, as you suggest.

[Guest mower man]

Dan I have previously used silicone sim to black bob on large deisel engines both with a paper gasketand with out but the fit has to be good ! what I would suggest is fit the gasket to the sump or block which ever take your whim I believe its a rubber neoprene thing setting it in BB then liberally coat with sealer and fit the sump following all torque settings and tightening orders , this Should take up any gaps . Is the casting true ? flat across and along length would it be poss to skim a little of the face to snug the fit of the crank seal up a few thou ? .If this is all b-----ks sorry but I have no knowledge of this engine ,its too new !! but have in the past built any thing between 50 cc and 16 litres hth mick see you sunday

[Guest kent zero]

Hi mate,got exactly same oil leak from my Raceline sump,havent taken engine out yet,would

be very interested to know how you over come the problem.

 

John.

kentzero

[Longboarder]

As part of my limited refurb of my ST zetec I fitted a new crank seal. The bolts into the block allow a little variability in positioning of the seal housing, designed I presume to allow the fitter to centralise the seal. Looking at your first picture it gives the impression that it is fitted high. The seal width seems greater above the crank than below. Moving the seal housing and thus the seal to centralise it on the crank would reduce the problem you are having perhaps. My raceline sump fits and seals beautifully. (Not a great fan of raceline. I binned their water rail as a piece of junk.)

May just be a parallax impression from the pic and not the problem at all!

 

Nigel

 

Should also say I abandoned the recommended sump bolt torque settings after some of the bolts fell out after 1000 miles and now just bang it up tight, virtually metal to metal.

[Guest robinj66]

A spare pair of hands to hold the sump in place helped as well while a couple of bolts were inserted (thanks Robin).

 

Always useful as a spare part, that's me

[speedtripledan]

Nigel the seal determines the height of the plate relative to the sump, the play in the bolts just allows it to rotate a little

[Guest paul c]

Dan

Nigel may have a valid point, I would remove the seal housing and sump re place seal centralise replace sump seal I find that using sealers causes problems the only one I would use is a Loctite product that Peugeot recommend for the crank seals on 1.9 diesels

Regards Paul

[speedtripledan]

There is no vertical movement unless u collapse the seal and run it off center it will only rotate a little the leak is at the very bottom center of where the sump gasket touches the engine the sump would need a few mm miling off its face to make it fit closer. It's silicone or leaks

[Longboarder]

Nigel the seal determines the height of the plate relative to the sump, the play in the bolts just allows it to rotate a little

Sorry to disagree but as I already stated I have changed the rear crank seal on two zetecs. The bolts allow rotation and up/down/side movement. It was a fiddly job and I remember them both well. I haven't got my mondeo haynes as I lent it to a mate but I seem to remember it giving quite a lot of instruction for centralising the seal mounting plate and aligning the flanges it carries, which make up the sump mounting face, with the machined surfaces on the block. I agree it's possible that you may have a badly machined raceline sump. Mine is fine and seems very high quality. Gotta be worth a look as a possible cause.

I also noted that some aftermarket silvertop sump gaskets are bulkier than others. Used genuine ford as a result.

 

As a side issue getting the fore and aft position of the sump correct with a straight edge across the back of the block is also important as it presents a flat face of block and sump to mate to the front of the bellhousing. You do it before you add the flywheel.

 

Nigel

[Al Milton]

+1 this - I've a couple of drips/week from the back end of the engine - not taken it out though - just monitoring oil levels for now

 

Sump off re-seal the best option?

 

Sounds like engine out too or can you remove/re-install the sump with the engine in situe?

 

Richard,

 

Not sure on the Zero regarding obstructions underneath the engine, but on my Superspec my original Ford sump was removed quite easily (needed a few persuasive taps with a rubber mallet), with the engine in situe, just had to take the starter off. I refitted a Scholar sump and not the Raceline, can't see there being that many differences though.

As I mentioned earlier, a spare part (sorry pair of hands, Robin ), will help when re-aligning the sump with the new gasket.

If you need a pair of hands, drop me a line.

Al

[Al Milton]

No problem, keep us posted.