ripp
ClioSport Club Member
182 FFAT
Hi guys,
It's a long one so bare with me
Over the past 3 years I've been doing some trackdays once or twice a year (yep, way fewer that I planned to) and since 2018 I had some leaks following these sessions
It all started mid 2018 when after a 20 min track session I found oil all over the subframe and some of it even on the inside of the right wheel.
So in august last year I went to a renault deler to source the leaks and they said that I had a leaky crankshaft seal (the one near the flywheel).
Replaced that plus a new sump seal, also did the belts on that occasion plus oil service and stuff.
2 months later in october I went to another trackday and guess what, it wheeped oil all over once again....
The leak wasn't bad, no spots under the car or smth, it looked like it was leaking more when pushed on the track so I left it as it was untill the begining of this month (so one year with just street normal driving)
Ok so couple of weeks ago I finally had the time and resources to start the damn leak hunt all over again.
Thinking that it was leaking from the crank seal I just bought a set of OE lower engine seals and went to a buddy of mine who has a garage to get to the bottom of things.
What we found was that the crank seal wasn't leaking but the gearbox outputshaft seal did. There was also some oil under the sump so I decided to get a used gearbox and install it as it was cheaper than rebuilding my old one at this point (turned out that was a wise decision as the new box is good)
We also replaced once again the sump gasket, the crank seal (as it was in the set so why not) new elf 5w 40 oil, filters and so on.
We mounted the sump seal dry (as per manual) and tightened it according to the specific procedure and torque values.
Happy with the result, I went to another trackday this weekend.
All good, seemed that there was no leak after but yesterday did a random check under the car an the horror struck again.. Now it looks like it leaks from the driver's side of the sump,near the belts.
Needless to say that i'm very pissed off right now, the next step is to clean everything under and use some UV dye in the engine oil to locate the leak precisely.
What I'm asking are some advices for stopping these dreaded leaks (at leas for a while if not for good), I know that the sump on these cars has the habit of leaking but I also know that some people track the tits of their cars without any issues whatsoever.
So, I'm thinking sealant on the sump gasket? Not too much as I don't want it in my oil pump...
Other tips and tricks are very welcomed!
Thanks for anyone having the patience to read this!
p.s: Every trackday event that I went to I only did a 20 minute session so nothing really stressful to the car, warm up and cooldown laps, all done properly
It's a long one so bare with me
Over the past 3 years I've been doing some trackdays once or twice a year (yep, way fewer that I planned to) and since 2018 I had some leaks following these sessions
It all started mid 2018 when after a 20 min track session I found oil all over the subframe and some of it even on the inside of the right wheel.
So in august last year I went to a renault deler to source the leaks and they said that I had a leaky crankshaft seal (the one near the flywheel).
Replaced that plus a new sump seal, also did the belts on that occasion plus oil service and stuff.
2 months later in october I went to another trackday and guess what, it wheeped oil all over once again....
The leak wasn't bad, no spots under the car or smth, it looked like it was leaking more when pushed on the track so I left it as it was untill the begining of this month (so one year with just street normal driving)
Ok so couple of weeks ago I finally had the time and resources to start the damn leak hunt all over again.
Thinking that it was leaking from the crank seal I just bought a set of OE lower engine seals and went to a buddy of mine who has a garage to get to the bottom of things.
What we found was that the crank seal wasn't leaking but the gearbox outputshaft seal did. There was also some oil under the sump so I decided to get a used gearbox and install it as it was cheaper than rebuilding my old one at this point (turned out that was a wise decision as the new box is good)
We also replaced once again the sump gasket, the crank seal (as it was in the set so why not) new elf 5w 40 oil, filters and so on.
We mounted the sump seal dry (as per manual) and tightened it according to the specific procedure and torque values.
Happy with the result, I went to another trackday this weekend.
All good, seemed that there was no leak after but yesterday did a random check under the car an the horror struck again.. Now it looks like it leaks from the driver's side of the sump,near the belts.
Needless to say that i'm very pissed off right now, the next step is to clean everything under and use some UV dye in the engine oil to locate the leak precisely.
What I'm asking are some advices for stopping these dreaded leaks (at leas for a while if not for good), I know that the sump on these cars has the habit of leaking but I also know that some people track the tits of their cars without any issues whatsoever.
So, I'm thinking sealant on the sump gasket? Not too much as I don't want it in my oil pump...
Other tips and tricks are very welcomed!
Thanks for anyone having the patience to read this!
p.s: Every trackday event that I went to I only did a 20 minute session so nothing really stressful to the car, warm up and cooldown laps, all done properly
