1.9D DW8 Crankshaft oil seal leaking near the flywheel. Any cheapish options?

[kenbw2]

I've had a persistent oil leak from my 1999 DW8 Dispatch. Decided to finally have a garage have a look, see what they could find and he's diagnosed it as a crankshaft oil seal leak.

He's talking about it being a massive job (7 hours' labour) so not really worth doing. Says I can keep topping it up, maybe replace it when the clutch needs replacing.

I accept it's not the end of the van, but it'd be nice to not be leaving a pool of oil every time I park up.

Is there anything I could try - whether it be something I do, or something a garage can do for not silly money?

- I'm happy to give an oil additive a try. Probably a waste of time, but can't hurt, right?
- Mineral oil is a bit thicker, could try that?
- Use a thicker viscosity oil? I'm currently using 5W40 fully synthetic


Diagram here for what it's worth: (Edit: I've highlighted the wrong seal. Mine is near the flywheel, part #7)

[GiveMeABreak]

When this went on my C5 X7, it wasn't long after I had just had the Dual Mass Flywheel and Clutch replaced. So not long after that job, the clutch started slipping again - leading to diagnosis of the crankshaft oil seal. Point being that it was not long before my clutch need replacing again as a result of oil contamination and slippage.

[xantia_v6]

Note that I think that you have highlighted the wrong seal in the diagram, should be #7?

[GiveMeABreak]

Yes, 7 & 8 are the crankshaft bearing seals, but 7 obviously nearer the flywheel / clutch end, with 21 being the rubber seal.

[kenbw2]

Note that I think that you have highlighted the wrong seal in the diagram, should be #7?

Right you are.

The question I guess is whether or not I can do anything to attempt to mitigate, rather than fix the problem.

[Oldpug]

Is the oil leak front or rear of the engine ?
Parts item 8 is the crankshaft front oil seal.So oil would leak into the timing cover area,oil contamination of the cambelt is bad news.
Parts item 7 is the crankshaft rear oil seal.So oil would leak into the gearbox bell housing.(gearbox out job) As its behind the flywheel it would have to be a massive leak to find its way into the clutch plate. If it is the rear one leaking you could probably live with it?

[kenbw2]

Is the oil leak front or rear of the engine ?
Parts item 8 is the crankshaft front oil seal.So oil would leak into the timing cover area,oil contamination of the cambelt is bad news.
Parts item 7 is the crankshaft rear oil seal.So oil would leak into the gearbox bell housing.(gearbox out job) As its behind the flywheel it would have to be a massive leak to find its way into the clutch plate. If it is the rear one leaking you could probably live with it?

Yea xantia_v6 pointed out I'd highlighted the wrong one.

It's at the flywheel, so the rear oil seal (front and rear in a transverse engine confuses me!).

I'm okay with living with it, and that's what the garage suggested. It'd just be nice if I could do something to lessen the puddle I leave everywhere.

[lexi]

I would go 15w 40 oil. Get a tray made for overnight parking. You could make a small catch tray to fix in somewhere for on the move and empty it weekly. These are things us old Land Rover owners had to do

[van ordinaire]

Certainly synthetic's not helping.

An additive that softens & expands the seal is a sort of het you home for a while fix BUT ultimately it will make matters worse. If you can spin it out 'til the clutch needs doing, fine - but there's a risk that might come sooner than you might otherwise be expecting