oaries

Thank you for the additional thoughts, Roger - much appreciated. Dipstick is all metal and it seems to slide up and down without undue friction or bending. The oil level is still at Max a few days after we top'ed it off at the shop, despite some heavy stains on the cardboard I placed on the floor - so at least not all of it is draining... I'll drive around this weekend to see what running the engine does to both the oil level and leak. Next week (if the shop has room on the lift) we'll follow your earlier advice of cleaning the engine to re-assess where the leak comes from, in case it may be a sump crack. We'll drain it entirely and fill it at the proper level to see how it impacts the lean and dipstick. Stay tuned! Have all great weekend blats.

Thank you all for your insights. It sounds like the first order of business is to confirm where the leak comes from. I very lightly scraped the sump at low speed not so long ago, and your consensus seems to point to it. I did not do any oil top-off lately; it was only after I saw oil on the floor that I checked the dipstick and noticed I was already below min; and it continued to leak after that. So while I will use PeterM's good maxim on marine maintenance again, the issue is probably not an overfill :) How do I ascertain whether it is a static vs. running leak? Coming back from a blat last week, I immediately pushed my car in the garage and I could see a drip line over several meters on the ground, starting where I had stepped out the car. So I assume the leak happens when driving too. I will keep you all posted here and I'll probably have more questions after I have investigated further.

My 1992 1700 Xflow has developed a massive oil leak. My mechanic says it is it is most likely the rear crankshaft seal against the bellhousing. We know it is not the gearbox because any oil topped off in the engine nearly immediately finds its way to the floor (well, not quite immediately but overnight). I am a novice with Caterhams, so I am counting on this community to advise me and my mechanic. I am in Boston (the USA one), I imported the car in the fall from Brands Hatch, and drove it about 500 mi here. it was happy motoring until now and there was barely any leak until a week ago, just a drop here and there over the winter. My mechanic is not a Caterham expert (he focuses on vintage Alfas) but he is ready to help as long as he get his hands on the right info. So what I'd like to ascertain is: 1. What parts to order 2. How to change the seal - we hope not to have to take the engine or the trans out (but if we need to - how to). 3. To cover our bases, any other diagnostic that could produce the same big leak in that location but would not be the crankshaft seal? 4. Any tech manual you recommend beyond Peter Wallage's Kent guide. Looking forward to your enlightened guidance (and your patience dealing with a novice long on passion but short on mechanical skills). Thank you - Olivier