W212 e350 cdi - oil leaking - suspect crankshaft oil seal ?

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SANJP

Active Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2005
Messages
90
Location
Croydon Surrey
Car
W212 BRABUS D6S
Hi All has anyone had this issue on there E350CDI ?

All of a sudden Had a breakfast bowl size puddle of oil on drive the other day , took to a friends garage stuck on ramp and he suspects the gearbox will have to come out and reckons its the crankshaft oil seal !! Madness on a car that's barely covered 65k

Some pics below , would really appreciate if anyone else has had or knows of this happening before and costings for repair etc

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Hopefully someone may come up with a better answer, but I have a feeling someone on here had a leak from the back of the engine which looked like a c/s oil seal failure but was equally difficult to get to! Sorry can't be of any more help.

Might be worth asking the same question on t'other side.

Ernie
 
Tbh there is oil at the front of the engine to, Wouldnt had thought it had blown up to the front?

You sure the oil filter housing is not leaking? or oil been spilt?
 
More likely to be oil cooler seals in the valley of the vee if you ask me
 
Thanks for your input guys will get the Garage to look into these points , also any further help would be much appreciated

Cheers
 
I don't believe in miracle cures for stuff like this generally, but before you have it pulled apart I'd definitely try an oil seal expander. I used it on my old van in both the engine oil and steering fluid and it cured it permanently. It just gives any old rubber seals a new lease of life. Worth a try for the sake of a tenner...
 
Hello, I live in Germany and I have the same Car and the same problem ;-) , Could you please explain me what you did to solve the problem and what was the problem? And was it time consuming and how about the price? Thanks in advance!
 
They do say that the oil coolers are known to be problematic. Not too expensive but a sod to get to right down in the vee.
 
Sorry only just seen the replies to this thread , so it turns out oil was pouring out of the turbo seal and small breather seal ( both red) dropping into the v of engine ( thank you Gazz) anyway there are both very cheap around £15 for both , but sadly less then 2 months after replacement due the the totally ridiculous space to work with and see what you are actually doing the large rubber turbo seal failed again , this time im assuming has caused engine light to come on and limp mode every 3 of 4 alternate days, so off to get another one over the weekend and see if I can sort this once and for all

Thanks again all , hope this helps
 
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Looking at that oil leak I'd be surprised if that wasn't the oil coolers seals.
We are continuously changing them and that looks like classic signs
 
Looking at that oil leak I'd be surprised if that wasn't the oil coolers seals.
We are continuously changing them and that looks like classic signs

+1 for oil cooler seals, not seen turbo seals leak that much oil.
 
Hi , have just seen your thread and i have a oil cooler leak on my Vito 120.

I have spent about 2 days in time and have read EVERY thread on this i think from all over the world .

What i gathered was that if the oil cooler leaks it drips out above the gearbox and down it as such.

If you jack your car up at the front as high as you can get it and stick it on axle stands - leave it running to thin oil out.

If it is the oil cooler the collected oil in the bottom of the 'V' of the engine will drain out due to the drain hole at the back quite rapidly as you have inclined the vehicle.

After 5 mins, mine there was a lot of oil and you could see it dripping from top of bell housing quite easily.

There was none in my bellhousing inspection hole, i would have assumed that would be the rear crankshaft seal ?

But the jacking up thing really does work , the only problem is most oil leaks will natually drop into 'V' so any collected oil will come out when jacked up, so i guess not a 100% way of knowing if cooler seals gone.

I also tried using UV dye and it was crap :)
 
Oh, i just forgot , i also after reading many threads on the nightmare cost of oil cooler seals, the quick fix additives work by expanding the oil seals with a chemical reaction, and swells them up, but also softens them so could not find a recomendation for long term use of any of these products- unless you were going to put it through an Auction and sell it maybe :)
 
I had same issue with my e350 . So did change all gasket and seal. Big one daj job.
 
Seals are cheap but labor job r expensively
 
So I have been looking at other jobs to do today and found a oil leak what would be the correct course of action for this?

Could this be the oil cooler gaskets that ill have to replace?






PS. Sorry for hijacking the thread.
 
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So I have been looking at other jobs to do today and found a oil leak what would be the correct course of action for this?

Could this be the oil cooler gaskets that ill have to replace?






PS. Sorry for hijacking the thread.
If it’s filling the undertrays as well , then yes it probably is oil cooler seals . I’m sure an MB Indy knows the best way to confirm it . Maybe with one of those camera on stick/wand modern thingy‘s .
Other things might be pcv leak , turbo leak ?
 

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