Disasterous and Depressing. Yes its that bad ;-)

[Mike8v]

Oh the horror, What have I done to deserve this.......

I decided since it was such a nice day over here in wales (which makes a change) to pull the lovely Delta out from its sleeping quaters in my garage and give it a nice clean and possibly a wax. 

So fired here up as usual everything fine for oooooo about 5 seconds then I start to here a strang noise, sort of gooey, bubbeling noise so shuts off the engine pops the bonnet and I can see a pool of oil on top of the gear box.  That shouldnt be there thinking to myself followed closly by OH.... (you can fill that bit in).

Proceded to look underneath the vehical only to see an oil slick that would rival BP's one on the Gulf coast.  But instead of swearing and loosing all hope it was just "oh ok be like that" and just left it.

An hour or two later decided to investigate what it could of been as lay there looking up at my engine I could see one of my jubile clips on the oil return from the turbo was very slack so I thought "oh just tighten it back up and fill with oil again jobs a goodun".

Done that fired her back up and same sound as before but this time I was quick enough to look to see where it was comming from (obviously engine was off at this point).

It would seem that my rear main seal has gone.  So as most of you are aware this means engine out gearbox off and fix.  The thing that gets me is that my eninge was only fully rebuilt (and I mean fully) less than 2000 km ago, "what gives" why has it gone so quickly.

So there we have it my shocking story, all that I need to do now is to decided what on earth Im going to do, either keep it and slowly fix it over the winter or just get rid.  Hmmm decisions decisions decisions....

[fay66]

First Question is, who rebuilt it?
If it wasn't yourself and you paid good money for someone else to do it, did you get any sort of warranty ?if you did, what did it cover, then a quick phone call to find out what the person who did the work has to say? if you did the rebuild, you might have to get someone else to help as kicking your own a--e isn't very easy
My 2c blew the head gasket a 1000 miles after a complete engine rebuild, just as I got to Goodwood for the Revival Meeting in 2002, I was very embarressed to arrive in the GRRC members parking on the Lavant banking behind a tow truck, the 125 mile journey home was on the back of an RAC Relay truck, but to be fair, the person who did the work, came and collected it, (125 miles each way in the other direction) replaced the head gasket, checked it out, the bought in back to me FOC.

Brian
8227

[Mike8v]

HAHA this is a good one wait for it..wait for it....... My Bro-in-law which Iv already told him about it but lets face do I really want him touching it again with all the problems he left me.

I have enough knowledge to do this job myself aswell as some cracking mates who will help but not sure if I want to go through the process of taking it out and basically re-doing everything that I paid him to do.  Isnt Life just GREAT 

[Dilambdaman]

Mike,

Not that its much consolation but most of us have been there, some of us many times! However I had a splendid day out with the Modestine today which more than made up for all the angst of the past year.

Nothing quite as satisfying as sorting the problem and enjoying the fruit of your labours. Go for it, you won't regret it.

Robin.

[Betaboy2.0]

I agree with Robin!

I've had nothing but grief from the beloved Gamma for most of the summer (broken cam-belt causing bent valves, knocked out ends, then broken valve on rebuilt engine throwing the swarf of the valve guide all through the engine etc etc) and have had heads on and off all season. HOWEVER, it has now managed over 500 virtually trouble free miles and all that grief somehow seems worth it!

So, stick with it. Once the Integrale is running again, it won't take long to forget the hassle. Honestly!

Andy

[Mike8v]

Have been giving it some thought today and I pretty sure that i will be keeping it.  Its just the thought of having to take the engine out in my garage which isnt the biggest and doing all the work myself, (does'nt really excite me that much )

My original plan was to lay it up over the winter so that I couldnt use it in the rain, not too sure when I was planning to do that but it would seem that the car decided that for me 

All I need to do now is to find a cheap run-a-round for over the wet winter period.

One last thing, whats the best thing I can do to preserve the tyres if its going to out of action for a while.  I cant remember where I saw them, what there called or even if they exsist but Im pretty sure Iv seen these things you can buy that go under each wheel and there curved so you dont get any flat spots.  For the life of me I cant remember where I saw them.

Any way thanks for the encouragment

Mike

[SanRemo78]

Put the car on axlestands to take the weight off the wheels Mike. I had a pair of Pirelli 345*35*15s perish on me due to lack of use and the weight in one place for too long. Tragic - half the tread left and £600 to replace them.... The next set will get worn out first!

Guy

[DavidLaver]

Could the brother-in-law do the donkey work?  Could he store the car giving you more space to work on the engine?

As for tyre savers these are not the ones I remember seeing - but a fraction of the price I remember.

http://www.towsure.com/product/14526-Tyre_Savers

Was it these?

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?productID=8074&frostProductName=Pair%20of%20Wheel%20Dollies&catID=&frostCat=&frostSubCat=&subCatID=

David

[Mike8v]

At the mo his workshop is completely full, not of customers cars just his crap    The only problem with getting him involved is that hell probably charge me for it, or it'll get started and will take forever to finsih especially since I would'nt intend to pay him.  When I got him to rebuild my engine I did'nt have much mechanical knowledge but I wanted to do as much as I could to keep the cost down.

But because I wasnt sure on some areas I had to wait for him to help, In all it took about a year and a half before I got it back and there was still a nice long list of things for me to do (even though I paid him to do the whole thing)

I now have an Idea of where I can do the engine work, I have a transit highcube sat outside thats to rusty to be repaird so I am thinking of ripping out the shelves that are inside and use it for doing the engine, nice big area in the back and I can stand fully upright inside, it also has electrical points inside, So I might not scrap it afterall

David those tyre savers are much like what I had in mind but thats not where I saw them, but will look into getting something like that.

Guy I know the feeling of having to through away a perfectly good tyre, or should I say putting it behind my garage even though it can never be used, just didnt seem right in chucking it.

Like I said Im probably not going to rush it, this will become a winter project that will be done RIGHT this time, No cut corners and hopefully no annoying little oil leaks.

Mike

[fay66]

Quote  "Guy I know the feeling of having to through away a perfectly good tyre, or should I say putting it behind my garage even though it can never be used, just didnt seem right in chucking it."


I usually keep an old tyre or two around that you can bung under the car when it's jacked up (Even better if still on a wheel),or if it's on axle stands, as I've seen them collapse before now, at least it would stop the car completely crushing you if anything did happen, bit of belt and braces really.

Brian
8227

[DavidLaver]

Old tyres - good for kids parties.  Several of mine out the other day when sanding and oiling the garden table and benches.  Try as she might I'll find reasons to keep them!!   

David

[SanRemo78]

Quote  "Guy I know the feeling of having to through away a perfectly good tyre, or should I say putting it behind my garage even though it can never be used, just didnt seem right in chucking it."


I usually keep an old tyre or two around that you can bung under the car when it's jacked up (Even better if still on a wheel),or if it's on axle stands, as I've seen them collapse before now, at least it would stop the car completely crushing you if anything did happen, bit of belt and braces really.

I'd NEVER go anywhere near the underside of a car unless it's supported properly on axle stands. a tyre will just crush, even with a rim attached ther'es still a risk I'll never take. Dad lost an uncle when a car collapsed on him. No a nice way to go...

Guy

[fay66]

Years ago myself and a couple of others lifted a car of a fella when the jack collapsed and the car fell on him, as luck would have it he was working further back so he hadn't taken the full weight of the car.
Even though I agree that a tyre, and even a wheel & tyre might crush, even crushed there is still a degree of protection that might make the difference of being injured but surviving.

Even axle stands are not always foolproof as I've seen them sink into tarmac, which at first sight looked able to stand the weight, my favourite method of support is some solid lumps of square section hardwood, about 15" high by, 10" square, other smaller pieces never less than 1" thick are used for packing, and the weight of the car is always lowered onto the blocks.
I used to have access to rejected pit props, from the woodyard where they were made, and are ideal for the job. another good source is cut up railway sleepers.

Brian
8227

[ben]

Hi Mike
          You said you saw oil on top of your gearbox when your problem  occured.
          I would say it is odds on that what has happened is that the blanking plug has popped out from the end of the ballance shaft.
          I have had it happen twice!!!  Oil just gushes out. I left a slick about a mile long on both occasions and made a nice mess in a friends driveway!
          If you take off the big inlet hose (that runs from the inter-cooler to the throttle valve body on intake manifold) you should be able to see it behind the various other pipes that obstruct the view.

          The good news is that it is easy to fix.

          The first time I cleaned up the plug and the hole (it is about 40mm diameter from memory), smeared it with some gasket cement and just tapped it back in but when it happened the second time I incorporated a spacer wedged between the plug and the adjacent scenery (I cant remember exactly what) and have had no problem since.

          If I am right and this is indeed your problem it might be worth a phone call to John Brain to see what he recommends.However you certainly wont have to take the engine out.

          Fingers crossed for you
                                              Ben

[Mike8v]

Ah rite umm Iv just been out and bought myself another car now,  and not the cheep run-a-round I was after.

Oh well will have to take a better look sometime.

Thanks for tht