A Crack In My "carter D'huile" - Watch Those Hump Back Bri

[PICASSOCONVERT]

Well, it's all my own fault. I was in a bit of a hurry last Sunday morning in rural Lincolnshire and on a very minor road I came across a hump-back bridge which had a bit more hump in its back than I expected.

 

Now we all know what happens when all/most of the car's weight is taken off the suspension (eg when messing up unhitching a caravan - another of my little tricks), it collapses.

 

So, my poor old car came to earth with a right old bump and metallic scrape. Through my rear view mirror I could see bits of the black plastic engine undercover bouncing along the road. However, it dusted itself down and got on with going down the road as normal.

 

Subsequent roadside examination revealed that the oil sump (Carter d'Huile according to my RTA book) took a hammering and now has a crack resulting in a small oil leak at its rear side - and quite a few scrape marks at the front! The metal transverse bar on which the plastic cover sits also took a bashing.

 

I drove the 120 miles to get home and the engine oil level didn't change much so the leak isn't that bad. Obviously the "proper" solution is to fit a new sump but as a temporary measure I am going to do the following aeromodeller's bodge:

 

Clean the leak and stick something (probably a patch from my bike puncture kit) over it. That should stop any more oil coming out so long as I don't start the engine.

 

Next I will clean and roughen the area surrounding the patch and epoxy a piece of thin aluminium sheet over the area. I have some lithoplate which should be good for this job.

 

This should see me through for the next few days, after which I don't need the car for a month.

 

Maybe the only time when having a car with "inferior" suspension might have saved the day.

 

Oh, and if anyone knows of an oil sump for a 2.2HDi diesel engine knocking about, please let me know!

 

David

[qman3428]

If you want a quick bodge use araldite, used in the aircraft industry for years and heat and oil resistant (you will need to get it clean enough for it to stick.)

[coastline taxis]

Liquid metal comes in a tube looks like plastacine  sand round the sump and put it on. Weve used it on cylinder heads when core plugs have gone also on engine mounts then drilled and tapped it. £4 a tube any motor factor will have it

[PICASSOCONVERT]

Here's an update. First of all, thanks to qman3428 and coastline taxis for your suggestions. (I didn't think Mr Coastline Taxis talked to 2.2HDi drivers by the way........only joking).

 

I did actually use Araldite with glass cloth, followed by a second layer of glass cloth using 30 minute epoxy. With hindsight I should have done it the other way round because during the time it took the Aaldite to go off a tiny amount of oil had seeped into the resin and using 30 minute first would have helped to avoid this to a large extent.

 

I rubbed the area around the crack down with a file to roughen the surface, ran the engine to warm the sump, cleaned the oil off with solvent and applied the glass cloth and Araldite. After 24 hours I rubbed this first layer down with wet and dry and applied the second lay up.

 

I've been out and about this morning (done about 30 miles) and so far so good.

 

I'll report back in a few months on whether this fix works longer term - if it doesn't I'll buy some liquid metal and try that.

 

Now, I need 4 new tyres.......................

 

David