Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hello,

I know an english car is meant by nature to leak some oil. But when we put my beloved sprint on this scisor elevator i noticed 2 oil leaks.
According to me it is , at one end, where the propeller shaft enter the gearbox and at the other end, where it enter the differential unit.

Most annoying is that oil is dripping on the exhaust tube just underneath the propeller.

I will ask a garage to check and top up the gearbox oil and the diff unit before my rallye in september.

Then , i am afraid this should be cured. Changing the bearings might be a good idea as well.

From what i saw from underneath the car, it seemed like a scary job to do.

I will certainly pay a garage to complete that task.

Advices? Opinions? Thanks

The diff input is normal oil tight and if leaking significantly it needs an oil seal replacement.

The gearbox output almost always leaks to some degree. A small leak is OK, a large leak needs replacement of the seal and a check of the bronze bush in the gear box tail housing that the nose of the prop shaft runs in. Also check the welsh plug in the rear end of prop shaft nose piece, just in front of the front U joint. These can come out and oil leaks out through there.

With a Spyder chassis the bush check and gearbox seal replacement could be done relatively easily in situ I would believe. The diff needs to be removed for the input seal replacement as the input bearing preload should be reset correctly and you may as well replace the bearings when you get to that point..

cheers
Rohan

Sounds like a heavy job to me...

Especially when you write " removing the diff..."

If it is the seals the leak will run down the gearbox or diff casting from the seal.

If it is the diff flange spline it will come from the diff flange nut and appear by the propshaft bolts

If it is the welch plug it will come from the UJ.

Have you had the car jacked-up at an angle? ie on ramps

Nope. But a closer inspection is necessary to identify where the leaks are coming from.

I will ask a garage to top up the fluids, i will fo the behra rally, then bring back the car.

They might be able to compare how important is the leak or not.

Wasn`t the Behra Rallye in June?
AHM`s question re. having the car on front drive on ramps relates to a big leak I had caused by just that.
Jim

My +2 also leaks oil from the gearbox output seal. It tends to pool in the bottom of the chassis box section, and when the car is jacked up at the front the oil comes out at the diff end and forms a pool about 6 inches across. I believe the chassis acts as an oil spreader and any more than that simply leaks out onto the road.

The obvious advantage is that the oil keeps the chassis from rusting in that area. My gearbox loses about 0.5 litre every year for 2500 miles, and I am happy to live with that and I keep it topped up.

If you are having the diff oil leak done then it makes sense to tackle the gearbox leak as well, otherwise I would measure the gearbox oil level over a 1000 mile interval and then do something if the leak is large (say more than 0.3 litres).

Cheers,

Dave Chapman.

Yep make sens.

I just get maniac with my cars!

The jean behra historic rally i am in is in september

Web site is here. 40 teams checked in!
http://www.rallyejeanbehrahistorique.com/

I aim a podium this year

Darn, wishbones rear bushes are swollen by the oil leak.

I will need to change them too...