Sump or Sump Plug Leak?

[gshort]

Right guys needing a bit of help!

Noticed a nice pool of oil under my car at work yesterday. Managed to jack it up last night for a quick inspection. Looked like the sump was the culprit so I gave it a clean and started the engine to see where the leak was coming from and it 'looks' like its coming from the sump plug.

I don't think its been steadily dripping before and seems to just have happened this week. I put a plastic tub under the leak last night and its fair to say it was quite a bit of oil that came out over night, so yeah need to get it sorted this weekend really.

Here is the picture of the sump plug:-


To be honest I'm really looking for my next step. Do I replace the whole sump or do I remove the plug and replace the seal and wrap some PTFE tape round the plug?

And its a pre-facelift 1999 Audi S3 8L (150k)

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[badger5]

new sump plug. start with that.. you wont know if sump thread is damaged until you remove the old drain plug

 

[towcestervag]

i would clean it up with some brake cleaner first to see if you have any cracks
if no cracks remove sump plug for investigation
if it comes out ok and there is no cracks fit new plug and washer and torque up to 25nm
if there is damage then you could helicoil/timesert the thread

 

[thegoal007]

i read recently on this forum somewhere it was relatively cheap to buy a new sump rather than actually spend the effort to clean it, providing your not too stingy

 

[Sam_]

Yeah I got a pattern sump from ECS after one of the magnetic sump plugs (was already on the car) killed the threads on the original. Seems fine and sealed well, no leaks. My original wasn't that dirty.

 

[gshort]

Right well after all the feedback think I might be best just replacing the sump.

At the end of the day if I remove the sump plug then the oil is going to come out anyway so while its out I may as well just remove the sump and put in new oil.

I don't want to risk taking out the sump plug and putting in new oil and the issue still isn't resolved.

Just to confirm, do you know if this is the correct sump - Link

Will I need anything else apart from new oil?

Once again really appreciate it!

 

[<tuffty/>]

i read recently on this forum somewhere it was relatively cheap to buy a new sump rather than actually spend the effort to clean it, providing your not too stingy

OE sumps are around 150 quid trade... you can buy pattern parts on ebay for around 40 quid though but the quality does vary...

<tuffty/>

 

[Scullies]

The sump in the picture is not the correct on as there is no turbo oil return hole in the sump. Would say that's a sump for a non turbo car.

 

[<tuffty/>]

The sump in the picture is not the correct on as there is no turbo oil return hole in the sump. Would say that's a sump for a non turbo car.

Non turbo and a derv's mate... TDi's have the same sump as this, oil return goes to the block... (I found this out myself after buying one LOL)

<tuffty/>

 

[Scullies]

No one cares about tdi's

but good to know !

 

[gshort]

Well just a quick update on this.

Jacked up the car last night, right under it and check to make sure it was leaking from the sump plug but low and behold after cleaning the sump it turns out it's cracked! Think I hit it off a speed bump!

So after you guys saying the eurocarparts sump wasn't the right one I phoned up to make sure and yip it wasn't the right one! So I frantically phoned around every man and their dog trying to get one in Aberdeen and couldn't get one.

I could've got a sump next day from Audi but I don't have an oil level sensor and the sump which has this blanked off has been superseded by the sump with the oil sensor hole. So you need to buy few other parts at £5 priority delivery to Audi for each individual part so I'll just order it off of eBay for £50!

Cheers for all the help so far!

 

[A3_130]

Did you manage to sort this yet? Sorry this reply is probably a few days late but thought I'd suggest another possible option.

How big is the crack? If it's not huge then you could drop the oil from the sump and leave as much to drain out as possible before giving it a really good clean off with petrol, brake cleaner or similar, roughening the area a bit to give it a key and then use some Quiksteel chemical weld paste (about £5 from eBay).

I managed to knock my sump last year and it cracked slightly near the sump plug thread without harming the thread but giving me a slow leak. I used some Quiksteel on it and it did the job for minimal hassle and only the cost of the paste and new oil and filter.

Might not work on yours depending on exact location of the crack as the paste might end up fouling where the sump plug head needs to sit. Can post a piccy of mine if you like, I did it roughly a year ago and no oil has leaked at all since.

 

[gshort]

Just another update on this.

Changed the sump last night. Didn't really see the point in doing a quick repair job on it. If the oil is coming out I may as well replace the whole sump so that's what I done! An absolute piece of **** to do. Only one bolt was a paint to get out as I had to use a flexible socket to get it out.

Last owner had used a sump gasket which I removed as it seemingly is not standard and isn't something which Audi use. So if anyone wants it they can have it!

All in all a cheap fix, probably around £80 for a new sump, 10L of 5W40 oil (spare for future), Bosch oil filter, and sump sealant.

Next task is the leaky radiator...

 

[Lavis89]

Stick a egg in it!



(please dont)