348 Help - Major oil leak.

Is the oil coming from the main plug, the rear tank, the cam seals, the ..... ?

 

Be glad it happened at home, not out on the road!

Have you had an oil change done recently? Have you added oil to the tank when the engine was cold (overfilled?)?

Is it leaking enough to "puddle", or just a drip here and there?

Has the battery been disconnected lately, or lost charge?

More info!

 

Are you familiar with the procedure to "re-initialize" your electrical system (the Motronic ECU) after having the battery disconnected????

Where was the puddle of oil? Towards the front of the engine? Rear? Right side/left side? Anything visible from above, or just on the floor?

 

I'm sure you would be flooded with advice from other 348 nuts if they were online.

Good news about the apparent location of your oil leak. As long as it's not at the front of the engine, it's probably something that can be repaired reasonably easily. You DON'T want it to be at the front of the engine, where you would have to pull the engine out to replace cam seals. There is still a possibility that what you are seeing isn't actually engine oil, but transmission fluid or brake fluid from the clutch release bearing. We'll find out!

Look under the back of the car. The clutch housing is the farthest item to the rear in the center of the drivetrain. On the bottom of it, there is a perforated metal plate attached with four screws. Is there a great deal of oil around that plate? If so, report!

Otherwise, look at the bottom of the oil tank, and the braided metal oil line coming from the bottom of the tank (#8). Any sign of the source of the leakage?

If the battery is disconnected/replaced, you have to re-initialize the system for the baseline settings on the ECU's. It's very easy, doesn't cost anything, you can do it yourself, but the engine has to be running, and we want to make sure what's happening with your oil system. Just to ask again, is it possible that you have added oil to the tank with the engine cold? If so, it's overfull.

Edit: It's VERY common for the oil drain plug on the bottom of the tank to become stripped when removing and reinstalling it. If it's loose and leaking, it would have been a disaster if it came out on the road.
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OK, slow down.

Get down on your hands and knees and take a look under the right rear corner (from the bumper). Jammed into that corner of the car is your oil tank. The bottom of the tank contains a drain plug (which could have come loose if a fresh crush washer wasn't used), or the gasket which holds the bottom plate could have failed.

This is the assembly you're looking for:
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HAHAHA.... jeff, you beat me to it!

 

Daniel, I looked at the little icon before I made that post, and it said you were not online at FChat, so I assumed you were busy with Luca!

 

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Motor oil? Is it a K&N or a stock paper filter?

 

Where is the leak coming from? Can you see were it is coming from?

If it isn't motor oil then it's either your throw out bearing, or the triple seals on the shaft.

 

Are you talking about oil ON the air filter housing, or oil INSIDE the housing, on the actual filter? Daniel asked about the K&N type filter because you are supposed to treat a K&N filter with special oil. Otherwise there shouldn't be any oil on the filter element inside the housing.

Check the brake fluid level in your front trunk. The same tank holds the fluid that is used by the clutch slave cylinder/bearing inside the bellhousing. Did you find fluid around that perforated cover plate on the underside of the clutch housing? Do you know how to check the level of the transmission oil to see if it is down?

We're getting closer to having an explanation...

 

Ah, soooooooooo!

 

Rerun,

It's a bit more than just an oil overflow. Please contact your mechanic and follow his advice.

Barry

 

I hope this isn't a sad ending...what happens when you overflow the oil into the air filter? Why did he say it isn't oil? What's the mystery here? And why the heck do you let your dad work on your car if he doesn't know the diff btwn a dry sump and a wet sump???

 

This should explain what happened, if the information we have been given is correct. Dad overfilled the oil tank (how much? could have been several quarts). When the engine was started, the excess oil was blown out of the tank vent into the intake boots. Because the engine was at idle, the throttle plates were almost totally closed and the oil backed up through the boots, past the airflow sensors, and into the air filter housing.

When cleaning up the mess, be very careful with the airflow sensors. Don't damage the "hot wire" inside, it's delicate. The rest of the intake system should be easy to clean, it's just attached with hose clamps. Get as much oil as possible out of the filter housing, and use a new filter if the old one has become oil soaked.

And make sure you check your oil level as described in the manual, with the engine hot.
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I don't know much about dry sump systems, but if there was enough oil to back up into the air filter could there have been enough going into the intake to cause hydraulic lock in any of the cylinders?