Kad32 oil leak

[fuzzy748]

Hi all, we have a Kad32 engine in our Fairline Targa 29 which is dumping oil into the bilge when under load, probably a few litres on a run of less than 5 minutes, we’ve been round it with mirrors and torches and for the life of me I can’t see where it’s coming from , the sides of the block appear dry and so does the sump, the amount of oil in the bilge I’d expect to see oil everywhere on the engine but when we stop you can’t see a drip anywhere,
The oil pressure gauge does go up in pressure and flick around at the odd time but never drops below running pressure
We’re cleaning the bilge today and topping up oil ready for another short run on Friday and this time we’re hopefully mounting a camera low in the bilge, any ideas anyone??

 

[simonfraser]

fit some led lights in the bilge at the same time

 

[Scubadoo]

The breather pipe on the rocker cover?(not sure it would dump several litres though). Was the oil level below the max mark on the dip stick before running the engine?

 

[tico]

A few litres!....... Try puffing talcum powder over the block before going on a run .... it'll show where the oil has run down

 

[philipdawsonladds]

Have you checked the dip stick. If not firmly fitted, oil will pump out here.

 

[Scarron]

You could be unlucky and the crankshaft main seal is leaking [aft end,behind the flywheel] and it's dripping out of the bottom of the flywheel/bell-housing. It would be engine out to fix that.

 

[SC35]

The oil could be coming from any number of places, pipes to oil coolers, oil pipes to turbo, it's unlikely the crankshaft main seal would produce that volume of oil in such a short time.

 

[volvopaul]

I’d suspect the oil cooler is corroded on the housing , it’s well hidden on a kad 32 ,
Do you have a crank case filter?
If so there’s a blow off valve that can leak or the oil return pipe to the sump

 

[fuzzy748]

Thank you for all your replies, I’ve finally found it , it’s the end cap on the oil filter housing ( under the oil cooler) looks like it may have corroded, just in the process of removing the unit and will confirm the fault but it’s definitely leaking from there , also is the heat exchanger a serviceable item, ie can the core be removed, it seems to be swaged together as one sealed unit apart from the end cap
Thanks again

 

[fuzzy748]

A few litres!....... Try puffing talcum powder over the block before going on a run .... it'll show where the oil has run down

Good idea

 

[Plum]

Thank you for all your replies, I’ve finally found it , it’s the end cap on the oil filter housing ( under the oil cooler) looks like it may have corroded, just in the process of removing the unit and will confirm the fault but it’s definitely leaking from there , also is the heat exchanger a serviceable item, ie can the core be removed, it seems to be swaged together as one sealed unit apart from the end cap
Thanks again

Assuming you mean the coolant heat exchanger then this video should help

not exactly the same engine as yours but same heat exchanger construction.

www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[volvopaul]

Thought it might be the oil cooler , the end cap does not corrode it’s the aluminium housing which means a complete cooler as it’s not available as a separate part unfortunately