The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Got a curious oil leak on the oil pump....the engine is empty of oil and hasn't turned over for a few months having just been rebuilt, the pump is new.

Any ideas?

Shaun

Were all the oil seals renewed on the oil pump and the oil transfer housing.

Paul

shaunroche wrote:Got a curious oil leak on the oil pump....the engine is empty of oil and hasn't turned over for a few months having just been rebuilt, the pump is new.

Any ideas?

Have you spoken to the engine builder? It wouldn't be a Triumph unless it had a few leaks, which ones did you pay for or specifically ask not to be included (a drip free Sprint lump has to be a 15k motor), the oil pump drip is a classic (that normally upsets those who go for classic rubber steering rack mounts), along with the sump and rear oil seal (slow and steady they call that, you don't normally notice that one till the bell housing is covered and you get the odd drip).

Then you get to the gearbox and diff Those wait till good and hot as in really hot trying to blow their hot oil out of places a road car never gets to. That's normally a case of checking and filling as necessary. Unless of course your brake drums fill up - in which case you have the wrong axle seals.

I've not seen a leak free Triumph engine, even when using SAAB oil pumps (why don't they leak on SAAB's - or do they and the SAAB guy's don't care?)

Seriously, check you get sensible oil pressure (I don't know what pump is fitted, but you should have a healthy figure at idle, rule of thumb 10lb per 1k revs, I've seen 100lb at cold idle which is far too much, and can be adjusted) if you have sensible pressure at idle and hot running don't worry about the drip provided it's just that, a drip every few mins/hours.

You should have been given instructions as to how to get pressure before starting, either plugs removed and spin over or drive the pump with the dizzy removed. You should get a good pressure before starting. If you get zero - don't start the engine, speak to the engine builder. If you get the pressure he recommends then you're good to go, if oil is p155 out of the oil pump or anywhere else, don't start the engine

Your engine builder did the right thing filling the pump with oil. This wil make it suck the oil from the sump at the first start up. When the pump was dry and had no oil in it it would not suck properly and it would take a while when it started. But it should not leak.

Jeroen

Thanks chaps!

The engine builder is v e r y trusted and may even put an appearance in on here soon!

Boing,
Yes I use a hexagon drive on the pump (which is filled with oil prior to fitting) to force oil through all the engine to ensure that it both works and that no place in the motor starts dry.

The pump o ring was new as was the pump however I have known these to drip occasionally before as someone stated.
One of the reasons there are a few surviving dolomites may be due to oil leaks rust proofing

I will send you another new o ring as its only 4 bolts holding it on and I would clean it up and fit the new ring with a smear of grease (no sealant) but it should seal dry or greased.

I have found that when I renewed the oil seal betwen the oil pump and the block the "o" ring was flush with the mating face of the pump to the block - I would have expected the seal to have protruded slightly above this mating face so when the pump was secured to the block a proper seal would have been acheived - the seals manufactured today are all metric where when these car were produced were imperial.

E.G - require and 1/8" "0" ring - metric equivalent 3.175mm, so they have manufacture a "0" using 3.00 mm "0" ring cord, they should have used 3.2mm "0" ring cord - hence why we have oil leaks.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Shaun - buy some "0" ring cord and make your own up.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... HqZAiUnq6g

Paul

I still have eight original oil pump 'O' rings from the early nineties when a Rover dealer at Cockfosters would only let me buy ten at time, this was when I upgraded my oil relief spring ( and the smaller 'O' ring ), I will have to dig them out if any forum member needs one , I noticed on the rimmers site that they do a uprated one

http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-GRID008431

You really seem unlucky with the problems that plague the Sprint moneypit!
I have a new "O" ring for your pump and could not find an address for you after all the emails we have sent each other.
I can see from your picture that the pump is a County one where I have several here that are original Eatons.
Perhaps the oil is getting past the pressure relief valve and thats just bad luck or maybe just like everything else on "our" cars the bits are now remanufactured in China and are far worse quality than even BL could manage.

Years ago when I had a Stag a company called Hart built a race Stag and they claimed that uprated (just a stronger relief spring fitted!) oil pump caused cavitation and hence less efficent than standard. I happen to believe this to be true as the oil pumps fitted to slants are very strong and I have never had to bother about low pressure in 25 years of slant engine owning.....................mind you I have lots of other issues with them

I can always check one of my original pumps with a feeler and send that to you to replace the one you had with the engine Shaune.

Being totally unkind to BL and why not! An old saying springs to mind........"You cannot make a silk purse from a sows ear."

I bought my seals from here and fitted to the original Eaton pump, no leaks.

http://www.ldparts.co.uk/shop/shop.php? ... e8d476b185

trackerjack wrote:You really seem unlucky with the problems that plague the Sprint moneypit!....I can always check one of my original pumps with a feeler and send that to you to replace the one you had with the engine Shaun.

Thanks for the replies chaps!

Please do that Jon I really fancy the thought of a genuine decent original pump, but before you do, the oil seems to be coming from the bit that is held in with the split pin as there is no oil on any vertical face, so I don't think it is anything to do with the oil seal between the block and the pump*.....and consequently with the quality of the rebuild: I have total confidence in that!!

I understand the car is 40 years old so am not too concerned with the odd leak, what does concern me is that it is leaking when empty and with no pressure: what will it be like when it's full and under power?!

I know the pump was brand new and from Rimmer's, but I also know that counts for nothing!

*would it be worth applying some sealant to that recess where the split pin is?

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=28355&start=45

Scroll down and almost at the bottom you will see a pic you can just see the oilpump. I apply some plastic bumper repair stuff in the round hole and have it flush with the casing and it never leaks.

Jeroen

Nice one Juri! I've filled the recess with sealant as per your image suggests so let's see what happens!

Ah seems like we have a solution from the "Master" Jeroen.

I have no idea why a simple o ring on a plug behind the relief spring is not employed.


If its any consolation I have just repaired one of the suspension arms on my Porsche 944 that had a corroded ball joint that would fail an MOT due in October.
Porsche will only sell a complete wishbone at £400 as its non serviceable unlike the early 924 and 944's which have a bolt on one, you then have to re do the geometry at £££, so if this job were given to a garage you would face £1000 bill due to a worn ball joint.
My solution is to bore out the crappy nylon weak one and replace it with a steel cassette type one much stronger and more reliable plus it only cost me £10.
Non serviceable wishbones are common on many cars now..............thats progress

This I can apreciate Jon!

My mate has a 996 911 that had mice eat through the ignition loom in the engine bay, so engine out job and it cost him 2.5k to fix....I can cope with the trials and tribulations affecting me at the moment!

I'll have a look tomorrow night to see how we're getting on leak wise and report back!