Oil Leak causing slipping clutch?

[Dico]

Hi

Yesterday we took our first big ride out in our bay. A 100 mile trip to The Lakes.
I was fully aware we had a slight oil leak prior to setting off, but it's booked in for a service/mot in a few weeks so was hoping it could be looked at then. After around 70 miles we started to climb a steep hill on the M6. This is when the revs started to increase yet the speed didn't. I carefully managed to get us to the campsite. On checking the oil I found it was BELOW the minimum level! I assumed that possibly the crank oil seal had gone and dripped oil over the clutch plate, causing it to slip. Anyway, on the return journey today I made sure I stopped regularly to check and top up the oil (we used just over a litre or so on the 100 mile return journey). Not once did it slip. Not even on the final notorious hill, junction 22 of the M62, Saddleworth.
Perhaps the clutch hadn't been contaminated? Could it have overheated because of the lack of oil and somehow this affected it?
Any thought?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Happystamps]

Alrighty then, let's have a think.
The join between your gearbox and engine isn't leak-proof, far from it- so if you have a significant leak on your clutch end you'll see a load of fresh oil around there if you have a look.

If you find oil, check your end float before just replacing the seal- you just want to make sure that it's the seal and not your crankshaft wobbling about, as that's a machine shop job.

Overheating engine would rip out the head studs WAY before the clutch started to slip- Have you been riding the clutch? Search deep within yourself and answer truthfully ;-) Also, check to make sure that you can't pull the pedal back up at all from resting position, I've seen that before. Some part of the linkage gets stuck and you're clutch is always slipping just a bit (even removed an engine once before I noticed it)

I have a friend who I'm teaching to drive in the bug- He rides the clutch constantly. Luckily (?) there's a spring broken on my pedal assembly that makes a rattling noise when the clutch is partly depressed, so I can tell him to knock it off!

Just a few things to look at.

Cheers

Si

 

[Dico]

Thanks for the reply.

No, definitely not riding the clutch. Honest . End float seems absolutely fine (to a newbie). I've a feeling it is the crank seal. There's so much oil splattered around it is difficult to see exactly where it's leaking.
I'll check the pedal.

Cheers

 

[Moseley]

Could the oil have been overfilled before, and the extra pressure has caused it to force it's way past the crankcase seal?

 

[Dico]

Funny you should mention that...
The bus was leaking when I bought it a few weeks back. The dipstick was halfway between minimum and maximum before the journey. I topped it up with a bottle of some 'Stop leak' nonsense that someone suggested on here just before I set off. It was over the maximum mark but not massively over :| It now leaks like a bloomin sieve, but the clutch no longer slips. It only slipped for the last 30 miles of the outward journey. The return 100 mile journey was fine. Even on a very steep climb.
It's in for a full service in a couple of weeks. I presumed the crank seal had gone. If the garage decides on an engine removal I suppose I should get them to swap the clutch at the same time for piece of mind. It's most likely contaminated.

££££££££££££'s :shock:

 

[Moseley]

Whoever advised the stop leak stuff needs poking in the eyes. I don't even know what technology goes into that stuff, but it's designed to plug 'small holes' presumably. What I don't know is how it knows the difference between a genuine leak and a narrow oil gallery - but I can probably hazard a guess...

 

[Dico]

I know. It was on the Earlybay facebook page. Bloomin obvious really,but I was desperate to try and slow it down/stop it rather than pay someone to whip the engine out.