Yesterday we got the oil changed at Central Power in Springfield. They are a Detroit place, and the young man that did the work was introduced as their 2-stroke specialist. We had to wait a while for our turn, and when it finally came he and I walked out to the coach together. I commented on the apparent puddle of oil under the engine. He said he had noticed it when he crawled underneath to get the engine serial number. He then asked to see the engine from above, so we went into the coach, moved some things off of the bed, and raised it up. We looked around a bit, and he pointed out to a spot near the front street side of the engine that seemed to be wetter than anywhere else and said the head gasket was leaking. The estimate to repair is two coach bucks or maybe a little more.
I was somewhat surprised at the leak since I park on the grass/dirt. I just looked now and don't see any wet spots under the engine. The front of the Foretravel mudflap does appear to be somewhat wet. Is this something I need to be worried about, or was the shop trying to get more business (as if they need any more)?
David,
Young man and "Detroit Specialist" don't necessarily go together. I would want to clean up the engine and then look for a leak. Lots to leak there with the power steering pump and air compressor up front. Check the little green hose from the turbo bypass. Could be an inspection cover or even the valve cover. Alternator drive seal could be leaking. Plastic bag the alternator and use a parts brush with a quart bottle of a mix of liquid grease remover and water. Brush in one hand, bottle in the other. Should take about two hours to clean everything. After everything is clean, run it and check for leaks with bright flashlight. Use a mirror and digital camera if the leak is under the exhaust manifold and post it. Crawl underneath and take a look afterwords. If it is leaking, a re-torque might be in order but also suggest checking boat/marine forums for others with the same problem. Would drop a note to Dave M as he has had a lot of experience.
RV owners and women taking their cars to a dealership have a lot in common. Some (but not all) will take advantage of the situation. I worked for a shop as a kid that did exactly that. Lots of steam clean overhauls on Jaguar Borg-Warner automatics.
Pierce
If you have a blown head gasket, it would be more obvious than a wet spot. pc
Thanks for validating my thoughts. I understand that every leak has to start sometime, but I thought it suspicious that such a major leak started while in the parking lot of the place that wants to do the work. On the other hand, we had the generator running while we were waiting and all of a sudden it stopped. I didn't even get all the way outside before I found the problem - antifreeze was running on the ground. The lower radiator hose blew. I went to O'Reilly's to get a new hose while he did the oil change. He put the new hose on for me - no charge.
Plus the mud flap is in front of the engine!!!
Pierce
Pierce nailed the diagnostic procedure pretty well. Looking for a leak is easy even if it takes some acrobatics sometimes. The last thing I would worry about would be the head gasket.
Keith
Pierce, I was referring to the big one that runs the whole width of the coach right below the bumper.
It usually cools off right after Labor Day, so I'll start poking around then. I'm pretty sure that the small damp spot is from something else. Now, whether it is more or less expensive remains to be seen.
It is surprising how a very small oil leak can look more serious than it actually is. I consistently had oil on my toad. Turns out a bit of oil was coming out of the dip stick. I nee a new dip stick, haven't 11found the correct one yet. All the ones i have seen are too short. Have temporarily sloved the problem with rescue tape.?makechecking the oil a pain in the a**, but no more oilon the toad.
Roland
I follow the bandaid approach when dealing with a leak. Tighten up fasteners within reason then clean the leak as best you can then Spray the leak with mastic (Home - Permatex (http://www.permatex.com)) following the directions.
Permatex Spray Sealant Leak Repair
On occasion a toothbrush and grain alcohol come in handy.. pc
When we were researching we visited a family near here to see their Newell with a Series 60 Detroit in it. That engine was so clean you could put food on it and eat the food. That ain't right! Engines are supposed to have some oil and dirt on them.
Actually engines should be clean. With the fleet of buses I had, we also steamed cleaned the engines. This way we could see oil leaks, water leaks, and any cracks forming in the manifold heads. A clean engine tells all tales when they do go bad.
Sitting here reading your post David it seems to me that you were about to pay for a "scam" especially as you said you have not noticed oil on grass before. There are many places that set you up. Friends here were driving thru Vegas area and a car behind pulled up to them and said one of his tyres was getting ready to blow as it was wobbling badly. Guess what, 100 yds down the road is a tyre place and dan pulls in and gets told "yep it is bad, but you have to replace both" he decided to carry on and later stopped at anothe one (who was honest) and said" nuthin' wrong sir, but if you want we will sell and install 2 tyres for you" Have heard this one a few times in that area.
JohnH
Clean engines are nice to look at and work on. In the old days we steam cleaned engines on a regular basis but that was in the mechanical days. With todays electronic engines one might create some unwanted gremlins with water, steam, and caustic cleaners. Wiring harnesses, connectors, and electronic components are allergic to water and corrosion. Don't ask how I know this.
I kind of wondered about it. The spot he pointed to on the top of the engine was somewhat damp, but nowhere near what it would have been if that area had been the source of all of the liquid on the ground. I think I happened to park over someone else's leak. After Labor Day I'll poke around a bit. I do believe that there is some sort of leak, but whether it is a head gasket or a hydraulic line I don't know at this point.
I'm not sure that this was an attempt at a scam, but rather a young guy (Jo Ann said he wasn't all that young, but he's still younger than me, so he's young) who spotted what might be a problem. They normally see over the road trucks that can't afford to be broken down on the side of the road, so they are constantly on the look-out for potential problems.
Bruce, I've wondered about that for many years now. When I go to try to find what might be leaking I'm going to use the old-fashioned cleaning method - lots of rags and a bottle of Dawn (well, Wal-Mart version).