Oil leak and door moulding

[cart]

I happened to be at the car yard today where I am buying my VY from and the car was on the hoist, so I was able to have a look see underneath.

I noticed an oil leak on the engine which was very slight(allowing the car is in a car yard and has not been driven about) the oil was in the area of the back of the engine and the trans housing,I asked the mechanic could it be a rear main seal leaking,he advised me that they do seep a bit of oil and that a lot of VY's do that.

After we poked our heads about a bit, the oil looked like it could be coming from, either the back of the rocker cover or from the valley cover,the car has done 58000 klms.

The car is going in for a RACV inspection,which I will highlight the leak to who ever is checking it.

Can anyone enlighten me if there is a problem with any of the above?

Also the drivers side rubber mould on the door has a very thin split in the centre of the strip,looking at it u would think someone had run a razor blade three quarteres of the way down the strip and stopped,there is no visable marks of damage and nor does it look like it has been joined,as I would expect it to split all the way down.The split would be paper thickness.

When I mentioned this I was again told a lot of VY's do that, so I am starting to become paranoid that I am getting the fob off, with "oh yeah thats the norm for these cars type thing".

So as above question,can anyone enlighten me about it.

Thank you

Cart

[kave1]

I happened to be at the car yard today where I am buying my VY from and the car was on the hoist, so I was able to have a look see underneath.

I noticed an oil leak on the engine which was very slight(allowing the car is in a car yard and has not been driven about) the oil was in the area of the back of the engine and the trans housing,I asked the mechanic could it be a rear main seal leaking,he advised me that they do seep a bit of oil and that a lot of VY's do that.

After we poked our heads about a bit, the oil looked like it could be coming from, either the back of the rocker cover or from the valley cover,the car has done 58000 klms.

The car is going in for a RACV inspection,which I will highlight the leak to who ever is checking it.

Can anyone enlighten me if there is a problem with any of the above?

Also the drivers side rubber mould on the door has a very thin split in the centre of the strip,looking at it u would think someone had run a razor blade three quarteres of the way down the strip and stopped,there is no visable marks of damage and nor does it look like it has been joined,as I would expect it to split all the way down.The split would be paper thickness.

When I mentioned this I was again told a lot of VY's do that, so I am starting to become paranoid that I am getting the fob off, with "oh yeah thats the norm for these cars type thing".

So as above question,can anyone enlighten me about it.

Thank you

Cart

It does'nt matter if the problems you mention are a common problem with the VY model, i would just make the car yard fix the problems before you take delivery, in any case it should'nt pass a RWC with a oil leak. Cheers.

[Calaber]

Cart

Hi again.

Oil leaks from the rear main bearing seal have existed since the old Buick V6 first appeared in the VN, and despite many attempts, Holden never managed to totally cure the problem, even when the heavily revised Ecotec engine appeared in the VS. Getting the yard to repair the problem would depend on the severity of the leak. If it is only minor, then the mechanic's statement is correct and it probably isn't worth worrying about. The dealership is likely to refuse to undertake such an extensive repair for a well known "nuisance" fault. I'm sure that most V6 owners in this forum will agree that the motors go forever and the oil leak won't kill them. It really is only worth the trouble when the leakage becomes excessive.

The rocker cover seals can harden and leak with age, but I would think that a VY with only 50k wouldn't have hard seals yet. They are neoprene and fit within a channel around the lower lip of each rocker cover. They provide a very effective seal for many thousands of kays before needing replacing. However, if the oil leak on your car appears to be coming from that far up the motor, I would expect it to be repaired by the dealer as it is a bigger nuisance than the main bearing seal. The engine becomes filthy and oil leaks onto the exhaust, which can really stink.

Door seals - I'd go for the dealer to fix that one too. It's not a major issue but may have been split by somebody attempting to enter the car without a key made by GM (for example, a coat hanger, screwdriver...you get the drift)

Good luck with the VY.

Regards

pj

[batemada]

My S2 VY has done 67000+kms and is yet to leak at all, heaps better than the ecotec in my old VT wagon.

[cart]

Thanks guys for the input,VYII BERLINA I hear what u r saying about the major job of a rear seal being replaced, as soon as we get the car we r off on a 3000klms trip so that will near on eat the warranty up and hopefully show any problems along the way or rather not lol.



VYII BERLINA

Door seals - I'd go for the dealer to fix that one too. It's not a major issue but may have been split by somebody attempting to enter the car without a key made by GM (for example, a coat hanger, screwdriver...you get the drift)

The actuall moulding I am talking about is the one on the outside of the door,that prevents others from damaging paint work when they carelessly whack their door into yours in those supermarket car parks.

I suppose I am being picky,the type of person that even if I have a rattle I got to hunt it down and fix it, the sales rep did say wait untill the RACV Inspection to see what they come up with, so I suppose once thats been done I can pursue the matter with them then.

I suppose my main disappointent was to get all wrapped up in this car and then see it had an oil leak and visions of two yrs down the track or so spending my own dollars getting it fixed.

Thanks for the wishes with the VY.

Again much appreciated on the feed back all.

Cart

[Calaber]

Cart,

Sorry, I misunderstood your original post. My son's VZ has exactly the same problem with his external door strips and I have seen other posts on this forum about this issue. It seems that the design of the strips on the VY and VZ base models is prone to cracking. It doesn't seem to happen on VT or VX models or on the different style of strips fitted to Berlinas, Calais, Statemen, etc, which are thicker. Perhaps the problem is that the strips are too thin and the plastic cant expand with the door in high temperatures? I can't think of any other reason for this happening. I'm sure it has nothing to do with impact from another door hitting, as you would have marks on the paintwork over the splits to indicate the impact.

The simplest way to repair them would be to fill them with a flexible, paintable filler, then respray the strips. Because of the adhesive used, it isn't worth trying to remove them - you would end up with a much bigger respray job.

Regards

pj

[vxcalais_01]

The RACV and road worthy will all alow for so much leakage, especially if its common. I mean, pretty much every car i seen underneath, VX and prior all seem to have some wet areas in that region, but on mine, nothing ever hits the ground. Well at this stage yet 170,000k's. On some other threads i seen it mentioned that if you only fill the sump to a quarter full on the dipstick it stops the leaks, some dealers may overfill with cheap oil, as some cars may sit for a while. BUt as the previous said, it has to detrimental effect on the car, just you dont want it gushing out. Also, alot of peple fix it, only to find it leaks again.

[oztech007]

Regarding Oil Leaks and Roadworthy's, the oil is allowed to be weeping but must not drip on the ground. If it is dripping, it must be fixed as a roadworthy item. This is because it can leak onto the road and cause slippery conditions.
If it is weeping. ie not dripping, it will be allowed.

[vicarious]

my dads vx also has a cracked drivers side door strip, i am just wondering that the glue they use to stick them on is not flexible enough to take the expansion and contraction of the plastic strips

[cart]

Thanks guys,thats put one worry out of my mind about the door mouldings splitting,ty pj, the oil leak I seen for myself would def come to a drip, i suppose at the end of the day if I m not happy within myself, I will just tell the yard what I am looking for and see what they can find.

I appreciate the comments and this great site.



Cart

[cart]

Well an update on the car,RACV check went ahead and all he could find was,wheel alignment required(steering wheel off centre), front stabilizer bar bushes worn( warranty will replace those),some minor cosmetic marks( small stone chip),stained in roof lining( that will be done at detail).

It seems as though the right rear door and quarter panel has had some work done to it,if one feels the the quarter panel I can feel a very very slight imperfection on the panel below the crease line,not noticable when u look at it and the spray paint job has an orange peel effect to it(I think thats what it is refered as) I had to get in a certain position and in the right light to really notice it(the car being silver makes it less noticable) and this is not the whole door only above the rubber mould on the door.From what I can see its not as though it has a major dingle.I do not know who done the repair job as it could have been done in Adelaide or here in Vic,the car yard was unaware of any panel work done so they where no help I did find a site expalining how to maybe rectify the orange peel effect,but I think I would only do that if it bugs me out enough

RSW - Autobodystore

It was not untill the inspector bloke pointed it out to me ,else I would not have really noticed it, he noticed it owing to the fact that the repaired paint is not as glossy as the original.Though its hardly noticable.

The oil leak,well where I seen the oil leak as per previous post was not there,so its been wiped clean,the mechanic took it for a 15 min drive and there was no sign of any leak,I have made the car yard aware of what I saw and they had no probs with warranty should there be a leak.The car yard mechanic was away today so I could not ask him what he done.

Funnily enough when I lifted the bonnet I found a bolt painted the same silver as the car and it was either a fender bolt or bonnet hinge ,which had been undone as mark on the head of the bolt indicated it,yet looking over that area with the RACV mechanic showed no sign of any repairs or adjustment to the guard.

The only other little thing I noticed was the drivers window has a slight rattle to it.

So the car is in getting the windows tinted and then we are off on a trip accumulating about 3000klms,so any probs should arise then.So its out of a ford and into a commodore.Lets hope that all is good with it,the glitches I have read in this forum, hopefully being a series two they have been found and done.

Thanks again to those who responded to my posts if anyone has any comment please post back.

Cheers

Cart