Hello,
My 2011 Manual 2.0lt has had two front crank seal failures within five weeks. I am seeking help as my mechanic is unsure of the problem.
Some background: I purchased the car second-hand a few months ago (approx 140,000 km). It has a full-service history, the timing belt replaced at 95,000km, seemingly well looked after, my mechanic inspected before purchase, and it was all happy. Had a major service straight after purchase for peace of mind.
Since purchasing, overall has driven well. Until the first crank seal went. It was very unexpected, no warning, oil light came on, engine began to make some noise, pulled over, engine bay covered in oil, car completely empty. Towed to mechanic, they replaced the timing belt (in case of contamination) and installed a new seal. They cleaned the PVC? valves, pressure relief seems ok as well. Came back after two weeks for an inspection, everything sweet.
2 Weeks later, same failure, out of nowhere, oil everywhere, towed again. This time they fixed for free, best case scenario is that they made a mistake and it won't happen again. Took to another mechanic to have a look, he said it all seemed fine in terms of obvious engine pressure problems, he said have to wait and see, if it fails again, then have to pull engine apart more to find a bigger problem.
As helpful as they have been, I am worried there is a bigger problem, with some reading on this site, some things I have noticed while driving may shed some light, but would love some clearer thoughts to take to my mechanic. I do not want to wait for it to fail again, especially if we are far from home and need a tow!
My biggest concern has actually been with the gearbox/gear shifting. Every now and then, when coming off a highway and down shifting gears, the car will stall and all the lights will come on, I think this is when I put the clutch in, then when I release the clutch it kind of jump starts the car and then stalls eventually if I stop/have to slow enough. When this happens I stop the car, restart and off it goes. Other times the car has just not wanted to get into gear. Often second gear requires some effort, but sometimes (very rarely) it won't go into any gear, no matter how hard I try. Again, stop, restart and off it goes. Lastly, the clutch generally is good, but at times it seems to be a bit funky, especially in first gear trying to park, feels a bit stiff, can release a bit sharp, just not quite right...
The reason I bring this all up is I have noted some discussions on thrust bearings etc and a link to crank seals blowing. With the symptoms above, do people have any ideas? I am happy to share more thoughts if prompted by other questions. Would love to point my mechanic in the right direction or even consider getting rid of the car if the problem is so big. Paid $6k for the car. It replaced a Ford Mondeo (which failed two gearboxes in 2 years, so I really am not having a good run!)
Here are some links to other forums I have read, I am not super experienced with cars, so can't make heaps of sense of it all
-
OIL SEAL FAILURE_ 130 motor removal-
High oil pressure blowing crank seal
