I have what appears to be an oil leak from my 1997 Renault Megane 1.6 RT (petrol)?

[Richie616]

I recently bought it as a runaround with a new MOT (no advisories). In my haste to service the damn thing I dropped the gearbox oil rather than the engine oil (doh - novice!) and ended up doing a full change of both. I replaced both sump washers, etc, correctly but now notice a small pool of oil now underneath the car. It is not coming from either of the sump plugs but drips slowly from the gearbox (I cannot identify exactly where - I can't get a good look). It definately isn't coming from the white wingnut fill hole (how bloody awkward was that to top up!) so I'm worried I may have a problem! Any ideas gratefully received. If it is a gearbox oil leak from a seal or something, is it an expensive fix? What are the consequences of just leaving it and topping up every now and then? Cheers for your advice.

[TWR]

Place a piece of cardboard under each Plug, then you will find it will be the Sump or G/Box, did you notice how many washers came off the plugs, there might have been 2 instead of the one you replaced.

[Toureman]

Renault sump andgearbox plugs should be renewed each time they are taken off!

Join this forum before you wreck your new car!


http://www.renaultfor...ex.php?referrerid=599

[AlBags]

It's a copper washer on Megane engines .. not entirely necessary to replace.
However, the engine sump thread on these engines is easy to strip .. so DO NOT overtighten .. or you can strip the thread or actually crack the alloy pan.
The transmission drain should be ok .. however, if you overfill, it may leak from the output shaft seal or the mainshaft seal and come out of bottom of transmission housing.. The one on the NS is a special boot and seal combined. Check that.
Re-check the level in transmission. It's not too bad with a tube filler .. invert the bottle down into the space and kink the tube until ready to pump in. Let it drain .. on the level before refitting the plastic level plug.
My Megane runabout is completely bone dry everywhere ... engine and tx. Good ones are. Let me know if you need a cambelt done ... I made the tooling to do them ; )

[Richie616]

Well, thanks so far fellas. A few comebacks:

TWR - Cheers bud, i have checked a few times now and the dewdrop is from the bottom of the gearbox (not where the gearbox sump plug is) so i don't think there's a need for further confirmation. There was a washer on both, of which I replaced, both remain dry.

Toureman, cheers i will take a look.

AlBags, thanks for the thorough response; I don't think I have overtightened the plugs and your comments about the outshaft/mainshaft/NS seal is above my mechanical comprehension! I can't check the transmission level, only fill it (with a bit of hosepipe) til it overflows into a pan, so I guess there's enough? Cambelt was changed (according to the somewhat dubious service history) 20,000 miles ago.

Thanks guys, appreciate the time you took to respond.

[AlBags]

Unfortunately, a cambelt kit replacement results in a write-off on cars before about 2000, as they are time consuming and tricky to fit. They cannot be done without alignment tools/locking bars. Garages will want £800 upwards.