Small oil leak, worth checking?

[Marc_986]

Since I have my gearbox off at the moment and the clutch is due for replacement I have the options to trace down a small oil leak from the rear of the engine (so either rear main seal or the IMS bearing carrier seal). The transmission bellhousing was full of sticky black stuff, but this is in general dust from the clutch. Probably held togethet by a bit of oil. No big traces of oil or dripping.

So since I have the stuff off, it isn't that much work to remove the flywheel and inspect / fix. On the other hand I only intend to run the engine for another year (say 5k km), so I feel it might not be worth the time and expense. If I planned to run the engine longer this question wouldn't exist.

So is it worth it you think? Any big risk in such a small oil leak?

[JFP in PA]

#1: No oil leak is inconsequential or should be ignored, ever.
#2: An oil leak in the bellhousing, even a small one, can quickly kill a new clutch as well as destroying the dual mass flywheel flex material. Try pricing out a new flywheel and you will quickly see why it needs to be addressed while it is still just an annoyance.

And whatever you decide, DO NOT reuse any of the clutch or flywheel bolts.

[PLP]

While in here...

Think of it this way.
What will it take to address it later on?

[Marc_986]

Thanks for the responses. So seems the least I could do is to get the flywheel off and have a further look:



Not too clear to me yet, most sticky stuff is near the IMS, but is that the origin?

[JFP in PA]

Both the RMS and IMS seals need to be replaced, use the factory PTFE RMS seal and set it at the correct installed depth. To do the IMS, you literally need to put the engine in the condition to replace the IMS bearing (crank locked at TDC, cams locked, tensioners removed, etc.), and you would need to remove the IMS cover, so you might as well do the bearing while you are at it.