Diesel Engine Oil Leak - which additive ?

[Indie]

Ok - I have been offered an '02 plate 1.9 diesel Galaxy with what I was told was a seized engine .... having now spoken to the lady (rather than her Mum)it appears that it was driven back from the garage with said 'seized' engine and a quote for £1500 to fix it, so she just bought another Galaxy.

She is not at all mechanically minded so I can't ask any more questions but from the size of the quote I'm presuming it must be something like the crankshaft oil seal as opposed to the rocker cover ....

Anyway I'm told I can still have it for scrap money as long as I move it before the scrap man says he can so was looking for reviews (from actual experience, if possible) of which of the bottles of snake oil to buy, to add, to drive the leaky thing away before she changes her mind.

cheers

[composimmonite]

Tow or trailer is my opinion.

Be realistic. Has it got an MOT ? Has owner said what scrap man has offered so you know what she will expect from you ? Are you expecting just to change oil seal and then have a good car ? Doubt very much that will be the case and you need to budget for another engine or expensive full engine overhaul. Weigh up cost of the scrap value plus a good engine and you are then looking at about what a similar GWO Galaxy of same age is worth so do you want all the work / effort ? Friends had a (younger !) Galaxy with similar problem and not viable even for DIY repair so scrapped - I could have had it for free but "passed". The engine is a VW lump so, as you can expect, a good secondhand unit won't be cheap as there are always other people after them.
Scrapyards are full of 2002 vehicles with excellent body and interior only to be scrapped because of mechanical fault and I suspect this might fall into the same category.

Paul h

[Indie]

Thank you for the reply - I wasn't really expecting to pour in a bottle of 'magic potion' and drive away happily ever after but I was hoping for opinions as to the least bad option to slow (or temporarily stop) the leak so I can get the car to the nearest service station and call my recovery provider for a lift home.

I have the space to keep it off the road and if I can't fix it, it'll be worth me selling the good bits and then selling it to the scrap man.

So, on that basis then has anyone used any of the bottles of snake oil that would get me off the drive and down the road a bit ?

cheers

[chairchild]

nope - at best they can swell certain types of oil seal, a tiny amount. Won't do anything for a torn/damaged seal


It honestly sounds like a money pit to get back on the road

[spiny]

Be prepared to turn up and find the entire sump has been ripped off by a poor parking choice, then driven for miles to the garage ...

I'd go trailer/tow ready, you can always say 'no thanks' if it's clearly a scrapper and not savable.

[welshpug]

Get a bar/a-frame.