Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Sometime in the last 40 km, my new bus managed to vomit pretty much every drop of oil out onto the road. I can see where I drove into the parking lot this morning and it is a significant leak.

Its coming down on the driver's side of the engine, around the oil filter. I checked the filter and it isn't loose and I can't tell if it started there or higher up. There was a small leak around the turbo that Butch at CVI told me about and said not to worry about. I guess that could have let go. Any speculation on what else might have come apart?

I'm leaving it at Kirkham in Calgary here over night so they can look at it tomorrow. I'm hoping it isn't the turbo. I was ready to get it taken care of when I picked up the van and Butch convinced me not to worry about it.

Not a promising start after only 1500km...

John

Wow, sorry to hear that John! That is a real drag. Did you look under the "hood" too? At least it is in good hands at Kirkham. My only hope is that it is not a major fix. Fingers crossed for you...

Yeah, I looked under the hood. Its clean on top. I called Butch and he thinks it might be the oil return line from the turbo. I was going to fill it up and then drive to Kirkham but it would be about 30 km from where I am at. I figure paying for a tow is cheaper than an engine rebuild if it goes dry half way there.

The oil light flickered on and off when I was going up a hill into work. Then the father in law calls to say I left a puddle in his driveway when I dropped the kids off this morning in High River. I'm hoping that it didn't run dry and do any damage in the 50 km from High River to work. Oil temp didn't go up appreciably and the engine sounds ok...


John

I have to agree about the tow. it's good insurance.

I would have to say that while it's obviously bad to run without oil, there is always some left behind and as long as you are not pushing the motor hard everything should be fine. Also, if your bus left a trail at your destination, you still had some oil in it when you got there. This would be supported by the fact your oil light just started flickering around the same time. Still... not a great sign but encouraging that the problem likely won't result in any damage. Perhaps a good time for an oil change then you can ask Kirkham to let you know how much oil was left in the motor upon it's arrival at the shop.