1.9 DCI - Oil leaking from Filler neck assembly

[bendy21]

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone could offer advice on a slight problem that has developed on my 2004 Grand scenic 1.9 DCI. It has been fitted with a brand new engine 30K ago and upto now has been faultless, using no oil. It had it's last oil change approx 5k ago, using the recommended Elf fully synthetic oil. I noticed about 200 miles ago that the oil level meter had dropped 2 bars on the gauge and this week have noticed a faint smell of oil when parking up after a journey. I have had a look under the bonnet and there is a lot of oil on the front face of the engine, which seems to be coming from where the filler neck assembly goes into the block. This 'filler neck' assembly seems very loose in the block hole and can easily be lifted up 1/2".

My thoughts are that either the 'looseness' of the filler neck into the block is letting oil seep out through capillary action OR that there is a blockage in the vent system which is causing the oil to leak out, maybe a blocked EGR or something.

Any help or advise would be much appreciated.

Regards

	EGR Exhaust Gas Recirculation EGR is a NOx (nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide) reduction technique used in most gasoline and diesel engines. EGR works by recirculating a portion of an engine's exhaust gas back to the engine cylinders. Intermixing the incoming air with recirculated exhaust gas dilutes the mix with inert gas, lowering the adiabatic flame temperature and (in diesel engines) reducing the amount of excess oxygen. The exhaust gas also increases the specific heat capacity of the mix lowering the peak combustion temperature. Because NOx formation progresses much faster at high temperatures, EGR serves to limit the generation of NOx. NOx is primarily formed when a mix of nitrogen and oxygen is subjected to high temperatures.

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[madnoel10]

The filler neck assembly should be a firm fit in the engine block with no movement and it would appear something has come adrift. Without being able to see it is hard to diagnose what the exact problem may be. I would suggest you get it looked at ASAP as the problem may get worse.

[bendy21]

Thanks for the reply.

We are not driving it at present (using the back-up dad van) so will have look at it at the weekend. I seem to remember the filler neck assembly on the old engine had some sort of fastening that had to be removed to withdraw the neck assembly.

[bendy21]

I've had another look at it tonight.

The plastic assembly (main filler neck assembly with filter canister) is securely bolted with two bolt (3 & 9 o'clock) to the lower steel filler neck section. This section has no supporting brackets, it just looks like it fits into the hole in the block, just below the cylinder head, to the right of the filter. It is this steel neck section that is loose. I can wiggle it about and actually slide the whole assembly out the block hole by about 1/2".
Can someone confirm if this steel section is supposed to be an interference fit in the block hole, cause if it is i'll simply take the plastic section off and gently tap it back in with a hyde hammer. I can't see any other way that it could be secured as there are no brackets near or locating holes on the assembly.

Many thanks

[madnoel10]

In all honesty Bendy I have never had the opportunity to remove the metal breather/oil filler section so I ain't certain as to how it is fitted. From my experience gained from other engines these are usually a push or hammer fit - some a metal to metal interferance fit with a little light gasket sealant applied - others tend to have a rubber "O" ring. Once removed you should be able to figure out which. Sometimes the interferance fit type can only be used sucessfully once so it may be necessary to renew it.

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