My 2002 2.5 CRD did not leak at all and did not use one drop of oil, but recently I noticed a small patch of oil on the street after a nights parking.
A few days ago I was in the garage and able to look at the underside of the car and made the following picture.
I asked the mechanic if he knew where the oil comes from and if he could repair it, but he didn't have the time at that moment
He said "clean it thoroughly and come back" but how am I supposed to clean the engine on that spot without putting the car on a bridge

Anyone an idea what could be leaking or know a clever way to find out what exactly is leaking?

 

A lot of the time! Oil leaks come from the cam cover gasket! Start from there and work down.

 

Think you may have a rear crank seal to do. Quite common on these engines. I've had to do one myself.

 

Is there a way to check that easily? and how much work is replacing that crank seal?

 

GENUINE VM REAR CRANKSHAFT OIL SEAL CHRYSLER GRAND/VOYAGER 2.5 CRD & 2.8 CRD | eBay

They are a common fault with these engines as said! When I was looking for our Van I travelled to Londonfrom Wales as tge guy said it was in imimmaculate condition! When I got there the 1st thing I checked for was the rear crank oil seal leak! And guess what?!... it was £! $$ing out of it! All that way for nothing! He knew about an all so he told me afterwards! I had a few choice words that I said to him! Having dragged me and the family out that day!... But anyway! I've not had to do one myself. My friend above is better suited to give you a talk through! There will probably be a vid on you tube I guess...

 

I would imagine that the box and bell housing will have to be removed to get to it...

 

That is correct TimmyTim. Gearbox, clutch, flywheel, back plate off to access the rear crank oil seal. If you aren't technically minded or haven't got access to a good array of tools I would give it to a garage to do. It took me all day to conquer mine and I had a helper, but I was methodical making sure everything was clean and in good working order. I also made my own tools during the job to save hundreds ££££ on chrysler parts.

The way to check is to look underneath at where the gearbox is attached to the engine. Where they meet there should be a drop of oil or maybe more leaking out.

 

Damn... could very well be the crankshaft
I read about it when I needed to get my clutch replaced a year ago.. but there was no leakage whatsoever so I thought there was no need to do the seals... I could have saved myself a lot of mechanic costs if I had the seals done back then, if it really is the crankshaft..

 

I did a very similar thing except the other way around. when i took the box off i noticed the friction plate was getting close to the rivets but didnt get a new one due to time restraints with the workshop space i was working in. hindsight is an awesome thing. It is a shame as when you have the box off it doesnt take too long to replace the seal just need to know what you are doing with reference to slowly extracting the old seal with two bolts winding in as evenly as possible. i wasn't too confident i had fixed mine as it was that easy after the box was off but after 3500 miles later it showed no sign of leaking. Make sure if you do get this done that everything is cleaned properly as there will be oil everywhere inside the bell housing or ask to be there when its off for you to clean it so you know its done. last thing you want is lumps of oil getting between the clutch and flywheel.

Regards Dan

 

Checked the oil leak with the mechanic and ofcourse it looks like the crankshaft seal >.<
Ordered the sealkit (seal with 2 O rings) for €65,- and the mechanic expects to be busy like 3-4 hours ... darn.

I will be there during the operation and make sure they clean the clutch