Oil Leak Problem

[Ninka]

Just thought I would post this warning to you all!

I took delivery of my brand new XR6 Turbo on Monday, and now it is in the shop for repairs already - NOT HAPPY JAN!!

The problem is that after having had the car for only 12 hours I noticed a few drops of oil had stained our driveway, and on closer examination I found drops of oil hanging from the alloy crossmember under the engine. Thinking this would be a minor problem, I decided to take the car back to the dealer, where they could not identify the problem at first, other than it seemed to come from the tube feeding oil to the turbo.

When the car had cooled down sufficiently they attempted to unscrew the oil pressure switch, which resulted in the fitting breaking off at the threads!!

The way thay have provided oil for the turbo is by using the oil switch outlet, then adding a special adapter which screws into the block, then sliding a "banjo" fitting with the turbo feed tube over it, and then finally fitting the oil presure switch over the potruding male thread on this fitting.

What appers to have happened is that the fitting (which is essentially a straight 6-7 cm pipe with a thread each end and a smooth part in the middle with a hole through the side for oil to enter the "banjo fitting) is drilled out with a hole size so big that it almost connects with the bottom of the external male threads, leaving maybe only around 0.5mm of material.

When this was all fitted at Ford, the tension caused the threads to break in the bottom of the pitch, resulting in a hairline crack and leaking oil.

Worst part is that no spare is available here in the west, and apparantly the bits are on back-order in Melbourne, so they will have to attempt to remove the fitting from another XR6 Turbo on Thursday.

Look out for this problem, as even small oil leaks has the potential to cause serious turbo damage if the fitting breaks completely, leaving the turbo with no oil pressure, while the engine is emptying its oil contents through the broken fitting.

You will of course see the oil lamp light up, and if we are real lucky the computer will shut down the engine before any serious damage occurs.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news and about the long story, but it's kind of hard to explain in only a few words.

The few kilometres I did manage to drive however, have left a permanent smile on my face - IT IS A GREAT CAR

[CJF077]

I bet your upset about that... What did they say it was caused by? just a manufacturing fault?

[Ninka]

Yep that's what they are saying, and you are right VERY FRUSTRATING