Sump replacement for moderately capable mechanics?

Hi

So, about 18 months ago I accidentally loaded about 800kg of paving slabs into my 2010 Ford Mundane-o. This may have coincided with several speed bump interfaces.

Entirely coincidentally my car developed a slow oil leak which has steadily got worse.

Entirely coincidentally the sump looks a bit battered.

So… can a moderately capable DIY mechanic (I’ve serviced my car, replaced discs etc) tackle without issue?

– Presumably I need a torque wrench?

– is there much real difference in manufacturers? There’s a huge range of prices it seems

– does the sump gasket need to be of the same brand as the sump?

Many thanks

leaky of Derbyshire

Are you sure it’s the sump? Should be pretty noticeable if is it cracked or holed.

Not done a Mondeo, but have on other cars (memories of parking my E30 pointing uphill and coming back to a rainbow river running down the road in the morning). Easy enough as long as the subframe isn’t in the way.

Torque wrench will help, as you want the gasket to be the right kind of squished. Also there might be an order to tighten the bolts in. If it is sealant instead of gasket, apply correctly so you don’t end up with a silicon bogey in your oil pick up.

The sump certainly has some suspicious looking gouges in it. I think it might be leaking from the gasket though as it looks like it’s been bent and then presumably no longer sits flat against the gasket.

If it’s anything like some fords you’ll need to split the engine and gearbox to get to the rear sump bolts.

Not had a look underneath a mondeo in a while so you might get lucky and be able to get at all the bolts.

I absolutely smashed my sump and had to get the RAC to give me a lift home on boxing Day. Ordered a replacement sump for 20quid arrived day after boxing day and was fitted in a couple of hours.

Piece of piss with a couple of ramps. Your car may vary.

Edit: there was one bolt tucked away, that took some head scratching. Got it with a flex joint.

Yeah I need to have another proper look really. It looked ok ish on first glance.

I have ramps so access should be ok. I’m just wondering if there’s much difference in sumps given they range from £20 to £100?! I mean it’s an 11 yr old car with 134k miles on it…

So just to add to my confusion – it seems some “gasket kits” are liquid gunge and some are proper gaskets?

Presumably not all sumps/gaskets will be interchangeable?

Presumably not all sumps/gaskets will be interchangeable?

Well, you’ve not mentioned what engine you’re talking about so there’s at least that to consider. And AFAIK there won’t be an option of either silicone or rigid for a specific fit, it’ll be one ot the other.

They ‘ve done this job on loads of wheeler dealers, the old ones with ed China on quest. In fact it was on the other day, I forgot the car but it was a silicon gasket and it was torqued up. As usual with wd it made it look easy. It was on last week so maybe on catch up.

I took mine to the garage so no idea how easy/hard they are to fit but, as my car’s only worth a few hundred quid, I thought I’d try one of those £20 ones from eBay. Although it said it would fit, it was completely the wrong shape and didn’t.
I sent it back and got my money back with delivery costs so worth a try.
Got a genuine Suzuki one in the end, with fitting, it cost about a third of what the car is worth but the car runs and gets me about so hey ho.
Sadly, the sump is now probably the most valuable part, doggo having had an accident and turning it into more of a toilet on wheels than a car.

I did my lad’s Volvo V50 which has a 1.6 Ford Diesel engine. Easy enough job, drain in, paint scraper into the old gasket to lever the sump off. Clean off the bits of old gasket then used RTV sealant.

Worked a treat.

Absolute doddle on a Mk6 Transit, can’t be that different to a Mondeo surely. Although the extra height made getting at stuff much easier. I used a tube of sealant rather than a gasket if that makes any difference

You have ramps.

Before buying anything

Put on ramps.

Look at sump. If you can see all the bolts clearly and have access to all clearly and no subframes etc are going over.

It’s easy. Any obstructions- all bets are off.

I’ve done a few. Ranging from piece of piss to burn this **** car with fire…..

The other thing would be …the cheaper the sump the more chance it’ll not be flat and I’ll resort to sealant

The sump certainly has some suspicious looking gouges in it. I think it might be leaking from the gasket though as it looks like it’s been bent and then presumably no longer sits flat against the gasket.

1. Can you check where the leak is by drips on your drive?
2. Have you tried tightening it up a smidge?

Elring is OEM for ‘paper’ gaskets, also
Elring Dirko for sump sealant.

Get the schematic for the sump that shows the bolt pattern. Main dealers usually have them on their system.

A lad I know did one of those little VW GTI’s under the tutelage of an experienced home mechanic and still managed to shear off the bolts in the gearbox next to the driveshaft!

Some sumps are easy with all the bolts visible underneath some aren’t. The sump itself is usually stuck on pretty solid and will need levering apart, be carful to not damage the mating faces!

And AFAIK there won’t be an option of either silicone or rigid for a specific fit, it’ll be one ot the other.

Well, when I put the car details into Autodoc for example, it comes up with both gunky gasket paste and rigid gaskets, hence why I’m a bit confused..

It’s a 1.8TDCI 125PS if that makes any odds to anything?!

My Passat is unobstructed and would be a piece of cake. It’s got sealant on it from the factory rather than a gasket, so I don’t think it’s an issue either way.

Can you not see if there is a gasket already there, normally the gunk type gakets (that I have done) are used on flat sumps (no curve for crankshaft, done 4 in the last couple of years). Also when removing old sump I had to get an old knife and work it round the sump to remove it.

Has the car got an upper and lower sump (my citroen relay 2.2 (transit engine has this arrangement) hence 2 gaskets showing) it would seem the 1.8 could be set up this way too

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294506138025?var=0&&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&siteid=3&campid=5338743053&customid=jkp_CjwKCAiAnO2MBhApEiwA8q0HYQH-FG7JmCHI5QKPW2brkeiTc3l023gvVuZKDW_QH572ZSiVOef5BxoCNuMQAvD_BwE&toolid=10001&mkevt=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAnO2MBhApEiwA8q0HYQH-FG7JmCHI5QKPW2brkeiTc3l023gvVuZKDW_QH572ZSiVOef5BxoCNuMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Depends

Does the exhaust and cat or dpf need to come off?

Can the sump fit through the frame

Can you get all the bolts?

And finally. Your only one snapped bolt away from misery. If it went wrong could you fix it!

Has the car got an upper and lower sump

It looks like it might have. It also appears* fairly simple to remove the lower sump

*Youtube

What I still don’t really understand is whether I can use any “gasket” gasket with any sump, as opposed to slime gasket?

The whole process looks pretty simple ish… ish

What I still don’t really understand is whether I can use any “gasket” gasket with any sump, as opposed to slime gasket?

A sensible approach would be replace what’s in use now like-for-like. IANAM but I’d say yes, if there’s a specific gasket for your particular fitment then you can use it. It’s not a part where gasket thickness or clearance is much of an issue but if you fit a thick gasket where it was siliconed before your bolts will have fewer threads holding. Which may or may not matter.

If you’ve got access to a manual, use whatever they recommend for the sealant/gasket, even if it is made with unicorn poo. If you have to buy a gasket, get an OEM one. Make sure the mating faces are spotless and follow any instructions supplied with the sealant/gasket (e.g. “wash surfaces in ‘full moon’ water”, etc.).

Good Excellent quality Allen/hex keys can save the day, too.

Put your reg into:

Haynes

PM the book number and I’ll send you one (if I have it – I have at least 100 Haynes manuals here). You’ll just need to pay the postage into the Jenn ride ‘Just giving’ account.

Mmm. . . That tick box has gone that emailed you when a thread had new replies?

@marko

That’s very good of you – PM sent (I think?!)

RopeyReignRider
Free Member

It’s a 1.8TDCI 125PS if that makes any odds to anything?!

I did it on a 2.2 tdci, it was pretty straightforward. Easily accessed bolts, and I’m pretty sure it was gooped on rather than a paper or fibre gasket though I’m not 100%- it was a while ago. I remember that even with the bolts out it was pretty well stuck on, I ended up making a Sump Waggler Offer out of an old butter knife. PS leave some bolts still threaded in so it doesn’t just fall off entirely or you’ll get oil everywhere. Don’t however do this but only thread one of them in a tiny amount so that when teh sump comes off it just ends up hanging at 45 degrees off the car for maximum oil spillage. Of course the 1.8 might be different. Also yours is a generation newer.

(I think the diesels were possibly designed with removal in mind so that you can easily get bits of turbo out of the sump)

I have the Haynes for that gen so can check the procedure for you if you don’t get lucky with your charity manual, it’ll be tomorrow night though as it’s up in the loft.

I have the Haynes for that gen so can check the procedure for you

Thanks, I think I have the charity Haynes manual on the way but that’s appreciated.

Get up on a ramp and DOA survey see if you can get on all the bolts (as best as you can before starting) that way you can order a wobble extension, or a flexy extension or so neither tool you may need before the car is in bits!