Bentley Turbo R leak

[Mr Minx]

I am looking at a 1994 Turbo R to buy, it is in lovely condition with 58,000 miles on the clock, however there is a slight leak directly under the engine, roughly in the middle.The low mineral oil warning light also lights up under acceleration. He states that a small leak is normal(which i do not believe) It has had about £800 worth of hydraulic servicing/repairs.
I am just wondering if it could be anything serious?

Any help would be appreciated

Matthew

[silverfoxcc]

if he and the service place are local,take the car to them with the servicing invoice and get them to check what the 'leak' is as the oil covers both braking and suspension, it could be something small ( haha) like a seal gone on thecamshaft pumps OR bigger. If the guy is genuine he wont have an problems. Other than that....... walk you could be owning a money pit.
Alternate suggestion, find a nearby RR/VB independent who would do a thorough check for 350 o so. Believe me its worth every penny.
Whereabouts are you ,could give you some names

Edit NO leak is 'normal' except condensate from the a/c compressor after a run

[Mr Minx]

Hi, thanks for the reply, i live in Devon, and we know a specialist in Exeter, however the car is in Derby!

[graemel]

I think you would agree that leaks of any sort are not acceptable. You need to get to the bottom of the root cause of the problem. There must be someone up north that could take a look at it. Well worth a thorough pre purchase inspection. Fantastic cars though

[MULLINER]

Most older Bentleys have a little oil under them but not drips. If the fluid / oil is green that is huydralic, Brown engine and redish is gear box or steering rack. No oil should be dripping though and drips are NOT normal!

If the light is flshing the fluid in the huydralic resavoir is "sloshing" and should be topped up, the question is has it lost any if so where from.

Good luck

Edited by MULLINER on Tuesday 7th January 08:38

[Bluebottle911]

Mr Minx said:

I am looking at a 1994 Turbo R to buy, it is in lovely condition with 58,000 miles on the clock, however there is a slight leak directly under the engine, roughly in the middle.The low mineral oil warning light also lights up under acceleration. He states that a small leak is normal(which i do not believe) It has had about £800 worth of hydraulic servicing/repairs.
I am just wondering if it could be anything serious?

Any help would be appreciated

Matthew

If it has been recently serviced and the hydraulic fluid level is already low, then it seems likely that there is a problem IMO.

[silverfoxcc]

I had my Spirit checked over by Ristes of Nottinghan, as i said it will cost a couple, but that could well be saved if they do find problems.
Have a word with Steve Lovatt, he can avise prior to doing anything, it does sound more hydraulic that engine and that COULD be a lot of wonga, plus its a good bargaining tool, not only do you get a good report, you can get an estimat from Ristes and use that to knock the guy down.Lovely cars but DO take your time, dont buy the first one uless you are 100000% certain

[WightGT]

I tremble in my boots at the prospect of buying a car with 20 year old gaskets - just look at the gubbins that has to be removed to do the inlet manifold and others nearby like the rocker covers. And the electronics are the same age. Make sure you have £10,000 available in case it needs remedial work. Wiper and steering racks are frequent problems if previous owners have been skinflints. Tread very carefully.

[Mr Minx]

Thank you everyone for your replies, i am taking it all into account!

[buyer&seller]

WightGT said:

I tremble in my boots at the prospect of buying a car with 20 year old gaskets - just look at the gubbins that has to be removed to do the inlet manifold and others nearby like the rocker covers. And the electronics are the same age. Make sure you have £10,000 available in case it needs remedial work. Wiper and steering racks are frequent problems if previous owners have been skinflints. Tread very carefully.

Forgive me for saying but this is scaremongering, if people followed this sort of advice then no one would ever buy one of these cars, or any other for that matter, and they will all just be left to rot. Yes there are some really bad cars out there, but if the OP is as sensible in his choice as he seems to be here then he will find a good car that, with care, will last him many years.

[Balmoral]

The cars are getting rarer than they used to be, but nonetheless, if there is any doubt, leave it and find another. It's not that hard to find a decent car. If this car does seem a good buy though, and this is the only niggle, it would surely be worthwhile to get some proper advice and ascertain whether this vehicle has a minor or serious problem. Whatever you buy, there's bound to be something to do on this level anyway

Reference the immediately above posts, I reckon a ten year old VAG GT offers a similar risk in terms of borkage and financial ruin as a 20 year old Rolls Royce. Either car has the potential to give you a five grand slap not infrequently

[keith9849]

Sounds like a leaking accumulator (or two) at the front. Low mineral oil is never normal. If the seller is such a tight-arse that he hasn't sorted the problem you can guess what else hasn't been attended-to in the last decade and double it. Avoid like the plague, I would say.

[BeenThereBefore]

If the mineral oil leak is coming from directly under the engine, or closer to the firewall, its probably that the seals on the two brake pumps are shot. They can easily be rebuilt/resealed. Only problem is that its a few hours labor to take them out and put them back in. If the mineral oil leak is coming from under the driver's door in a diagonal fashion, its possibly a leak in the line. It could also be as simple as overflow. I've had several cars spit out excess mineral oil only to find out that there are overflow tubes which release excess mineral oil. This can happen when you fill the reservoirs to the top, but there is still a lot of mineral oil in the lines and accumulators which hasn't drained back in to the reservoir.

If its an engine oil leak, it could be as simple as a seal, or as terminal as a crack in the crank case (which is more common on higher mileage cars). This shouldn't happen on a low mileage car like this.