Almost a disaster.Saved by a bulb.

[R TOY]

Thought i would share a discovery i made tonight. Having removed the bonnet to fit ultra blue bulbs in headlights i had apoke around. I ran engine and detected a squealing noise, took some tracking down but turned out to be oil cooler mounting bracket touching under rubber mounts. Some adj sorted this out but when i ran the engine again there was still rubbing ! This time it was a pipe from oil cooler fouling the oil tank . Must have been chafing for some time as the tank has a sizable gouge in it,:eek:
Getting close to a hole, the result would have been a disaster, almost certainly resulting in a knackered engine. I have pushed some rubber tube over the oil pipe to protect the tank as a short term fix but will get a proper repair done this autumn.
It would be sensible to check your oil tanks for similar problem. Certainly makes me think the bulbs where a damn good buy..
:D A very close shave and a very lucky spot... Dave.

[TUS 373]

Sounds like a very good call. And aren't the bulbs a to fit?!

Not one for having the bonnet off more than once a year, can you describe in more detail where we should be looking for this please? It would be bad news to a kill a good engine.

[R TOY]

Ok, remove bonnet, look on LHS (passenger)at front between engine and radiator, Oil cooler is a steel lump with large bottom rad hose connected front & rear and smaller oil pipes conected either side, one of the oil pipes exits on RHS of cooler with a 90degree steel bend which sweeps past the dry sump oil tank. On my car it was this pipe which was pressing on the oil tank and has worn/chafed a considerable groove in the tank 3/4 of way down. If the pipe had punctured the tank the oil would have emptied from the system , probably undetected when moving. The result could have been a totaled engine.
I am relatively new to Tuscan ownership but i have not seen any mention of this as a potential problem on forums etc. Maybe my car 53reg 3.6 has been assembled wrongly? but i would recomend other owners checking when bonnet off next. (or asap)
And yeah, the bulbs are a bitch to fit, esp when a side light fell apart. In true Dell Boy style, super glue and insulating tape sorted things out.
Hope this is of some use and may save someone a big bill Dave

>> Edited by R TOY on Thursday 25th August 00:41